Deception

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 Paul was writing to a church where carnality, impurity, and open sin was being practiced and lived out. We in the 21st century western church would do well to take note, for I believe much of what he wrote is taking place in congregations throughout His church. How can this be? By the very thing Paul warned them of in his letter. The deception of the enemy over so many who would profess to follow Jesus Christ. I write this without rancor or condemnation. Many a sincere heart has been deceived into an unrighteous way of life by his honeyed words, but the result is always the same, acts of darkness lived out in the light, and the deception of those involved goes deep. The reasons for it are many; a wrong understanding of His grace, which we have cheapened. A misunderstanding of His love, which we believe is permissive. A wrong conception of His holiness, which we wrongly interpret, both in the pulpit and the pew, as legalism. The result is that His church in the 21st century has made peace with sin on many fronts. The ways of the Kingdom have not leavened the ways of the world, but the ways of the world have seasoned the ways of His Kingdom. As a result, we have sanctuaries that are peopled by more than a few whose day to day behavior looks no different than that of the world. We see it in dating relationships, where the professing believers are just as sexually active as unbelievers can be. We see it in business practices, leisure pursuits, and in what we read and watch. I have heard ones who are living in disobedience speak of how they look forward to an eternity "with their Jesus," without any conviction of the sinful ways they're engaging in. Again, I am not condemning or judging. I know how easily we can be tainted by the sin of the world. There have been times in my own life where I have been as well, but I believe the Holy Spirit is exposing the darkness that exists in His Church, for He will have a pure and holy Church. The need of the hour is for pulpits to be filled with those who will confront the sin and deception so many are living in. In love, but directly and with clarity as to the consequences of continuing on with such a lifestyle. The love of Jesus Christ can do no less. True love, bathed in His Light will always confront the darkness. This spirit of demonic deception knows its time is short, because I believe the church is awakening. May we become fully awake and fully alive, and be exactly what we, the church, are to be. And we, you and I, are the church. May we awaken. May we come alive. May we be His glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Pastor O

Leaning

One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved, was leaning against Jesus' chest. John 13:23.....We are each the disciple whom He loves, Let us live leaning upon Him. Chris Tiegreen I think we tend to read this Scripture and come away with the idea that Jesus loved this disciple, believed to be John, more than the others. When we believe that, we then easily conclude that He must love others more than He loves us. This is not so. However, it is so that there are those who have a greater intimacy with Him than others who also follow Him. The reason they do is that being near Him, leaning on Him if you will, is a desire so strong that they will not be denied in it. We see this in Gethsemane as well, when Jesus called Peter, James, and John aside and asked them to be with Him as He prayed. He yearned for their fellowship. It was not that He cared more for them than for the other 8 (Judas was not present). It was that they had a connection to His heart and life that went deeper than it did, at least at that time, in the others. I can't explain why it is that some of His people seem to be so much more tuned into His being than others. It does not mean that the others are less in their love for Him, but there is something in the heart of the ones who draw so near as the three that will not be satisfied with anything less than His fullness. They want all of Him in all of themselves. He seeks to kindle that kind of hunger in all of us, but not all of us live with such a hunger. I desire that I would be such a one. I desire you would be as well. That we would be those who live "leaning on Him." If we will be so, one of the first things that will happen is that we will hear His heartbeat. We'll come to be in tune with His heartbeat. We'll begin to follow where His heartbeat leads.And as this takes place, our hearts will begin to beat in unison with His. It is no accident that John, who did live leaning upon His heart, was the man who received the visions and truths written in the book of Revelation. To live leaning upon His heart means He will reveal and we will see things that so many others never do. I said I didn't know why some had this depth with Him and others didn't, but maybe I do have an idea. Could it be that the others let things into their lives that distracted them from Him, from His words, even from His heart? They loved Him, they followed Him, but their focus wasn't fully on Him, at least in that time. Maybe that marks some of us, and it keeps us from the intimacy He invites us to. It keeps us from leaning fully onto and into Him. May it be that we come to lean on Him so completely that our hearts beat with His. Leaning so closely that our heartbeat can't be distinguished from His. Blessings, Pastor O

Two Songs

Close enough to feel the warmth of the fire, far enough away for me to hide....I was offered resurrection, but I settled for the grave. Jesus At A Distance - Casting Crowns....Jesus, how can I be sure that I will not lose my follow through between the altar and the door? Between The Altar And The Door - Casting Crowns I fear the lyrics of the above two songs describe far too many of those who profess to follow Him and who sit in church week after week. Maybe, in some areas of our heart, we do as well. How much of our life fits into the lyrics of the first song. How many of us come close enough to Christ to feel the warmth of the fire that is His heart and life. We come close, but never close enough to be consumed by that fire. We're part of a crowd looking at the fire, hearing about the fire, even feeling some of the fire, but we never come too close. We stay just far enough away to hide. We like the light and the warmth we feel from the fire, but never so much as to come completely out of the darkness that hides us. We're attracted to Him, but never strongly enough to throw ourselves completely upon Him. Our hearts warm to the message of His resurrection life and all that He offers us in that life. But never enough to leave the grave of our self-life. In the end, our flesh's fear of the death of our self-life keeps us at a distance from Jesus. Then there are the words to the second song. How often have we come to an altar of prayer, intent on yielding all to Him, of inviting all of Him to ourselves? We're sincere. We want what we're praying for. We're turning everything over to Him. All our burdens, cares, habits, even our sins. All of it. We give it all to Him. It's out of our hands and into His. Then we leave that altar, that place of surrender, and somehow, between that place and the doorway out.....we take it all back. We don't just take back the "stuff," we take back our control. It is all out of His hands and back into ours. The victory we thought we had won at the altar of prayer...is lost. Lost in our follow-through. It's a familiar story. How often has it been our story? What part of it is our story now? How much longer will it continue to be? Two Songs. Will the gap, the distance that we've kept between us and Jesus Christ just keep widening, or will we cease our running and hiding and just throw ourselves upon Him? If we dare, we'll find that He was always right before us. For Him, there was no distance between us. Then, will we at last truly pray through to Him at the altar of prayer. Will we fully release all that makes for our life into His hands? Will we at last really enter into the life that He died and rose to give us? When we come to that "door" that will surely be there, will we go through into the fullness of life He's promised us? Will we, in the face of His offer of resurrection, go on choosing the grave? Blessings, Pastor O

God's Day

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 "Evil's day is short. God's day is eternal." J.B. Chapman This saying really struck me this morning. Right now, I know of so many people who are suffering various types of afflictions. The death of loved ones, sickness, divorce, the rebellion of children, and needs that are desperate. All these things are part of a world that was never meant to be, but they are because of one terrible thing; sin. The entrance of sin through the rebellion of Adam opened the door for death, in all of its forms, to come upon us all. Very often, it seems like it is the followers of Christ who experience the most suffering of all. For such as those, Chapman's words can seem hollow. The pains of this fallen world will seem to be endless. What is the response of the one who has given their life to following Him? I doubt very much that I can give an adequate answer to that question, but I'll attempt to do so. I think we must start with knowing and believing that His eternal life is not merely a future hope. It is a present reality for those who are His. His eternal life has at its center His joy. Joy that witnesses to our hearts that evil's day is not final. That it will not triumph over us. That He is with us and that He will not leave us comfortless in the midst of evil. Most of all He assures us that evil will not have the last word. He does, and as someone said, His last word is always victory. I have always loved reading the words of those who have walked or are presently walking through the fires of suffering and pain. The common thread in all of it is the experience of His Presence and Life that they have in all of it. When Nebuchadnezzar had the three Hebrew youths thrown into the furnace of fire for refusing to worship him, he first ordered them bound so that they could not move. Yet the very flames meant to destroy them were used of the Christ who was with them to burn those cords away. Jesus Christ takes what evil means to destroy us with and turns it into that which takes us ever deeper into His life and freedom. What the enemy means for harm, God turns to good. For the believer, eternal life begins now, and there is no power on earth or in heaven that can destroy it. It enables us to bear the darkness with the light of His hope and joy. A hope and joy that can sing the words of the old hymn, "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. One look at His dear face, all sorrow will erase." Beloved, evil's day is short. His day is forever. Hold on to Him for He is surely holding on to you. Let your heart hold to the truth that it really will be worth it all....when you see Jesus. Blessings, Pastor O

