Withered Heart

And He said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here." .....He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. Mark 3:1,5 Chris Tiegreen, commenting on this passage said, "We must own up to our withered hand." Withered hand. Withered heart. Withered soul and life. At root, we are all "withered." The meaning of the word is "dry and shriveled." I think this marks a great part of every life being lived without Him, no matter how things may appear on the outside. That will not change until we own up to that which is dry and shriveled in our lives, as well as to what it has produced. Dry and shriveled relationships, marriages, families. Dry and shriveled livelihoods and yes, ministries...and churches. Our great problem is that we resist, strongly, to admitting that anything in our lives is withered, and if we do, we usually place the responsibility for it on something or someone else. We rarely see it as being a problem stemming from the conditions of our heart and soul. Tiegreen said, "Our fallenness (sin) is all we have to offer Him. In His mercy, it's all He asks." Someone said that we cannot be saved until we realize and admit that we need to be. Our sinful pride and self-reliance in all things keeps us from admitting that need. The result is always going to be a shriveled life. Jesus told the man with the withered hand to "stretch it out" to Him.This is our need. This is what we must do when we come to Him. Jesus wanted the man to stretch all of his hand out, with no part of it held back. It is the same in His invitation to us. We must "stretch out" all of our being to Him, with no part of ourselves held back. Ourselves and every aspect of what has been, what is, and what will be, given over to Him. When we release all from our withered hands to Him, He in turn restores all that the withering has touched. I have worked with people in all kinds of ministries for more than 40 years now. Many will be aware of the withered areas of their lives. They can admit it, but they can't bring themselves to surrender it to Him. Can you? We cannot escape the reality of our withered hand, but we can see it healed. Fully healed and restored. All we need to do is bring it to Him, give it to Him, and leave it with Him. He invited us to come. Can we? Will we? Will you? Blessings, Pastor O

Altars

And David built there an altar to the Lord. I Chronicles 21:26 Everyone has an altar....everyone brings offerings. Chris Tiegreen There was a time when most evangelical churches, particularly holiness churches, had an altar at the front of the sanctuary. It was to be a place of prayer, of consecration, a place to offer ourselves completely to Him. In many churches, they have disappeared, and that can be a topic for another writing, but their disappearance does not for a moment take away the truth of Tiegreen's statement. Everyone, including you and me, has an altar and we bring our offerings to it. It can be an altar dedicated to pleasure and comfort. It may be an altar that we bring our offerings and sacrifices to for success, money, and fame. As Tiegreen writes, We have no shortage of gifts to bring to our altars, because the world has no shortage of altars. Throughout their history, Israel kept the Lord's altar in the Temple while at the same time erecting countless other altars to all the false gods and idols they were also worshipping. Where in our lives are we doing the same? Some of them are painfully obvious, as listed above, but others are not so easily identified. They cloak themselves in religious "robes." Perhaps one of the most deadly is "ministry success." Countless pastors, teachers, and worship leaders have visited this altar, including myself. We come to His altar, but in our hearts there exists another, a rival to Him; our work, our ministry. Our recognition. We can hunger for that. Oftentimes more than we hunger for Him. There is only one legitimate altar we may come to; His. All others are counterfeits. There is only one acceptable offering we may bring to His altar; ourselves. In response, He will send His holy fire upon the offering. The result will be revival. Renewal. Awakening. Watchman Nee said that without the altar there will be no heavenly fire. Nor will there be without the proper offering of our lives. All of our lives. There's an old hymn with the lyric, "I never will forget how the fire fell when the Lord sanctified me." May we have such a testimony and may we have such a result. Bring us to Your altar Lord. Send Your fire. Send it now. Blessings, Pastor O

