Hearing, Seeing

 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.  Matthew 13:16

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples just after he had described the generation He had come to as having eyes and ears to see and hear, but they could not see and they could not hear....but His disciples could. I believe He speaks these very words to our present generation as well. Most especially those who would describe themselves as His followers. We cannot expect those who do not know Him to either see or hear the things of the Spirit. They have no ability to do so. Jesus wasn't speaking to a generation of people who knew nothing of God's Word. They did, yet they could not see or hear that Word as it was right before them in the Person of Christ.

Here in the 21st century church, we also know of His Word, and He is definitely working and speaking in the midst of all that is happening right now in our culture and in the culture of the church....I have written in my prayer journal, Father, we see but don't see, hear but don't hear. In the events unfolding before us, let us see what You're doing and hear what You're saying. Jesus was speaking to professing believers, but most did not hear what He was saying or see what He was doing. Where do we fit today? With the "most" who see and hear without seeing or hearing anything, or with that much smaller group that does?

I think what we're seeing unfold everywhere around us, as well as within the church itself, has deep ramifications for us on every level of life. For our nation, the nations, for ourselves and our families, and especially for the church. I have been praying for the Father to raise up a generation of "men of Issachar," men who recognize the times they are living in and know how to respond and act in those times. Most especially are such needed in the pulpit. The church is desperate for those who can bring forth the depths of His Word in the power of His Holy Spirit. Men and women who hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. Those who move and speak with a holy boldness, fearless, whose hearts burn to share what the Lord is saying to them and to His church. Those who are willing to be "Watchmen on the wall." Those with discernment, wisdom, and understanding. It will be a lonely calling. In many ways an unpopular one. Those who love comfort and ease do not enjoy being shaken awake.

There is so much more that could be said. I simply close sharing with you the call I believe He has sent forth to His people. God never called the prophet Isaiah by name. He simply spoke, "Who will go for us?" Isaiah heard the call. Isaiah went, and Isaiah spoke. The need for a generation of Isaiah's of every kind is desperate. Who among us hears? Who among us sees? Who among us will speak up and speak out?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Invited

 Matthew 11:28. Most of us know it. Many of us use it to invite people to Him. "Come unto Me all you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." A powerful invitation, and a true one. But is it really true for you..for me? This invitation has a prominent place in most Bible believing churches. Does it have a prominent place in the hearts of Bible believing Christians? I'm not so sure.

The Book of Hebrews says, "there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God." This is a rest that lives in the very center of His peace. It's a rest that too few of His people know anything about. Wesleyans have always seen this promise in Hebrews as His invitation into a rest that comes from a deep, all-encompassing surrender to Him. When He comes into a heart He does save, He does cleanse, and He does bring peace, but He doesn't stop at this. There is a deeper call upon us. A deeper surrender. A complete one. And the fruit of it is His peace, His joy, His abundant life. It comes from the complete laying down of our will and the full entrance into His. It's a scary invitation because to enter into that rest is to leave behind all our desire to control and direct our lives, which will always be accompanied by much stress and strife. To know the peace, He speaks of means we have to yield all to Him.

T. Austin Sparks said that we have no right to invite unbelievers into His rest unless we too know it, that His rest is "the practical outworking of the belief that He is Lord," and that His Lordship is struck at by "the unrest of His people." How often has His Lordship been "struck at" by my own unrest? By yours? How often have we allowed the stresses and pressures of life so fall upon as to harm the witness of the peace we say we have in Him? In so many ways, we in the church are as exhausted, stressed out, and worn down as the world around us that we're seeking to reach. This is so because we're still trying to work out our affairs in our own strength, wisdom, and understanding, and it's crushing us. Anxiety, irritability, frustration, and hardness of heart and spirit will always be the fruit of that. We're living outside of His heart and life, and it's obvious to all...except...too often to us.

Jesus describes Himself as a Door and a Gate that He calls us to come to and go through. We come to that Door, we even go through, but do we do so fully? Sparks wrote that, "The Door is essential, but it's what it leads to that justifies going in at all." On the other side of that Door is all the depth and wonder to be found in Him. Christ is the Door through which all the fullness of that Sabbath rest that remains is found. We have to leave our will, our self-life there to enter into that Sabbath rest that awaits us. Too many of us can never do so. We know the Doorway, but we don't truly know the depths of what the Door leads to. 