The Uttermost

Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 Joni Eareckson Tada once said, "I want to live and give a Gospel that saves every day and sustains and shapes me every day." So do I. I expect that you do too. Are we? Do our lives witness to that truth? His Word says that in Him we can. To the uttermost means that there are no limits to the reach of both Him and His Word. It doesn't mean that there will not be storms, trials, and heavy obstacles. It does not mean there will be no suffering. It does mean that in all things, even the darkest things, we will be "more than conquerors" as we trust in Him. As we live in Him. What would happen in our lives if, at the beginning of every day, we declared thatg this day, we will trust that His saving grace will be abundant towards us. More than sufficient grace. Overcoming grace. Limitless grace. How can we not? Paul said that the followers of Christ will live in the power of His resurrected life. We have a risen life. It is life that infuses itself throughout our being each day throughout the day. His grace saves us, sustains us, guides, keeps us and enables us to live our lives as overcomers. This doesn't mean that we are always happy. Happiness is an emotion that depends upon our circumstances. What it means is that we are joyful. Joy is a condition that doesn't depend upon what is happening around us but is the result of His life within us. Happiness is rooted in a realm that is passing away. Our joy is anchored to an eternal realm that will never end. Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble, but to be of good cheer, for He has overcome this world. Each of us knows a great deal about trouble. We have experienced it ourselves through the death of loved ones, the collapse of marriages and homes, and losses of every kind. That is what it is to live in a world held in the grip of sin. Yet, our hope is not grounded in anything of this world, but in the One in whom all things in this world and the one to come are held together. Joni Eareckson Tada has lived this kind of life for nearly 70 years now. All while confined as a quadriplegic to a wheelchair. All while suffering great physical pain in her affliction, but in all of it, living a life that He "saves," sustains, and raises every day, and in numberless ways. He saves to the uttermost, which means His saving grace extends beyond the very worst that sin can do, and sin's last great attack is death, and death has already been overcome by life. His life. May it be that we, you and I, wherever we are, going through whatever we are, believe that, trust in that, and live that. May we live to the uttermost...in Jesus Christ. Blessings, Pastor O

Eternity

A man named Dane Ortlund has said that, "We are so used to a fallen world that sickness, disease, and pain seem natural. In fact, they are the interruption." Think on that for a moment. Really think on it. How true do we see that to be? Yes, we know that all these things entered into this world through sin. All of creation has suffered because of it. We realize that, but I think it is true that we have become very used to their presence. So used to them that we forget, too easily, that this was never meant to be. None of this was ever meant to be our lot. Scripture says that He placed eternity in our hearts. This is the longing within us for the existence we were created for, but our preoccupation with the things of this world has deadened that longing. Everything in this fallen and passing world seems more real, more permanent, than the wonders of eternity. Be honest. How much of your thinking focuses on the life to come as compared to the half-life we live in this realm? Someone said, and they said it about we who profess to be Christ's followers, that we know eternity is our destination, but we're not anxious to go there. That we almost have to be taken against our will. I'm at an age now where my thoughts are directed more and more towards His eternal Kingdom and the life I was created for. I think about the wonders that Jesus said our eyes and ears would not believe what we see and hear there. It is indescribable. Paul was taken up to heaven and could not even begin to tell what he saw. Isn't it tragic the amount of energy and time we spend focusing on a realm that we'll only be a part of for a breath, while the eternal home we say we're heading to is almost an afterthought? There's so much more to say, but I'll close with this question. Could it be that our hearts and minds are so far removed from His Kingdom reality that should we be taken into it and His Presence today, we'd be totally unprepared for it. We say that heaven is our home, but would it really feel like "home?" Would it feel much more like a foreign country? Today, many people like to talk about their investments. Our annuities, stocks, 401 K's. We can recite all the numbers for them. Where is our investment in eternity? We have eternal souls. One day, we'll all stand before Him. What we've given our life and heart to will be seen. What will we see, what will all see, when that day comes? Blessings, Pastor O

Stormriders

It's been said that sometimes all life seems to be is a series of storms and shipwrecks. They were referring to Paul's experience on his journey to Rome, where his ship encountered a fierce, days-long storm, and eventual shipwreck. Life can seem like that for all of us at one time or another. It's what we hear and what we believe in the storm that will make all the difference in how we get through...or even if we get through. Susie Larson writes that our storms reveal the lies we believe and the truth we need. It's our part to decide who and what we'll believe. In a sense, following Christ will make "Stormriders" out of all of us. Will we ride them in faith and trust, or in captivity to the lies we believe? In the midst of the fierce and destructive winds and waves that Paul's ship was facing, an angel of the Lord appeared to Paul and told him that though the ship would eventually be lost, Paul, and all aboard would be saved if they didn't try to abandon the ship. Larson writes, "We must bend an ear toward heaven, rather than listen to what hell has to say." Our dilemma as believers is that heaven speaks softly and less often than hell. Hell screams, threatens, and its voice is constant. Who do we bend our ears to as both speak to us in the storm? The enemy will be relentless. He will be loud, and his lies will attack us at our most vulnerable place. In our fears. We must decide that we will listen for and to the whispers of heaven over the shouts of hell. The wonderful mystery is that if we make the heart choice to do so, it will be His whispers that speak loudest to our hearts and minds. As the ship began to sink, the crew and soldiers on board made ready to leave the ship. That always seems the best choice to our flesh. Paul, in the power of his faith in Christ and His promise, convinced them to stay aboard. As a result, every one of the more than 200 souls on board were saved. Storms are everywhere these days. The need for experienced Stormriders is desperate. May you and I be found among them. May we be the ones who hear His promises and tell all those around us, as Paul did, that we believe that "it will happen just as He told us." The sailors and soldiers on board were depending on their ship to keep them alive. Paul depended upon His God. Storms are inevitable. We will either ride them or be drowned by them. It will all depend upon who we listen to. Will it be the liar, or the Voice of Truth? Blessings, Pastor O

Treasure

The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. Exodus 20:21 In my prayer journal I have a statement, the source of which I can't remember, but I do remember what it said. It read, "If you must go into the deep darkness, do not miss the treasure to be found there." We rarely, if ever, equate darkness with treasure. The fact is, we seek to stay as far away from any darkness as we can. Notice that it was Moses who entered into it. The people themselves stood apart from it all. At a distance. That is usually the position we want to take. Keeping darkness and the pain and unknown that goes with it is a very human response. Yet He does allow it into our life, and He calls us to come to Him in it. I don't know the depth of the darkness that you've experienced, but I know the depth of mine. Divorce, the loss of family, for a time of my ministry, as well as the very great darkness I've encountered through my years of serving Him. More in my own pain I sought out the "stories" of so many who have also entered into it, into situations far darker than anything I have encountered. In all of those times I discovered, as did these others, that there is great treasure to be mined there. Treasure that would never have been found in the light. Treasure that we discover to be none other than God Himself. I have found again and again that in my times of pain and loss, I can either run from it or run to Him. Running to Him in desperation. Yes, relief from the pain is sought, but what I find is that what I really gain in the desperate seeking is.....Christ the Lord. I lay hold of the treasure of a deeper knowledge of Him. Of a greater intimacy with Him. Of a deeper abiding in Him. These are the pearls, the jewels, the treasures that we find in the thick darkness. My flesh always seeks to keep its distance from the thick darkness, but the result of that will always be a deadening of my heart and spirit toward Him. He will seem more and more distant from me. I will feel so far away. We miss all that He has for us in the darkness. If He has allowed the darkness in your life, don't miss what He has for you in it. He offers the treasure of Himself there. He calls to your heart. He calls you from the distance you've allowed to develop in your heart, and back to the rich intimacy you may have allowed to fade. Let us dare to enter into whatever darkness He may have allowed, and mine the treasure He has for us. Blessings, Pastor O