Beauty

The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy has long been a favorite for me. In them, intentional or not, there is so much biblical truth. There is one such scene in particular that speaks deeply into my heart and spirit. Frodo and Sam, the hobbits entrusted with taking and destroying the ring of power in the fires of Mt. Doom, located in the heart of evil Mordor, are walking through its very center. Darkness and death are all around them. They are weary, at the end of their strength. They have collapsed upon the ground, near total despair and defeat. Mordor is the blackest and most evil place in Middle Earth. Suddenly, Sam looks up into the thick darkness of the sky and sees a section of it where the stars, shining in their glory can be seen. He says to Frodo, "Look, Mr. Frodo. There is beauty here that no amount of darkness can hide." With that, the hobbits stand up and journey on, destroying the ring, Mordor, and its evil ruler, Sauron, as well. I feel we, the church, may be feeling much like Frodo and Sam these days. Thick darkness seems to be covering our nation and the nations with increasing density. Evil is abounding and even seems to be winning. All of it can be suffocating to those committed to following and living for Him. We too can reach a place of near despair in believing that it can be defeated. This can be even more true as concerns our personal lives and situations. Marriages are disintegrating, families are being broken apart, trouble and need seem to be assaulting us from every side. All around us, the darkness is pressing in, threatening to crush the life out of us. It is here that His Word needs to be heard in our hearts, "Look up, for your redemption draws near." We, like Sam, need to get our eyes off of what is going on in our circumstances and "see" the beauty that cannot be hidden or defeated. The beauty that is Christ the King. He reigns despite all of it because He has already defeated all of it. It may have its season, but He rules over every season. His beauty went to the cross, rose from the tomb, and reigns over all the earth and universe. The deepest darkness cannot stand against it. We have just celebrated His resurrection. Let it not be a one day event. May it be our lifestyle. You may be walking through your own "Mordor" and all of its fire. Darkness may be pressing you on every side. Ugliness may be all you can see. Look up. There is beauty there that no one can hide and nothing can overcome. That beauty is for you and for me. Rise up and walk, to victory, to life, to His glory. Our God reigns. Christ the King reigns....and we, His people, reign with Him. Blessings, Pastor O

Living Hope

He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I Peter 1:3 How do Peter's words above affect you? What emotions and thoughts do they stir? As we contemplate the meaning of the cross, the tomb, and His resurrection, where do our meditations take us? There are no words that are adequate for the greatest event from the beginning of creation till now. Because of it, we who believe and fully receive the risen Christ are "born again to a living hope." A LIVING HOPE. This truth should be coursing through our being no matter where our lives are currently situated. Think upon the disciples in the immediate aftermath of the crucifixion. Think of the depths of their sorrow, their seeming hopelessness and despair. They had no idea of the living hope that was their inheritance. Perhaps that's where you're at on this day. You know about the cross, of His "blowing the doors off of His tomb," of His resurrection, but like the disciples, you're not experiencing the riches of what has happened. You know the facts, but you don't know the experience and reality of it for yourself. But, you can! I know what it's like to be in the place described above. I know what it's like to wake up, day after day, each day looking like the last one; gray, dark, with hope nearly gone, or fully gone. I know what it's like to be faced with the choice to either believe His promises, His truth, and the promise of His living hope, or to turn from it. I also know the result of choosing the former, regardless of what the enemy, working through the circumstances, tries to get you to believe. I know what it's like to live in His living hope even when it feels like anything but. I know, because at the perfect time, He blew the doors off of my tomb and brought me into the fullness of His risen life. And He has done so for me time and time again.He will for you as well, if you truly believe, you will fully receive. I promise you, where you are is not where He will leave. He didn't leave the disciples huddled in their fear. He appeared to them, and more than once. Wherever we are, He will show up, and He has infinite ways of doing so. Your day may be gray and dark, and your feelings and emotions may be at their lowest ebb. Look up, as Scripture directs, for your redemption is not only near, it is here. He is here offering you all the fullness of His risen life. If you have believed upon Him for salvation, believe upon Him for His resurrection life. It is the fruit of His victory. It is yours, and it is mine. Let us walk in it, with Him, all the way into eternity, and beyond. Blessings, Pastor O