Satan, the thief, is always seeking to steal from us that which has been given to us in Jesus Christ. Our peace is one of his most prized trophies. Where is he stealing yours and mine? Where is our unrest? How much of that Sabbath rest is still unknown to us? His invitation does not just leave us at the door, standing with hat in hand. His invitation takes us into all the fullness of the life He has invited us into, and He goes with us through all of its depths. That invitation is given to us each day. May each day we accept it, as we journey ever deeper with Him.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Christ Crucified

 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.  I Corinthians 2:2

I'm heartsick. Beyond heartsick really. As I watch our nation, society, and culture continue to disintegrate, I grieve. It is clear that no matter where you might stand in the political spectrum, there will never be any kind of accord between the two views. We are past the point of "agreeing to disagree, agreeably." Our enemy, Satan, is gleefully at work on both sides, mixing in vast amounts of hate. Hate that begets violence. Violence the leads to death. I see no end to it.

There is only one hope for us. He's the only hope we've ever had, though most, even in the church, have been blind to it. Jesus Christ. The true and real Jesus Christ. The crucified Jesus Christ. The risen and alive Jesus Christ. In the midst of all the chaos, His church has been sleeping. Obsessed with comfort and pleasure, we have watched the disintegration with varying degrees of concern, but mostly, so long as it didn't affect us, we were not overly bothered. What has been needed, what we've neglected, is to be a church alive unto Christ. A church that has the message that Paul brought to the Corinthians. A church that doesn't claim to know anything but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.....and risen....and alive...and victorious. A church that takes this message of blazing light into the darkness and puts the darkness to flight. A church that does not fear to arouse the power of the darkness because it knows and experiences the infinite power of Christ.  A church that has ceased to argue about non-essential issues and has centered on the Good News of Christ the King. A church that hasn't chosen to stand on the right or the left, but on the side of Christ alone. On the side of the Kingdom of God.

I believe the Lord has already kindled the fire. The media that has managed to captivate so many will only show us scenes of mayhem and violence, will not show us the scenes of renewal and revival that are taking place everywhere. Let us, as real believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, commit ourselves to being those who claim to not be experts at anything but the knowledge of the crucified, risen and alive Jesus Christ. Jesus. Shepherd. Warrior. King. He is still the Savior of the world. Of our world. Let's lift high the name of Jesus and let's take Him with us wherever we go. Boldy, without apology, and in confidence. The church is waking up. Let us awaken with it.

Blessings,
Pastor O

A Way Home

 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.  Isaiah 43:19

I've been battling sickness most of this week, and still am, but it's on my heart to get this out. Many within the church are heartbroken over loved ones who've walked away from the church. Others, myself included, grieve over loved ones who have never known Him. I have this prayer, related to the Scripture above, in my prayer journal. I share it with you today.....Father, for all those who have wandered away, make a pathway in the wilderness, that they may come home.

I encourage you to pray this with confidence. As a father, mother, brother or sister. As a friend. My confidence lies not in the prayer, but in the God to whom it is prayed. I believe that He will literally move heaven and earth to make a way for a lost soul to come home to Him. Despite what you see in their surface behavior, ask God to plant seeds through His powerful grace in their hearts. Pray that He continues to water that seed by His grace. Pray that He will bring that loved one home to Himself. It's His will that they should come home to Him, so believe that He will be faithful to act in response to your prayer.

Focus on Him as you pray. Ask Him for insights on how you should pray for these ones. Ask for words to speak  to them, for wisdom and discernment on when to speak to them. Pray in confidence of His hearing and moving, but pray also with all of it submitted to Him. Cast the burden you carry for them upon Him. You can't really carry it. He can and He will.

This is not a "guarantee prayer." Each of us does have a free will, but I believe when such prayers are lifted to Him, His grace and power are released in ways beyond our knowing. He pursues until the very last breath of that loved one. Commit them to Him, and trust Him to work. God works. Always God works.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Have We?

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  John 6:68

Peter and the rest of the disciples had just witnessed a devastating event. Great crowds had been coming out to listen to the preaching of Jesus, and to see His miraculous works. Especially the works. They loved what He was doing for them. They had less interest in what He wanted to do in them. This was proven in their response to His most recent words. He'd told them that no one could follow HIm who was not willing to completely die to themselves and their own desires and then follow Him to wherever He would lead. Scripture says that at this, many turned away and would follow Him no more. What had been many now became just a few. Jesus asked the remaining disciples if they would leave Him as well? Peter spoke for them all with his words shown above. Where would they go? He alone had the words of life they so desperately needed.

In my prayer journal, I've got the question, "Have we made the choice that, no matter what, we are going on with Him?" I don't believe we can truly follow Him until we've made that choice and answered that question. We're sure to be tested in it.The choice needs to be made before the crisis comes, and there will be a crisis. If our commitment to Him has yet to be made, it is unlikely we will go on. The crowd didn't. It's easy to be part of the crowd. It's far harder, impossible really, apart from His grace, to be a disciple. And our discipleship will be tested regularly. With loss, disappointment, sacrifice, failure. The pull of the fickle crowd will be there. Is our walk with Him so entwined with His heart and life that the pull of His heart far outweighs that of the disposition of the crowd?