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

Rescuers

There is a beautiful painting that I've seen often on social media. It depicts Jesus reaching down beneath the waters to rescue someone who is drowning. I know the reality of that painting because it is exactly what He did for me all those decades ago. Many who read this know that experience as well. I am so thankful for the ministry of my Lord Jesus as the Rescuer of my soul, but through the years, I've learned that He often chooses to rescue us through the ministry and actions of others. There are a number of places where this has been true for me, but one in particular really stands out in my memory and experience. I was in the first couple of months of the collapse of my marriage. I had been offered the use of a small cottage on our denomination's campground. When I arrived to take up residence there, there was a group of fellow pastors gathered to do some maintenance work on the grounds. They talked with me a bit, told they'd be praying for me, yet I couldn't escape the feeling that they didn't really know what to say or do. They got back to work and I started to walk away towards the cottage. In that moment, I felt completely alone. I felt like I was drowning. Drowning in pain, in fear, in the midst of the impossible. As I walked, I sensed that someone was behind me. I turned and saw the face of a brother pastor I knew, but didn't know well. He simply reached out, put his hand on my shoulder, and began to pray for me. For me, in that place, I felt Him reaching down through this brother's touch, and pulling me up from the "waters" that I was drowning in. I wept as he prayed, but as he did so, I felt surging through me what I can only describe as waves of fresh hope. The Lord saw me right where I was, and on that lonely campground, He used this good brother to reach down and pull me out of the murky waters of despair. To be a rescuer employed by King Jesus is not a ministry many seek. I make no judgement against those other brothers who were present, but only one of them felt the urging of His Holy Spirit to come after me and minister to me His Life. Ever since then, I have sought to be a rescuer in the service of my Lord. To be attuned to the hearts and needs of those He brings before me. To be the vessel through which He reaches down to save a drowning soul. There have been times I missed His promptings, to my great regret, but I strive to be faithful to them. I'll be accountable for the ones I passed by. So will you. Rescuers, for the most part, are anonymous people, mostly overlooked by the majority. Yet their ministry is of infinite value in the Kingdom. The numbers of those crying out for rescue are legion. The number of those willing to be His agents of rescue are few. Peter failed his Lord in a spectacular manner. and was in despair as a result. Yet the risen Christ reached into His despair and restored him. Then, he sent Peter to his brethren to do the same for them. To be a Rescuer. Peter could be nothing less. Can we, who have also been rescued by Him, be anything less as well? Blessings, Pastor O

The Uttermost

Therefore, He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. Hebrews 7:25 "Saved to the uttermost." Have you ever contemplated what that means? As used in the Bible, its meaning is; "The extreme, farthest point, or the completel totality of something." I see a Savior who has no limits, especially as concerns the salvation He so freely offers those who will trust and follow Him. Yet, how often do we find ways to limit this salvation? What are we missing when we do? How far below the level of life He offers are we living? Joni Eareckson Tada, confined to a wheelchair for more than 6 decades now, said that she wants to proclaim a Gospel that, "Saves every day. That sustains and shapes us every day." She's talking about a Gospel that is alive...every day. A Gospel that pours out saving grace upon us in the midst of all of life's challenges and needs....every day. A Gospel that not only sustains us through this day, but does so every day, and sustains in victory. A Gospel that shapes us as we live in His loving hands and He works within us His mind, His heart, His life...every day. A Gospel that, no matter how far He has taken us on this day, He will take us even further in the next day. And He will do so....every day. In 2nd Timothy, Paul wrote about how he was living chained within his Roman prison cell, but He triumphantly proclaimed, "but the Word of God is not chained." Unless it is chained by us. Where in our lives might we be doing so? What particular prison cells are we living in where not only we are bound, but we believe His Word and His promises are bound as well? Where are we not allowing His Word to be experienced "to the uttermost?" If you're reading this, I expect you have some level of belief in His Word. Is it the kind of belief that makes His Word real to you in your everyday life? When you're confronted with challenges, deep needs, fears, dangers, and more, who and what do you look to? Someone once said that we don't believe the God we believe in. How true is that in us? Churches are filled with people for whom the Word of God plays no real role in their lives. If His Word is not real then He is not real, at least in our day to day living. Paul, in a prison cell, was free. Joseph, enslaved for 12 years, was free. David, in a cave, pursued by enemies who sought his life, was free. For them, and so many more, God and His Word were real and alive. This was more real to them than the cell, the slavery, or the cave. May it be so for you and me as well. His Word is not bound, and through it, He saves to the uttermost. The enemy, working through this world will challenge that truth daily, but his words are words of death. They cannot stand against Christ's words of life. Stand in His words. Live in them, and the enemy will flee from you, every time. Every day. Every moment. Blessings, Pastor O

Everyone

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:29 I hesitate to tell too many of my life experiences with my Lord for fear of coming across as presenting myself as some kind of hero of the faith. I am not. At all. I know how weak I truly am. But the above Scripture has had deep meaning in my life for many years now, and that meaning was brought home once more this very morning. I made the decision to follow Jesus Christ 47 years ago this month. Wherever He led, I would go, no matter the cost....but I never imagined how much that cost would be. It began almost immediately as I left my old life behind, and in doing so, so many of my friends as well. That involved some pain, but I was young and I knew I couldn't stay in the environment I had been living in and still go on with Him. I trusted Him in this and He didn't disappoint. When I left for Bible College, I entered into a whole new world and one of the choice blessings I received were the many fantastic friendships I made there, most of which have continued to this day. He kept His word. I entered the ministry in 1984, and it is where I really began to learn of what it meant to suffer loss for His name. Most of all in my own family. The hardest part of ministry is watching people walk away from you for a number of reasons, but what they all had in common is that on some level, they wanted me to heed them before Him. Refusing to can make people angry and angry people can lash out and do very unloving things. I felt the deep sting of abandonment and betrayal more than a few times. People I thought would never do so, did. It's a story shared by every faithful pastor. Yet again, for everyone that left me, He would raise up from many different sources, those who would prove to truly be friends of the heart. Once more, He kept His word. Eventually, I would pay the deepest price. My wife, who I had believed was my life partner, began to hate the lifestyle of a pastor's wife. She sought for me to make compromises that I just couldn't make. She wanted a lifestyle for us that I knew I could never live. Whatever love she once felt left her, and was replaced by a cold, bitter anger and seeming hatred. She left, and she took her daughter, who we had raised as my own, with her. I will never forget the indescribable and heart wrenching pain I felt on the day she was taken away. A young girl that I loved completely as my own. I would not see or know anything of her for more than a decade. Yet even in this loss, He was faithful, and He has remained so. I lost my family, but what He did in response was to bring in seemingly endless numbers, people of all ages to simply love and be loved by. In 42 years of ministry, I have had the blessing of loving and being loved by so many wonderful people of God. I have formed some of the deepest friendships and relationships that will go on into eternity. What I have gained from Him has greatly outweighed what I lost. I was reminded of that this morning when a young girl, now a teenager, came up to me in church. When I pastored in Northern Viginia, I would each week pick she and her mother up for church. That little girl would sit in the backseat and banter the whole way with me. She was quite the character, but I loved her and knew she loved me. I hadn't seen her in years, but the bond was still there. She's just one of the many countless blessings I have received from Him as I keep on keeping on in the Kingdom. Through it all, through all the losses and cost, He has kept His word. He will always keep His word. Trust Him. The cross of Christ is soaked in His blood. We cannot expect that if we truly follow Him, it will not be soaked with ours as well. In the midst of the cost, He gives His greatest gift; Himself, a truly incomparable gift. . Blessings, Pastor O