Crucified

Sadly, though Christ and His cross are central to our Christian faith, we seem to know little of what the crucified life entails. Paul said in Galatians 2, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in (and through) me. Paul's letters are filled with descriptions of living out a crucified life, a life where we have died to our own will and are completely surrendered to and live for His, yet we seem largely ignorant as to what it all means to us personally. When Christ calls us to Himself, He also calls us to His cross and go to our own Calvary. A.W. Tozer gave a powerful description of what is entailed in the crucified life. I share it with you today. The Romans were highly skilled at putting people to death and had many cruel means of doing so. Crucifixion was among the worst, if not the worst. Tozer listed three things about crucifixion that apply to everyone who comes after Jesus Christ..... The one being crucified could face in only one direction. When we follow after Him, we go in only one direction; where He leads. We're not to be concerned about any other. Where He leads we follow, regardless of the danger, the cost, or the place. This must already be settled in our heart and will. If it hasn't, we will always be looking for a way out of our following, or we will have set pre-determined boundaries as to how far we will go with Him. With the crucified life, there can be no reservations. The one being crucified can never turn back. The old hymn comes to mind here; I have decided to follow Jesus...no turning back, no turning back. Again, those who have chosen the crucified life have already made the decision that there would be no turning back in their journey with Christ. They would not lag behind and they would not run ahead. They don't ask the Lord for details about what lies ahead, they simply trust that He knows the way and that He leads in a direction that will bring us our ultimate good and blessing. The hardness of the way, the pain that may be involved, the losses that may be incurred, none will deter them. They will not turn back....ever. The one being crucified no longer has any plans of their own. The one condemned to crucifixion was under the complete control of those who'd nailed them to the cross. Those who live the crucified life have yielded all control and all the details of their life to Jesus Christ. They may talk with their Lord, ask of their Lord, and have hopes in their Lord, but all of this is completely surrendered to Him. Their attitude is like that of their Lord in the Garden when He asked the Father to remove the "cup" of the crucifixion from Him, but said in the asking, Nevertheless, not my will but Your will be done. This is the crucified life. Is it yours and is it mine? There is no such thing as a casual follower of Jesus Christ. That's an oxymoron. We should tremble even thinking that it's possible to be such. Jesus said that Where I am, you shall be also. That promise entails riches untold stretching into and throughout eternity, but it also includes a cross. Yours and mine. The cross will always lead us to the tomb of our old carnal flesh life, but it will also yield the wonder of His resurrection life. May we meet Him at His cross. Our flesh will fight it, but our hearts will yearn for it. Which wins out in you and me? Blessings, Pastor O

Persuaded

Jesus asked, 'Do you finally believe?' John 16:31 Written in my prayer journal is the simple question, "What will I believe today?" I don't remember what prompted me to write it, but it's a question we should hear from the Holy Spirit every day. What is it, in the midst of the day's challenges, heartaches, disappointments, and defeats, that I will believe? What will I believe about the Father? Is He Almighty, all knowing, filled with compassion, mercy, and love. That's what I've always said of Him. Now, today, when everything seems to suggest that He's none of these, what will I choose to believe? The same question is asked of me, and of you, about the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the truth of Scripture and His promises. I have come to see that none of us will really be able to say we believe until that belief has been tested in the fire. Jesus asked this question of His disciples after they had proclaimed their belief in Him. The key word in the question is "finally." They'd professed their belief and trust in Him before and He'd witnessed their wobbly faith. Their belief would soon be tested in the fire, the fire of Pentecost. They, the ones of wobbly faith, would emerge from the flames of the test with their belief in Him established. They could say, as Paul would eventually say, "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He will keep that which I've committed unto Him." Are you and I persuaded? Has our belief in Him ever truly been tested? Has our faith really gone through the fire of adversity? It will be, and more than once. That's why the question about what we will believe today is so pertinent. Each day is a new day with new giants, mountains, and valleys containing the shadow of death awaiting us. We can't depend upon what we believed yesterday, but we can resolve that we will believe it is so today. Our tendency is to take He and His promises for granted, and this makes us vulnerable. We need to face the day with a Holy Spirit empowered resolve to once again, believe and trust Him. A resolve salted with Holy Spirit fire. Do we finally believe Him? The answer will be found in what we believe about Him today. Will what we believe stand the test of fire? Blessings, Pastor O

Peace Treaties

Today, I want to expound on some quotes I have in my prayer journal. It's easy in an unholy world to make peace with unholiness Paul Tripp We, the professing church, know that this fallen world is unholy. It always has been. So much so that I believe the depths of depravity that we're seeing in every corner of society are succeeding in hardening our hearts and conscience towards it all. To what degree have we, you and I, made peace with it? How much of what is happening all around us doesn't really bother us all that much? No, we may not indulge in it, but neither are we much offended by it. It invades our hearts, our minds, our homes, and even our churches. Have we just decided to co-exist with it? Worse, are we, His church, His holy church, actually participating in it all to varying degrees? Where have we signed peace treaties with the world? We keep lowering the bar of what's acceptable Paul Tripp This quote should make us all squirm, because we know it's true. In many corners of His church, we just look like cleaned up versions of the world around us. It didn't happen all at once. It never does. Satan is far too subtle and sly for that. He slowly increases his depravities in the world, and we slowly acquiesce to them. Things thought unthinkable just 25 years ago have dug deeply into the church. The word "holiness" is disappearing in the teaching and preaching of the church. It is not only a central attribute of Almighty God, it was a central doctrine in the church. It may still be found on plagues and wall hangings in the church. Is it found in the heart of the majority of our people? We are tolerating things in ourselves, things we should be confronting. Lisa Bevere When we "sign" peace treaties with the world and the flesh, we give ourselves permission to cease asking Him to search our hearts for "any sinful and hurtful ways." In short, to make straight that which was crooked in our behaviors and thinking. When this happens we grow ever more tolerant of and at peace with things we would once have given no place to. By His grace, we confront the issues He has pointed out, but our compromises have ended that. The result is that we grow ever more blind to our inner corruptions and ever more "at peace" with them. Have many such peace treaties have we signed? Do we realize that they bring no real peace at all, and eventually, the enemy will destroy us through them. May the standard of His holiness be lifted up in our midst. May we cease making treaties with the enemy that only end up surrendering more and more of our heart to him. May we refuse to tolerate the very things within us that put Jesus Christ on the cross. Blessings, Pastor O