I've shared often about the hard places of my life. Many of them were devastating beyond words. Yet, I never considered turning away from Him. I knew there was no place to go if I did. I knew that going back to what my life was without Him would be far worse than anything that might come with my life in Him. I knew that death was all that awaited me in my turning away. Scripture talks of those who would rather have the riches found in Him than to own all the treasures of this world. I knew in my heart that the lyrics of the old hymn were gloriously true; It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. One look at His dear face, all sorrows will erase. It will be. It is. 

Losses and crosses will mark our lives on this side of eternity. Have we made the choice that none of that will deter us from following after Him? Have we? Have you? 

Blessings,

Pastor O 

The Goods

 I have a question in my prayer journal, asked by A.W. Tozer. He asks, "Are we silencing the scoffers? We'll only do it by being what we are created to be, by being in possession of 'the goods.' We're to embody His rest, peace, strength, and presence." 

That's a really convicting and piercing question. Who are we in the midst of the pressures of life? How do we deal with the unexpected crisis? How do we respond to suffering, loss, and....failure? When we feel disappointed, especially by God, what do we do? We live in a fallen world, so all of us who take the name of Christ will experience these things. What do the witnesses of this world see when we do, especially those who scoff at and ridicule our faith? Do we exhibit peace in the storm? Maybe we've told some of them that they can have His peace in their life storms. Do they see us to be in possession of that peace? The same goes for having His joy, His strength, and the grace that allows us to experience it all with a dignity only He can give us. How we walk through our own dark valleys will be the only means we have of shutting the mouths of the lions of this world. The scoffers, the mockers, the unbelievers.

Then there is another crowd of witnesses. Hebrews speaks of the great cloud of witnesses in heaven who are beholding the living out of our faith. I confess that I don't fully understand what that "looks like," but I like to think that they are somehow cheering us on, exhorting us to stay the course, finish the journey, and do so by bringing honor to His name. If this is so, in the hard places of our lives, are we giving them anything to cheer about?

The last witness is the One who matters most, our 3 in 1 God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What are they witnessing? Are we glorifying them in the midst of our personal struggles and pain, or do we diminish them in our complaining, anger, and resentment of our trials? I believe it was Augustine who said that the chief end of man was to glorify God. It's in the hardest places that we have the greatest opportunity to do so. Are we?

Like I said, these questions convict and pierce us. Will we close mouths by how we live for Him in the midst of the storm, the darkness, the trial, or just add to their scorn, making them think, by our actions, that our God isn't real? Because we don't really have.....the goods.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Thoughts

 Today, I thought I'd share a few thoughts/quotes from my prayer journal....

There's nothing they can take from us when everything we have already belongs to Christ....Voddie Baucham....How many times have we sung the lyrics to All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give? Beautiful words. How well do we live them?....We are natural born "clingers." We're going to cling to something or someone. If it is anyone but Jesus, we have no hope of at some point losing it or them. Scripture calls us to "follow hard after Jesus." The language used is following with a closeness that makes it impossible to distinguish between the One who leads and the one who follows....because they are one. We cannot do this when we try to hold onto our treasures. They have to be surrendered to Him. They must pass from our hands into His. Husbands, wives, children, bank accounts, investments, homes, and on and on. We live in fear of losing these....unless we have given them all to Him in trust. It's a tremendous burden to try and hold onto everything in our lives. Let us release our grip on what we cannot hold and hold to the One who will keep us in His grip of love.

We want just enough Jesus to get to heaven but not enough Jesus to change us on earth.....The church seems to be filled with those who fit this description. They want a faith that secures them heaven, but not a faith that seals them in Jesus Christ. I don't believe that such a faith even exists, but many are living like it is all the same. Someone said that many professing believers are "atheists unawares." They live out their day to day lives as if Jesus doesn't exist. He is not sought in life decisions. His wisdom takes a backseat to their own. They are more influenced by politicians, celebrities, therapists, and even their pastors, than they are by Jesus Christ. Jesus is their free pass into heaven, but He is not their way, their truth, and their life here. Where do we fall in all of this? 

Believing in God but not obeying Him is exactly what Satan does.....I don't remember who said this, but it's truth is chilling. Most professing believers will recoil in horror at this, but how guilty might each of us be in its truth? The devil knows fully who the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is. He knows completely who they are and the extent of their being.There's no doubt in his heart, if he has one, at all. Yet he exists in open rebellion against Him. Wherever disobedience exists in our lives and heart, we share this trait with him. Someday, we will each stand before Him to give an account of our faith lives. The very thought should make us tremble. May there be no part of my life or yours that puts us in the company of the enemy of God and the enemy of our souls.