Himself

God, in both the Old Testament and New, is always calling us to Himself. In Isaiah, He calls His people to "come, and let us reason together." In the Gospels, Jesus, in response to two of His disciples' questions, calls them to "Come and see." Then of course is His beautiful invitation to all who are weary and broken to "Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden." It is always to Himself that He calls us, yet we miss that truth so easily. Alicia Britt Chloe said, "We ask for angst dissolving answers; He offers Himself. We pray for peaceful paths; He offers Himself. We desire detailed directions; He offers Himself." We're missing that in our insistence on His giving us answers, or help, or deliverance from hard places, He offers us something far greater. He offers us Himself. We want rest, or peace, or strength, or joy, or answers, or deliverance. We miss that He is all of these and more. We want something He does or gives. He wants to give us Himself. How sad that we settle for so little of Him when He longs to give us so much more of Himself than we could ever imagine. We're missing the great truth that in all those things we see as threats, or needs, or fears, and in which we want His help, that they all must bow to His Presence. We miss that none of these could hold power over us when He is with us and in us in the fullness of His life. In Himself we find everything we could ever need or want, but we're missing that. In comparison, we're asking for cheap tinsel when we could have all the riches of the Kingdom that are found in Him. Somewhere in this day, week, month, or year, we'll be faced with need. In some places, desperate need. May it be that we don't just ask for His work, blessing, or answer. May we seek the best part, as Mary did when she sat at Jesus' feet. May we want nothing more or less than Himself. That is a desire that He will always fulfill. May it be fulfilled in us today. Blessings, Pastor O

Turn

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. Helen Lemmel I have always loved this song, and have so many times found it to be completely true. Why then do we so often fail to live out this truth? Why do we instead keep looking upon our problems, needs, afflictions, pain, regrets, and seeming impossibilities, all of which obscure and mar His face? This fallen world is not home for the followers of Christ. Home is found in His eternal Kingdom. Yet we can become so obsessed with what is happening here, that the truth of His Kingdom fades from our consciousness, and this world, which is fading away, becomes the focus of our reality. When that happens, the face, heart, and Person of Jesus Christ is obscured, sometimes wholly so. We've all been there, and we know that it's an awful place to be, yet we allow the enemy to so distract us with the events of this passing world that we become blind to the one that will never pass away. This realm, and all the pain, problems, and needs it contains becomes more real to us than Him. It doesn't have to be so. He doesn't mean that it should. He said that in this world we'd have trouble and suffering, but He also said that we are to be filled with hope and expectation in the midst of it. He has overcome it all, and in Him, so do we. Joni Eareckson Tada has deeply impacted so many lives with her recounting all the times she has faced the terrible pain and suffering that has accompanied her being a quadriplegic. Her pain is constant, but it is especially so in the midnight hours. She speaks of how, in those times, she has learned to gaze upon His face by speaking His Word and His promises that are found there. She softly sings hymns of praise and thanksgiving, and most of all, she prays that He would (once again) come to her with His comfort, joy, peace, and grace. As she does this, she gazes upon His face in ways that only those who have walked such a path of suffering will understand. It cannot be explained, but it can be experienced. He has promised that it shall. There's an old hymn that goes, "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. One look at His dear face, all sorrows will erase." I stand on that truth. One day, when we're fully with Him, there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, but in the meantime, we walk through many hills and valleys, but He walks with us, and beloved, if we look for Him, turning our eyes towards where our hearts know Him to be, we'll see His face, and no matter how dark the night or deep the valley, we'll be able to go on.....as we turn our eyes upon Jesus. Blessings, Pastor O

Game Over?

I watched a wonderful short video this morning simply titled "Checkmate." In it, the speaker tells of a group of sports champions touring an art museum. They came to one particular painting titled, "Checkmate." The painting shows the devil and a man playing chess. The devil is obviously winning, having removed most of the man's pieces. Being the devil, he has a wicked grin in his anticipation of winning not just the match, but the man's very soul. The man sits with his hand on his brow, a look of desperation on his face. The tour guide says that the painting depicts Satan's victory over the hopeless man and he takes the group onward. In the group is a world champion chess player, and he tarries, studying the work. The guide soon notices the chess master missing and goes back. He finds him gazing at the painting and wonders why. He tells him that the meaning of the painting is obvious; the devil has won. The chess master replies that it would seem so, but as he studies the painting he has noticed something. Something only a master would see. It's true that the man has lost almost all his pieces to the enemy, but there remains one that almost all observers of the painting miss. There remains to the man one piece; the King, and looking at the position of the King, says the chess master, "The King has one more move." I am no chess player, but I do understand the meaning of checkmate; "Game over." I have been in such places in my walk with the King. Places where the enemy seems to have me in checkmate. Places where it appears sure that the game is over, but appearance is not reality and it is not truth. We serve a King who always has "one more move," a King who is always in command of His position, even in the most seemingly hopeless situations. If we will hold on, if we will not "yield the board," we will witness our Lord making "one more move." The move that will put the devil to flight. The move that will defeat every one of his pieces/weapons. It's a truth that stands in the midst of every battle between the enemy and those who are His. Maybe you're in such a place today. Maybe it seems that every weapon you have has been defeated. Maybe it seems like there is nothing else you can do and no place else you can run to. Maybe you can "see," even feel the enemy laughing at you, savoring your defeat. Take heart! Your King remains on the field. Your King always has "one more move" to make in your defense. One more move to bring victory out of what seems a sure defeat. Galatians 6:9 says that in "due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." Game over? Only for the devil. It was over for him at Calvary, at the empty tomb. The King has kept him in checkmate ever since, and in Him, so do we. Believe for His "one more move" regardless of how everything seems. He will make it, and you will see the victory that is already yours. Blessings, Pastor O

Beyond Hope?

I watched a teaching by Francis Chan this morning that really impacted me. He was speaking about the passage in Exodus 34:6, where Moses passionately desires to see God. In the translation Chan used, he said that "the Lord descended and stood beside Moses," saying, "I am the Lord, merciful and gracious." There is so much to say about what is happening here, but what moved my heart so strongly was that of Almighty God coming down to where Moses was and standing right there with him. It was what Moses desperately wanted and needed, and God, in His gracious mercy, came to Him. No, it was not a bodily presence, but a spiritual one. Moses beheld the glory of God. This moved my heart to think of all those who need such an encounter with Him today. All those who need the God and Savior who comes down to us in our deepest darkness, valley, and need. Christ came down to us that He might live for us, die for us, and rise for us, but He has never ceased to come down to us wherever we are, whatever our need, and whatever we've done or has been done to us. There is something so powerful about this truth, and the instances in His Word where it happened abound; when Paul stood before Nero, the Roman emperor, alone and abandoned by all, but "Christ stood with me." He comes, wherever we are, whatever the need. He comes as He is and nothing can keep Him away...if we truly desire His presence. Joni Eareckson Tada said that, "Jesus goes where no medicine, no surgery, no counselor can go." We may be in the place considered to be "beyond hope," but it will never be beyond Him and His ministry to us. Beyond His promises to us. God is a merciful and gracious God, and He shows it perfectly in and through His Son, Jesus Christ. Wherever you are today, however deep or seemingly hopeless your situation, He will come down to you. He will stand with you. He will go where no one and nothing else can go....and He will minister His life to you there. Call upon Him. He will come....and leave the means of His coming to Him. There is no place that is beyond our hope in Him. Blessings, Pastor O