Alone

At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But Christ stood with me and strengthened me." 2 Timothy 4:16 I recently watched a 40 plus years old interview of Billy Graham. He was asked what the greatest problem facing people might be? His answer surprised the one doing the interview, and likely most who watched it, both then and now. He said he believed it to be loneliness. I agree with him, and if it was so then, how much more is it now with technology and social media isolating us from one another to a degree that brother Billy could not have envisioned? Loneliness has invaded every corner of our culture. Husbands, wives, children, friends. All of us know it. We are seeing a frightening number of suicides by all age groups, but especially among teens. Most, in the notes they leave behind, speak of feeling utterly alone, uncared for. It is so in the world, and it is so in the church. How many of those that we "welcome" each week, leave our gatherings feeling the deep pain of loneliness? How many enter through our doors each week yearning to be noticed, accepted, loved, and then left unfulfilled? I realize that this is not completely on the church, but how hard do we really try to bring people into our life communities? There is a wide difference between being a welcoming church on the surface and one that really seeks to bring people into an authentic Christian community. At a church I once attended in Richmond, Virginia, there was a greeter everyone called "Pop." He was a large, gregarious man. He was not well educated, or distinguished looking, but every week, as people came in, those who were in his vicinity were swept into his embrace, as he said, in words you knew were true, "Welcome! God loves you, I love you." The pastor of that church said he asked a man who was attending for the second time why he had returned. His reply was that he wanted to be embraced by Pop once more. He wanted to be told that he was loved. How many like him are we not seeing? Not just in our church gatherings, but in our everyday affairs, in our everyday encounters with the people who are all around us? Somewhere, if it still exists, is a photo of me at one of the endless parties I once lived for. All around me are people, yet I saw in my face what I knew then was in my spirit. I felt totally alone. Surrounded by people, but alone. I knew when I looked at it that I'd reached the end of myself. I knew I couldn't live like this anymore. All of us have felt abandoned, isolated, and betrayed. The pain is great. We know, like Paul, what it is to have no one "stand with us" in our heartache. Yet there is one thing that will be true if we will allow Him. He, the Lord Jesus, will come and stand with us, to strengthen us, lift us, comfort us, and love us. He will never fail to do so. Little more than a month after seeing the photo, He came to me, entered my heart, and nothing has been the same ever since. Since that time there have been a number of places where I felt the pain of betrayal, abandonment, of being forgotten. We will all experience the loneliness that these things bring, but we don't have to experience them alone. He will come. He will stay. He will not leave. You may feel that no one sees you or knows where you are. It's a lie. He is the One who sees you. He knows right where you are. Call to Him. He will come. His guarantee is written in His blood. Blessings, Pastor O