Just a few thoughts. May we meditate upon them today.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Distractions

 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith  Hebrews 12:2

George Barna said that we live in the midst of a distracted culture. Not just in the secular realm, but the spiritual one as well. That makes living out the truth of Hebrews 12:2 impossible for us by any other means than by His Holy Spirit. Only He can work so that nothing else has the power to draw our eyes and our heart away from Him. And the distractions available to us are nearly unending. Here are a few. To what degree are they at work in us?

Comfort - We're obsessed with our personal comfort. Our efforts to provide a comfortable life for ourselves will always push Jesus off the center of our being. It makes any idea of "taking up our cross and following Him" an impossibility. His cross does not offer us comfort. It offers us His way of life. It offers Himself. Comfort has no place for the cross.

Entertainment - We are being entertained to death. Not just in the culture, but in the church. So much of what we call "worship" involves seeking to provide congregants (actually the audience) a good church experience. There's little difference between a Hollywood studio wanting the audience to leave the movie house feeling well entertained and the church wanting the congregation leaving the church house with much the same feeling. Our lust for entertainment is killing us by inches....and Jesus has no place in it.

Pleasure - We're pleasure seekers. We always have been, but our hunger to feed our desire for pleasure, sexually, emotionally, and physically, is leading us to spiritual destruction. Again, there is no place for His cross. No self-denial, no hardships or suffering. We medicate our lives with sex, drugs, video games, Tik-Tok, and relationships. Relationships with anyone and everyone but Christ.

Survival - This may be our greatest distraction. Countless lives are affected by the simple action of just trying to hang on, to make it through the day, the month, the year(s). Get the bills paid. Provide for our families. Keep our jobs. Find a job. Pay the rent, the mortgage, the car. We're not really living. We're just surviving, and for many they think it's "victory" if they do. We are born with an instinct to survive. It is so strong in us as to render Jesus Christ as an afterthought, if He is any thought at all. Worst of all, Christ offers a life that will thrive, but most often, we choose one that allows us to survive. Barely.

These are just a few of the distractions. Where are they found in your life and mine? What ones are there for us besides these? How much of a field day would George Barna have for his statement about distraction if he were to use you or me as His example?

Blessings,
Pastor O

New Song

 1Sing to the LORD a new song;

sing to the LORD, all the earth.

2Sing to the LORD, bless His name;

proclaim His salvation day after day.

3Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

Psalm 96:1-3

How does one sing such a song in the midst of this fallen world? A world filled with sorrow, pain, and suffering? As I look around the landscape of my life and the life of our church fellowship, I see wreckage and suffering everywhere. Loved ones lost to death. Families being torn apart. Marriages ending. Children rebelling, walking away from their families and from God. How can anyone sing any "song" other than one of hopelessness in the midst of all that? For me, for us, I think the answer is found in Scripture, as all answers are; Mr Redeemer Lives! He has not left us at the mercy of all this. He is with us. Fully, completely WITH US!

The enemy of our souls, through an unbelieving world will ask, If He is real, why does He allow this? This is a fair question if we seek to absolve ourselves from all responsibility for the existence of evil, which we do. Sin, and all the spiritual, emotional, and physical wreckage that flows from it, first entered humanity through the sin and disobedience of Adam and Eve. The human race has been tainted by it ever since and is unable to break its power. God, in His love, made a way out by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the antidote and pathway to freedom and life for all who would believe and follow Him. This does not mean that all who believe would be free from all pain and suffering. We are not. We still live in this fallen world, but our lives and eternal hope are not bound up in this it, but in Him. We are born again unto a Living Hope in Jesus Christ. Nothing in this fallen world can touch or diminish that. We are not victims in the midst of this world, but overcomers. Eternal life is at work in us right now, and in the midst of all suffering, the joy of the Lord is our strength. We have a hope that the deepest and darkest sin cannot extinguish. That is why, in the midst of the darkness, we can sing the new song. He is the Light and the Life that overcomes sin and the world system it operates through.

I rejoice today in the new song He gives me. This day and every day. It isn't dependent upon how I feel or what is happening. It's rooted in Him. It allows me, even in the deepest darkness I have or can experience, to declare His glory and His salvation. To bless His name, and sing of His glory before all the earth. I don't discount the reality of suffering. It's real. He is more real. This world and its suffering are passing. He is eternal. He is forever. My destiny isn't found here. It's found in Him. My Living Hope. Because of that I can sing the new song. Oftentimes with tears in my eyes, but the song grows greater and deeper, along with my hope.

We're in a new year. Only He knows what lies ahead for us. In whatever comes, He invites us to sing His new song. By His grace, I intend to. Will you, by His grace, sing it as well?

Blessings,
Pastor O