Disarmed

No weapon forged against you will prevail and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. Isaiah 54:17 I have written before about my time during the first months of my marriage failing and having to step out of ministry, and of my living on a deserted church campground for a time. The campground was the property of my denomination, and a cottage had been graciously offered for my use. It was also where I had been ordained just two short years before, as well as the place where our District churches gathered each year to report on the just ended year and about how God had been moving. I was thankful for a place to go, but it was a hard place for me to be. The enemy's assaults on me made it even more so. To get to the cottage I was staying in, I had to walk every day past the Tabernacle where I'd been ordained and where the churches gathered each year as a District. Each time I could "feel" the mocking laughter of the devil. He reminded me that this holy place was one that I would never again stand in as a pastor. One I would never really have a place in again. I can't tell you just how real all that was to me. Everything that was happening in my life seemed to undergird the enemy's words. I could not see a way where I would ever be standing in that place again. Yet, I decided I wouldn't walk on my feelings or appearances. I believed that He had promised me that I would, so I did the only thing I could do. I kept on, though I had no idea of just where I was going. A year later, while working at a bank, He began to move in amazing ways in my life. A former classmate at the Bible College contacted me. He said the Lord had put me on his heart, and that he should call me to his church to be his associate. A door opened and I went through. I spent two years as a bi-vocational pastor on his staff, and then the Lord moved again, and again through a former Bible College classmate. His church had lost its building due to debts, but there was a small group from his congregation that wanted to go on as a church. They would not be able to support a pastor and his family, but they could support a single pastor. The Lord put me on his heart and he contacted me to see if I would come. Another door opened and I went through once more. Planting a new congregation is anything but easy. The challenges were immense and it was in Northern Virginia, a graveyard for church plants. The trials and hardships were many, but in all of them we were overcomers. We pressed on. Moreover, we thrived. No, we didn't become a megachurch, but we reached people who likely would never have been reached otherwise. We impacted many, many lives. What I remember best is what took place at the end of my first year, right back at that campground and that Tabernacle. Back at that District gathering once more. I remember almost nothing from my report that day except my final words. I gave glory to God saying that I rejoiced to be back standing in the place the devil said I'd never stand again, doing what he said I'd never do again. All the weapons he'd thrown at me through seemingly endless sources had failed. He couldn't keep me from the purposes the Father had for me. I pastored and led that fellowship for 27 years. I not only saw Him move in miraculous ways, but I came to know Him in ways I never dreamed possible. Truly, He restored for me all the years that the locusts had devoured. No, I never became a "name" in our denomination. I never kept company with those who were. That was never His purpose for me anyway. Keeping company with Him was. He'd been completely faithful. Satan lost...again. The Father, through Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit was victorious again...as He always will be. So, if you find yourself in a barren place today, hearing the voice of hell in your ear, press on. Expect and believe for the miracles that He'll do in and through you. Blessings, Pastor O

He Comes

Say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you." There are so many paintings of Jesus Christ coming and saving those who are in desperate need of Him. I think my favorite is the one that shows Him reaching down to one who is underwater and drowning, with the intent to rescue them from certain death. It comes nearest to reminding me of my own saving experience with Him, and I've a life experience to compare to it. In my childhood, there was a lake in a western Pennsylvania state park that my family would go to every summer. It was always a great time. The lake itself had a rope stretched across the swimming area, preventing non-swimmers like me from going further out into deeper water. I would always go to it with the intent of testing the limits. One time, as I was walking along the rope, I stepped into a hole. I was immediately underwater and didn't know how to get out of it. I floundered about, getting my head above water, and then sinking again beneath it. After several repeats of this, and in near panic, the lifeguard, who was not far away, saw me and dove into the water to save me. He brought me to shore, and I knew he had saved my life. I've thought often of that day, 47 years ago this month, when Jesus Christ came to a floundering, drowning young man, and saved me. I don't have any memory of even noticing that lifeguard who before he jumped into the water to save me, but he was there. He was looking all about him. There were other people around, but none of them saw me. He did. He came. He saved me. It was much the same in my spiritual experience. All my choices had led me to a place where I was slowly but surely drowning. Like my childhood self, I was floundering, sinking, becoming more and more unable to keep my head above water. I remember being in a room full of people, partying as usual, yet feeling lost, broken, hopeless. None of those around knew it or saw it. Yet Jesus, who I hadn't really been aware of for many years, was there. He saw me, and He came in the midst of me floundering about to save me. My drowning went on for a couple more months, but all the while He was there, guarding me, leading me to Himself, till the August evening, when in the dining room of the home I grew up in, I came into His saving embrace, and He lifted me out of the hole that was destroying me, and took me safely to the shore of His Kingdom. I have been with Him, and more, He has been with me ever since. I don't know where you're living this day or how long you've been there. I don't know what enemy, obstacle, danger, or threat comes against you. I don't know how deep the hole is that you are trapped in. What I do know is that He sees you and He comes to you. When that lifeguard came to me, I didn't fight against him as panicking people are prone to do. I allowed him to embrace me and take me to shore. Jesus comes to you where you are right now. Enter into His embrace. He has come to save you from whatever it is "killing" you. Let Him. Cease fighting. Cease running. The Lord who reaches down to where we are in order to lift us to where He is, has come. Let Him save you. Blessings, Pastor O

Deeper Surrender

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. Phillippians 3:8 There's an old hymn that I love with the lyric, "Deeper, deeper, in the love of Jesus, daily let me grow." Something I've learned is that He will seek to see if we will live out all those songs and verses that we say we love. I remember so well a true crisis time when He sought to see if I would. Our church had lost the first lease we'd ever signed. A printing company wanted our space and would pay more than we ever could. We had to find a new place to worship. It was a bad time for this to happen. Rents had risen dramatically, and we would have to pay double what we had been paying. Our leadership and I prayed and sought Him and His will. We felt that a space I'd found would work for us, but it would be challenging financially. Going into our previous space had also been so, and had also required a step of real faith, trust, and dependency upon Him. We signed a lease, and then everything seemed to come together to obstruct our way. Several families chose this time to leave the fellowship, though they had never talked to me about it. I had believed they would be part of the ministry going forward. Some others had job transfers that took them away. In the end, we lost a great deal of the financial base, a base I had been counting on. Our resources began to dry up, and though we were attracting new families, our resources were not increasing at the rate we needed. By the end of our first year, we were in a very hard place. Paying our rental obligation was becoming not just difficult, it had begun to look impossible. I not only couldn't see how we could do all that was needed, I wasn't seeing Him. I had lost Him in the midst of the need. Yet I would find out He was there all the time....waiting for me. I always considered myself a man of faith and one who trusted God, but my response to the need was to take it upon myself to try and make up the monthly shortfall. I began to do cash advances to meet our rent. Month after month I did this. The pressures upon me mounted. I cried out to Him for help, but no help seemed coming. Finally, after months of this increasing unbearable pressure, I broke. I was exhausted. I was in despair. I couldn't go on like this. I was at the end of myself. I was also at the beginning of God, but I wouldn't realize that for a bit. My leadership had been faithful in this as well. They were good givers. We made some decisions. We would tithe 10% of our income regardless of what our monthly expenses were. That was good and God honored that, but that was not what opened the door for His miracles. That came when I reached the blessing of releasing what I thought was my responsibility, seeing that all was taken care of, and turning it all over to Him. All of it. Not just the need, but the pressure, the worry, the anxiety over all the "what if's" that the devil would throw at me. He had taken me to the place of a deeper surrender to Him, to His Lordship. To His faithfulness. To His promises. I would surrender my place of trying to provide for His church. I would surrender to His promise to do so. From that moment, everything began to turn around. The challenges were still there, but I never had to do another cash advance. I realized that my doing so had been my telling Him that I didn't trust Him to take care of His church. His church, not mine.We were there three more years. We paid all our obligations in full. Both Kingdom and secular ones. Through my deep need and pain, I had found a deep Lord and a deeper grace. It was a lesson I would never forget, but one He has had to refresh me about more than once. As He seeks to do a deeper work, He also seeks to bring us to a deeper surrender. Maybe He's doing that in you right now. Yield to Him. He won't fail you. He never will. Let the chains of self-reliance go. Find the victory that can only come from our surrender. Blessings, Pastor O