Red Dot

"Then the Lord called to the man, 'Where are you?' " Genesis 3:9 Have you ever found yourself in a mall or an airport trying to get your bearings? You can see what's all around you, but you don't really know where you are in relation to everything else, and particularly in relation to where you want to get to. Then you come to that large stationary layout with a floor plan. There is always a prominent dot, usually red, that tells you, "You are here." All that brings me to another question for each one of us. Where is our "red dot?" Where are we really at? In relation to others, in relation to Christ? We can see what's around us, but does what we see really tell us where we are spiritually? Do we even know? Where are we in our walk with Him? Where are we in our marriages, families, friendships, and ministries? Do we have a sense of where we want to be but don't really know how we're to get there? How do we really "get our bearings?" How do we get to where He wants us to be? To where He is? I think it starts with His words to us in Scripture; Be still and know that I am God. Busyness is the great enemy of intimacy with Him. Distractions keep our attention on everything but Christ. There are plenty of "roadside attractions" to sidetrack us from Him. Our red dot can be found in so many places He doesn't want us to be, but we won't know that until we stop, be still, and tune our hearts to Him. We won't discover who He really is or where we're really at, until we're still before Him. How does our "dot" get so removed from Him? There's more than one reason, but I think the greatest is that we're hiding from Him, and we find unending ways to do so. Sinful behavior is certainly at the top of the list, but we can hide in plain sight in so many ways. Jonah has plenty of company in his running from God in order to avoid His will and call. He ended up in the belly of a fish. Where and to what has your running and hiding brought you? Here's the beauty in it all. If your red dot is now in a place you never thought you'd be, a place you never intended to go, don't panic. Stop running and hiding. Simply be still, listen to His whisper of grace. Surrender where you are to Him. Call out His name, and He will come. He will come and take you to where He wants you to be in all aspects of your life. Your red dot and all that comes with it has to be surrendered to Him, otherwise you'll keep running, keep hiding, keep wandering, and always going nowhere. There's only one place your dot needs to be; right in the center of His heart. When that happens, you'll never need to ask where you are because your know where you always are. At home in His heart. Blessings, Pastor O

Sing

God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, Job 35:10 I think we all have those days and times when we don't "feel" like praying, praising, singing, or reading Scripture. Our emotions are leading us. If we follow them, they'll take us ever further from His Presence. In these times, in these desolate places, we need to believe that He is the God of desolate places. At root, we need to choose to believe He is who He says He is. We need to surrender to His Truth and not to our emotions. Maybe you're in such a place right now. Nothing about your circumstances, needs, or what seems to be points you to Him. It all points away from Him. It is here that we're faced with a choice; will we run towards Him, or will we run from Him? Don Moen is a worship leader that I listened to a lot back in the 90's, a time when He was reshaping what I believed about worship. I began to learn how He was able to lift me above what I might be feeling and into the realm of where He was. It was then that I began to understand what John had gone through on the Island of Patmos, a prison island. His emotions, feelings, and spirit had to have been at a low ebb, but he heard the Holy Spirit calling him to look up, not down or around, but up....to Him. As He did so, he saw a door opened into the throne room of his God and Father. He saw everything from the perspective of His throne room. Things as they really were and not how they seemed to be. True reality is not found here in this passing realm, but in eternity. In that which never passes away. I just watched a video featuring Moen, singing a song simply titled, "I Will Sing." His song spoke to all I've just written. Despite his heartache, his questions, his crushing emotions, and his fading desire to go to his Father, he would sing. He would pray. He would praise, and because he would, he, like John on Patmos, would also see that door unto His throne room opened as well. So will we. He knows we, like His Son, Jesus Christ, will enter into desolate places. He wants us to discover that He is Lord of the desolate place. How we feel at a particular time doesn't change that. He challenges us to believe, to trust,.....and to sing, to pray, and to praise. When we do, if we will, we will see Him, and when we see Him, the words of the great hymn will come true for us; It is well with my soul. My friends, it is well because He is with us. You may be in the desolate place. Take heart. He's the Lord of every desolate place. Even yours. Blessings, Pastor O

Rise

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” John 11:43....."The blessings of salvation began the day Jesus blew the door off a tomb." Chris Tiegreen I heard a song the other day where the lyrics, based upon the above Scripture, have the Lord Jesus calling Lazarus to "rise and come forth." Rise seems to be a word Jesus often used, with cripples held captive by their mats to the dead, or like Lazarus, held captive by his tomb. All it took to break the power of the disease, the chains, even death and its tomb, was a word from Christ. Nothing has changed in the last 2000 plus years. He's still speaking those words to those who can hear them. Can you hear them? Will you hear them? As a pastor for more than 40 years now, the hardest part of ministry has been seeing people remain on their "mats," held captive by addictions, the past, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, and every sort of wound that has never been healed. I have seen people, even His people, who still have much of their lives still entombed by things that they have done or have been done to them. To all of them, to all of us, to you, He speaks and calls, "Rise, and come out!" In those words, in His invitation, is infinite power. All of it focused on us, on you. I love that quote from Tiegreen. He literally "blew the doors off" of His tomb, Lazarus' tomb, and our tomb if we will have it. All the power of death in all of its forms is rendered powerless by His risen life. A risen life that He offers to us. Not just in some future time, but right now. Right here. Death could not keep Him, and it cannot keep us. Tomb life is no life at all, so why do we stay there? The darkest and most terrifying tomb we could ever imagine cannot keep His voice and His presence out. He will penetrate it and His words, if we will listen and receive them, will snap every chain, put to flight the deepest darkness, and blow the doors off of the strongest tomb. All we need do is to, by His grace, rise, and come out, come forth. I know what it is to be crippled by what has happened in life. I know what tomb life is like, along with all the hopelessness and despair it brings. I'm well acquainted with deep dark places. I tell you, His voice, His call, can be heard there. The devil may have convinced you that all is beyond hope and help. It's a lie. All you need do is call upon Him, for He has been calling upon you. He stands at the immovable stone, the doors of your tomb, ready to blow the doors off, already calling you forth. All that needs be done has been done. Leave your mat, your tomb behind. Rise, go forth, and follow Him......Someone said that in the place of total desperation and helplessness, all you need to do is cry out from your heart, "Jesus, come and save me." It's true. I did, and He did. Lose the mat. Lose the tomb. He calls to you. Rise up. Come out....to His risen life. Blessings, Pastor O Blessings, Pastor O