41st Day

I watched a wonderful teaching video today. You may have heard this before, but even if you have, it's worth a revisit. The person speaking listed a number of events in the Bible that dealt with the number 40. Moses spending 40 years in the backside of the desert. Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Goliath taunting the army of Israel for 40 days. Jonah preaching in Nineveh for 40 days. Jesus going without food or water for 40 days in the wilderness. These are just a few of the examples of happenings around the number 40. What is the core significance in all of them? All of these events contain hardship, suffering, danger, impossibility. All of them went on for a lengthy time with no seeming change coming. More, all of the events had been directly or indirectly ordained by God. Those in the midst of it all had two choices; they could either press on, persevere, obey, and trust, or they could give up. Sometimes they knew that the Father had brought all of it about, at other times, these things had come upon them. Either way, their choice was the same. Either keep walking forward, even though it appeared they were going nowhere, all the while trusting and obeying, or simply stop, give up, and turn back, and this is where the teaching becomes so powerful and clear. No matter how many days, weeks, or years were involved in the number 40, in every case, there was also a number 41. For Moses, in the 41st year, God appeared to him and commissioned him to lead his people out of slavery. On the 41st day, David faced Goliath and slew him.On the 41st day of Jonah's preaching, Nineveh repented, and a mighty move of God swept the entire city. In the 41st year of Israel's wandering the wilderness, God brought them into the land He had promised them, and on the 41st day of His temptation, Jesus caused the devil to flee from Him.....and none of it would have happened if any of them had given up on the 41st day, week, month, or year. That's the lesson, encouragement, and promise for each of us. No matter how long our wilderness trial has been going on, despite the pain, the cost, the danger, press on. Don't give up. Your 41st day will come. He will not fail you. How many of us, when we stand before Him one day, will be shown those places where He had purposed to bring us glorious victory and the laying hold of cherished promises, but we never had them because we gave up on the 40th day? Hold on. He will not fail you. There is a 41st day for each of us....if we do not give up. Blessings, Pastor O

One

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. John 17:21 It's been said, many times in fact, that this is the one prayer of Christ's that has never been fully answered. Jesus prayed (and still prays I'm sure) that His church would be one in Him and His Father. This means unified in the Holy Spirit. As we honestly examine not only our local church, but our particular part of the Body of Christ as to its relation with the rest of the Body, can we agree? He tells us in His Word that we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit, yet we consistently do so, and nowhere perhaps so much as how we relate to one another in Him. I have pastored divided fellowships (an oxymoron perhaps?) and suffered at their hands, along with many another pastor and person. How deeply we have grieved His heart with the ways we treat one another. It has always been so to varying degrees. I believe in these days that may well be the last days, that it is only getting worse. For some time now, I have been witnessing the people of God devouring one another. I have watched and listened to many good brothers and sisters being attacked, labeled as heretics, purveyors of witchcraft, rebellion, false doctrine, being wolves in sheep's clothing, and much more. All because they may hold to a doctrine that is at odds with theirs. I believe in having sound and correct doctrine and beliefs, but as Lisa Bevere, who herself has been accused of being much of what is listed above said, we are never going to agree on every point in our particular doctrines, but we must, absolutely must, center on being in agreement in the core beliefs of the Bible; the Personhood of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Original sin and the truth that all are lost and that Jesus Christ is the only path to the Father. The authority of Scripture, the cross of Christ, the resurrection, and holiness of life. There will be differences, such as how we see the gifts of the Spirit, eternal security, healing, and hearing the voice of God. None of these are central to our faith. The fact that we are human means we will differ on some points, but we cannot differ on that which is central to our faith. In these we are to be immovable, but as John Wesley, on all other things we are to show love towards one another. What is going right now is anything but loving. Every time I see an article or hear someone preach against others who do not agree with their particular doctrine, my heart grieves. I can't begin to imagine how it must grieve the heart of God. Jesus prayed that the world would see our unity, a unity based upon holy love for each other, so that they might believe the Father had sent Him. How many do not believe because all they have seen is a church at war with itself, and what part have we played in that war? Where heresy and false teachings are being spread, we need to counter it with His Truth, and strongly, but we do so in love, not with attacks and name calling. Let us gather around what is essential to the faith, and show tolerance and lovingkindness in the areas where we may differ. Let us do so that we may bless and bring joy to the heart of Christ, and in the opening of the eyes and hearts of an unbelieving world as it sees how much we love Him, His people, and them. Blessings, Pastor O

His Song

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Psalm 134:7 A friend of mine regularly sends me his writings. They're a blessing. One of his most recent closed with an exhortation that we, the followers of Christ, would not cease singing His "song" as we walk through this "strange land." An increasingly strange land. The above Psalm was written during Israel's Babylonian captivity, with the psalmist asking the question of how could the people sing of Him and to Him in this land of bondage and pain? It's a fair question. One many of us are asking even now. How in the land of our affliction and heartache, can we be expected to sing songs of praise and gratitude, of His glory and greatness in the "land" we are walking through. Today I attended the graveside service of a man who recently died from the disease of cancer. His father, my friend, sat at the graveside. 10 years earlier, almost to the day, he had buried his daughter in this same cemetery. His only two children, both taken too early by a hateful disease. How could he sing the Lord's song in this land he found himself in? How could the man who just a week ago received a letter from his wife's lawyer, initiating divorce proceedings? How could the young husband, who tomorrow will bury his lovely wife, also a victim of cancer? How can any of us who walk through the darkness that surrounds us? The answer is not easy to come upon, but it is real, and it is true. I heard Joni Eareckson Tada speaking this morning on suffering, something she is far too well acquainted with. She spoke of the furnace experience of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's furnace experience at the hands of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. They had refused to bow to the godlike image of himself he had made. He ordered their execution in a blazing hot furnace. They didn't die. Instead, as the king looked on, he saw not just the three men walking about in the fire unharmed, but a fourth who was with them. That one was Christ Himself. Tada said that in the midst of the white hot flames they came into a union, and intimacy with Him more wondrous and glorious than any words could describe. It's what she has discovered in her own suffering. It's what He would have us discover in ours. This is how, even in the strangest land of deepest sufferings, we may still sing His song, even though we sing it with tears. In the flames, we find the sweetness and intimacy of Christ. To be a follower of Christ is to be a stranger in a foreign land. This is not our home, and this land we walk through on the way to that which is our home, is filled with loss and pain. We will enter into the furnace more than once, but in it, we will discover an intimacy with Him the flames and heat cannot touch. If you're there, look for Him, because He is there with you, and if you let Him, He will give you His song, and you will sing it, even if you sing it with tears. Blessings, Pastor O

Where?

So Jesus asked the Twelve, "Do you want to leave too?" Simon Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe that You are the Holy One of God." John 6:67-69 There have been places in my life where I spoke the same words to Christ that Peter did. Two come to mind right now. The first was early on in my walk. My first year with Him was a lonely one. I'd left my lifestyle of parties, drugs, chasing women, and all that goes with that. Some of the disengagements came easily, some much less so. Though I had left the lifestyle, the lifestyle was still all around me, especially where I lived. One evening the people who lived where I lived opened up a bag of grass and began rolling joints. They proceeded to pass them around. It came to me. I can't say even now why I partook, but I did. The weed was particularly potent and I felt the effects immediately. Here's the thing; I was high and I knew it, yet my mind was clear, and in the clarity, I heard the whisper of His Spirit. He simply asked, "Is what you're feeling now in any way as wonderful as what you experienced when you first met Me?" It wasn't. I knew it wasn't, and my heart melted before Him. With that, the effects of the grass left immediately. I walked away from that gathering and from the counterfeit "high" I found there. I never went back. I knew that no high the world could offer could ever compare to the beauty of knowing Him. Like Peter, where could I go? I knew He had the words of life. I'd experienced them. How could I ever leave Him? The second time took place years later, in the midst of my divorce and my having to step out of ministry. Life was hard, confusing, terrifying, and I had no idea how it could have gotten like this. I was a follower of Jesus Christ. How could this happen? Into this the accusations of the enemy screamed at me. How could I follow a Jesus who'd allowed this? Where was He? Why didn't He stop it? Why didn't He immediately put an end to my suffering? If this was what life in Christ was, wasn't I better off in what my life was without Him than I was now? Each time, I would hear the whisper of His grace. This was not the end. This was not where He would leave me. I did have a future and a hope. At root, like Peter, I knew that there was no place else for me to go. I knew He had the words and ways of life. I had experienced that truth many times over. By His grace I would trust Him. By His grace I would press on. If you are truly following hard after Jesus, such times will come upon you. Times when the pull of turning back is powerful. Maybe you're in one now. If so, focus on who He was to you when you first knew Him and who He has continued to be. Press on, believing, trusting, obeying. He is with you, regardless of what the enemy is saying through it all. I close with this story about Annie Herring, one of the foremost Jesus Music people. She was living in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco during the hippie centered summer of love. She had hopes of being a rock star and had just been offered a big record contract. She had also recently come to Christ as her Savior. She said she was faced with a choice, and in the choice, she heard the voice of the Spirit, saying to her that she could have everything she ever wanted if she signed the contract.....or she could have Him. She must choose. She said she answered Him with, "Lord, after knowing You, I don't want anything else." That choice will come to each of us, many times in fact. How do we choose? For Annie Herring, there was no other option but Jesus. How about for you and me? Where do we go if we don't go after Him? Blessings, Pastor O

The Room

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24 Perhaps you've heard or read a description of how, when a believer comes before the Lord in eternity, they'll be shown a room where all the blessings the Lord wanted to shower upon them were stored. Those blessings never came, the story says, because they lacked faith, trust, and so on. It's a good illustration and a valid one. It will be a tragedy to see the contents of that room. Yet, I believe there is a much greater tragedy concerning a much lesser known room. It's the room that contains the cross that Christ called us to take up and bear, as we follow Him wherever He leads, yet we never did. How many of us may have such a room, yet aren't even aware of it? I think we have a skewed understanding of what it means to bear our cross and follow Him. I think many of us point at a particularly difficult and painful situation, a crumbling marriage, a ministry that costs us, prodigal children. All of these and more are very painful, but they alone don't make for our cross. Our cross is the same one Christ bore. Our cross is our surrender to everything in our lives that could happen or will happen. Our cross is all that is involved in our complete surrender and submission to whatever He leads us to and through and His purpose for us in it. No matter the cost, no matter the way. Like Christ in Gethsemane, we have already determined that nothing He asks, commands, or requires is off limits in our lives. Wherever He leads and whatever the fruit of His leading may be for us, we've already determined we will follow, no matter how heavy the cross coming out of our decision may become. The Roman crosses left nothing alive and neither does the cross of Christ. At least nothing of the self-will. Self has been died to and Christ's will is what we live for. This is what a disciple is called to with no exceptions. Jesus made this declaration to a large crowd that was following Him, All but His chosen disciples turned back. Such is the cost of the cross, and such is the reason so many rooms that are symbolic of the cross He has called us to....still contain our cross. Do you and I have such a room? I have no desire to experience the scenario of the first room I write about. I want to receive every good thing that He has for me. I want His everything, but I tremble to think of having to face Him about the second room. The one that contains the cross I never had the courage to pick up and carry, and as a result, caused me to never completely follow Him. We will give an account for how we lived in Him, made use of His gifts, and our obedience for His call to His cross. We will lay the spiritual treasures we have accumulated in this life at His feet. I like to think that perhaps our greatest offering to Him will be the cross we bore in His name. I hope I have one to offer Him. I hope mine is not still sitting in a room. How about you? Blessings, Pastor O

Silence

Scripture speaks a good deal about how God hides Himself from us at times. He doesn't do so out of cruelty but He does so with the hope that the seeming silence is nothing more than His invitation to seek Him out, to hear His voice, and in His voice, His heart. Sadly, for too many of us, our seeking is short lived. If He doesn't begin speaking within an already set time by us, with pull away in frustration, in anger, in defeat. What riches we miss. Jesus said that we have ears to hear but don't hear, and eyes to see, but we don't see. In His silence, in His seemingly total absence, Jesus has given us a directive. We're to seek and keep on seeking. To ask and keep on asking. To knock, and to keep on knocking. He has so much to say to us. So much for us to see, but He does so to those who seek Him, look for Him, with a passion. It's to such that He reveals His heart and to whom He shows Himself. Have we such fervor for Him, or are we more in sync with the background noise of this world? He doesn't offer soundbites and video clips of Himself to us. He offers the treasures of eternity, but we can never come by them cheaply or with ease. We come by them not by how hard we work at reaching Him, but how desperately we desire Him. Real desperation for Him will not be put off by the obstacles that the world and the enemy tries to put between He and us. It will press on, pray through, and lay hold. We will hear Him who never really stopped speaking and see Him who really was always there. Truly, when He seems to not be speaking, He speaks the loudest, and when we think He isn't there, He's standing right before us. Blessings, Pastor O

Marinate

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 "We need to marinate in the darkness and process that we're walking through." Katherine Wolf Marinate is a word most of those familiar with cooking know. It's usually used in connection with meat or poultry and involves taking a cut of meat and allowing it to soak in various mixtures of herbs, oil, or some other mixture for the purpose of adding flavor. The "character" of what the meat is soaking in permeates the meat and it becomes a part of it. Do we ever think of what it is that the Father desires for us in our being still before Him and in Him? It isn't just to calm us, bring us peace, or slow everything around us down, though those are all good things. As we're still, we're to soak in, marinate in Him. In the stillness, we're to soak up as much of His life and character as we're able. As we're still, who He is is becomes a real part of who we are, yet how many of us ever actually experience this? In the stillness, He wants to communicate with us, teach us, deepen us. He wants to fill us to overflowing with the flavor of His life and personality. For me, Wolf's quote is filled with meaning. The deepest most revealing times in my life were when I was traveling through the darkness He'd allowed and having to process through communication with Him what it was He was seeking to say and do in me. Too many of us miss this. We just want to get through. It's been said that the first thing we ought to ask Him in any wilderness or darkness that He leads us into is, "Lord, what are you wanting to say to me here?" How often have we ever asked Him that question. I surely didn't the first time I entered such darkness. I just wanted out. I wasn't seeking for what I could learn or become, I just wanted it to be over. It was quite a while before I began to learn what it really meant to be still. One thing is certain for the true follower of Christ; there will be times of darkness in the journey. Don't waste them. Soak in His presence. Listen for His heartbeat and voice. Take on the flavor of who He is. Become more and more just who He created you to be. God will waste no one's time. In our stillness, He works. May we not waste the time. Blessings, Pastor O

Another Sort

love the story of the twelve spies, sent out by Moses and told in the 13th chapter of Numbers. They were sent to spy out the promised land of Canaan, to see what was in it. The twelve men were each a leader in their tribe. They entered into the land and traveled all about it. When they returned, they told of the wonders they had seen there. Ten of them reported that it was indeed a wonderful place, but they were focused on all the dangers they saw there, not the least of which was a race of giants. They said they felt like grasshoppers next to them. Two, Joshua and Caleb, dismissed the obstacles, and centered on the fact that God had promised them this land and His presence as they took hold of it. The words of the 10 melted the hearts of the people, and they refused to enter in. Someone said that Joshua and Caleb were "men of another sort." Men who had the faith to believe for the impossible and the courage to trust God to bring His promises to fulfillment. The church has always needed men and women of another sort in its midst, never more so than now. In my journal concerning this, I've written, "Do I have the courage to be a man of another sort?" I hope that I have been. Do I still? Do I still, now that I have come into my old age? Can I, will I, still risk all for Him, trusting in His promises and His presence? In my increasing weakness, can I still see His infinite strength? The church is filled with those whose outlook is in line with that of the ten. They were leaders in their tribes, yet they were unable to lead their people in this time of risk and challenge. There was a heavy price to pay for their disobedience; forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Every one of the 10 died in that wilderness. Joshua and Caleb did not. They entered into His promise, but they lost all those years because of the fear of the 10. Are we living in such a way as to inspire, encourage, and challenge those around us to trust, believe, and obey Him? Men and women of another sort can and do. Can we be among them? The church, this nation, and all nations, desperately need people who are of another sort. God has raised such up throughout the history of the church. He is still doing so. Will you and I be among them.....or will we be found among the ten? Blessings, Pastor O

The Calling

The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you. Judges 6:12 "What God has said must become a greater reality to you than what you see in the mirror." Paul Washer Most professing believers know the story of Gideon. Even a number of unbelievers may know something of his story. He was a man who considered himself the least member of his household and his household to be among the least of the families of Israel. When an angel of the Lord appeared to him, he was hidden in a winepress threshing wheat. He was hidden because the Midianites, a people who were terrorizing Israel, were stealing their food and possessions at will. They were greatly feared by all, especially by Gideon. Yet God had called him a mighty man of valor, though nothing about his life said that was true. I heard Christine Caine say the other day that God will call you things when there is absolutely no evidence that you are any of them.. Gideon gave no evidence of being what God had just called him, yet that is exactly who he became, not only in the eyes of God, but in the eyes of his fellow Israelites. He led a band of 300 men to a rout of an army of Midianites numbering in the thousands. He became the leader of a nation. Who has God said that you are? What has He called you to? I guarantee you that whoever He says that you are or calls you to will be beyond anything you've ever expected and beyond any of your abilities to be or do. Some will laugh, others will mock if we tell them. Jesus' own family didn't believe He was the Messiah. Affirmation may be slow in coming and the enemy will throw everything he can in his seeking to keep you from realizing your calling from the Father. Your part, our part, is to dare to believe His call and stepping out into the call, even with small steps, must be our first response. If your heart tells you that it's His voice you hear and you obey, He will, with each step affirm and confirm, and with each step, our resolve to press on will grow. The mockers and doubters never really leave us. They'll continue to come in different forms and different ways. Our part is to ignore what they say and stay fixed on what He has said and is saying. In my life and calling, many have spoken against what He had spoken. Some were in my family. Some were my friends. Too many were in the church. I did what we each must do if we're to live out His call. I set my heart to obey, to follow, and to not turn to the right or the left. Not just in the initial calling, but in the unfolding call that is still taking place. At times I wavered and doubted, but His grace blew fresh upon me every time. He will do so for you as well.He has called you to what you cannot possibly be or do apart from Him. That's the beauty of the call. There is nothing within us to attain it, so we have to depend fully upon Him. It's been 46 years since I first heard His call. The calling has only grown as has His sustaining grace. He called me what I could never be and to what I could never do. He's done so with you as well. Know that. Believe that. Now, in trust and obedience, step out into the calling. You won't believe the places He'll take you. Blessings, Pastor O

More

Seek and you shall find. Matthew 7:7 Paul was a seeker and a finder and a seeker still. A.W. Tozer Matthew 7:7 is a promise, and the apostle Paul is an example of how the reception of that promise was lived out in a life. To what degree do we, who say we are Christ's, believe and live out this promise as well? I think too many of us never take it much beyond our "finding" of Jesus Christ and His salvation that He invites us to. We don't think too deeply about it all. We're happy to call ourselves "saved," and we try to live a good Christian life, but somehow, our seeking hearts grow dull and our "finding" of all the riches that are in Him never advances much beyond this initial stage. We live in spiritual poverty but are unaware of this because we've become so enamored of the treasures of this world, which aren't treasure at all, but snares. Tozer said that Paul sought, and Paul found, and Paul continued to seek more. Ever more. More of Him. More of His Life and Light. More of His knowledge. More of the endless riches that He calls us to. Paul lived with a seeking heart. His experience was that Jesus Christ satisfies, but He was never satisfied to stay at any one level. He never gave up His seeking. I believe His seeking goes on even now in eternity. His endless riches are always before us, and the more we lay hold of, the more we want, or should. The more satisfaction in Him that we lay hold of, the more and ever deeper satisfaction to be found in Him is laid before us. I will be 76 years old next month. I have been a seeker after Him since the day I first came to Him. I still am, but the temptation to "take my rest" is always there. The temptation to do so is always tempting, and the reasons the enemy suggests that I do so always seem to make sense, but it's a snare. If the devil can't destroy us, He will always seek to draw us away from Him. Our greatest defense will always be to never leave off in our seeking. My life has been an adventure in Him, but it hasn't always seemed so. I expect that your adventure has seemed so as well. Yet I know that for me, and for you, the greatest adventures still lay before us. His best is always yet to come, and it will come throughout eternity. Let us press on my friends. Let us always be seeking and finding and seeking more. More of Him. Always more of Him. Blessings, Pastor O

The Nothing

The Bible is filled with stories of those who entered wilderness times. Sometimes very lengthy wilderness times. Moses spent decades on the backside of the desert. Joseph endured more than a decade as a slave and prisoner. John the Baptist emerged into his ministry from a life lived in the desert. Paul spent three years in the Arabian desert before he undertook his calling from the Father. Jesus Himself went into a 40 day sojourn in the wilderness before He came out ready to fulfill His mission as Savior. Our flesh hates the very thought of the wilderness, but our God cherishes it for us. Something mystical takes place there, if we will have it. I really like what Alicia Britt Chole said about all this. She wrote, "You will not shortcut the wilderness season. Let Him meet you in the nothing. You will become one who can carry what God wants to put in your hands." Meeting Him in the nothing, and nothing is what the wilderness will seem like. Being there makes no sense, but it's there that He shapes and equips us. None of the above, even Christ Himself, could have fully carried out what the Father would put in their hands without their wilderness experience. Too many of us waste our wilderness time. We just want out, for it to end. As a result, He is unable to put into our hands the work, the witness, the impact that He means for us to have. For Him, for His Kingdom. I think we've mostly lost the concept of being "pilgrims in the world," just passing through, but that is what we are. Pilgrims will have their wilderness time, but will He be able to place anything in our hands there? In what seems like nothing, will we gain His everything? There are no shortcuts through the wilderness, so don't waste time seeking one. Meet Him there, in the nothing, and gain everything. He has wonders to place in your hands there. Will you allow Him to do so? Blessings, Pastor O

New

His mercies never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23 I was thumbing through one of my prayer journals and I came across something I don't remember writing. On the surface it's a simple statement, but its depth is infinite. It reads, "Each day I get older and each day He gets newer." Let's chew on that for a few minutes. I have been walking with Him since I had just turned twenty nine years old. I've gotten old, but He never has. He, in the wholeness of His being, really is new every morning. I keep discovering new facets of His character, faithfulness, and love. No matter how deep I go in discovering Him, I continue to see how I am only scratching His surface. Life can become so stale. This passing world can as well. He never does and He never will. One of the great promises of an eternity with Him is that it will be a continuous adventure of knowing Him. An eternity filled with His richness, a richness that will never run out. The Apostle Paul said that the world's hold upon him had vanished, just as his hold upon it had as well. Here, at nearly 76 years of age, I understand that more clearly than ever. One of the blessings of aging for the follower of Christ is the realization that the treasures of this world never satisfy. Not fully and not for long. We grow tired of them and put them aside, quickly intensifying our search for something that will. Not so with Him. Not so with Christ, and not so with the things of the Spirit. They are constantly fresh and new, and they never fail to satisfy. They never will. Ever. Some reading this may have no idea of what I'm speaking of. It's either because you have never known Him, or because you have never fully believed that He could be and is all that I say He is, and what really matters, that He is all He says that He is and promises to be. If that is where you find yourself today I, with all my heart, encourage you, plead with you, to step out into Him and discover that it is true. Have the Bread of His Life and the refreshing springs of His Living Water fresh and whole. Discover that they really are new every morning. New for you, and new for me. Blessings, Pastor O