Wineskins

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 Old wineskins were softened by soaking in water for several days and then rubbing olive oil into them. John Bevere It's very common to associate the old wineskins with old people and the new with the young. Common, but wrong. While it's true that many elderly people get stuck on how God "used" to move and work, hardness of heart and resistance to His ways has never been confined to an age group. I have met many young believers whose hearts are as stiff and unbending as the oldest of wineskins, but there is a cure. It's found in Bevere's above quote, and It's so simple that I have to wonder how we so consistently miss it. Our hearts can become stiff and unbending very easily and quickly. It's the result of drifting from Him as the center of our existence. Other things, idols, draw us away. Away from Him and away from His heart. This will always yield hardheartedness in us. We become old wineskins, rigid, unbending, unfit to hold the new wine of His Holy Spirit. Our only hope is to recognize what has happened in our faithwalk, and undergo the cure Bevere speaks of. We need to soak in Jesus Christ. We need our spirit to become completely immersed in Him. This comes through His Word, His Presence, and His whispering into our hearts. Whispering His Life, which our wandering has caused to greatly recede. As we soak, something beautiful is also happening. He rubs the oil of His Holy Spirit into every crack and crevice that has appeared in our hearts during our drifting. What had rendered us hard and ill fit for what He created us for, is revived, renewed, and made like new again. The stiff and rigid heart and spirit that we'd been walking in has been replaced by the supple smoothness and beauty of His Life. Where, regardless of our age, have we become old wineskins? Where has our neglect, our drifting, our stubborn desire to have things our way, produced a heart of stone, and the loss of a heart of flesh? Where do we need to confess that this happened, to repent of it, and to come to Him. To come to Him that we might soak in His presence and life. Soak until every part of our being has been drenched in Him. Where do we need Him to rub the oil of His Holy Spirit into the cracks, cuts, and crevices that our actions and attitudes have created? Do we have the courage to confess and address where we, regardless of our age, have become old wineskins, of no use at all to Him or His church? He is constantly pouring new wine into His church. Not new doctrine or a new, different understanding of His Word, but a new and deeper understanding of what He has said and is saying now. If our hearts have become too dry and cracked to receive and hold it, He calls us to Himself. To soak in Him as He rubs the oil of His Spirit into our spirit and our heart. He has new wine for us. Have our hearts become to dry and brittle to receive it? Blessings, Pastor O

Tasteless

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. Matthew 5:13.....One reason men pay so little attention to the Gospel today is the tasteless living of so many Christians. Vance Havner I have Havner's quote in my prayer journal, and whenever I come across it, it grips me. It seems easy to read Matthew 5:13 and agree with what it says but never ask ourselves if it applies to us. In our faithwalk, have we lost our flavor? Have we become tasteless Christians? Dwell on that for a bit. Elsewhere in my journal I have another quote, I believe from A.W. Tozer. "Has anyone ever remarked about us that there is a strong presence of the Holy Spirit about us?" People, even unbelievers, sense when someone has an intimacy with Jesus Christ, that they know Him, that they keep close company with Him. Scripture tells us that the disciples were recognized as having been with Jesus. Do people recognize that we keep company with Him as well? The Holy Spirit is moving across the face of our nation and the world right now a move of the Spirit is happening in many places and we can praise His Name for that, but in so many other places, such a move is not happening. A great part of the reason is the presence of tasteless churches, filled with tasteless "believers," preached to and led by tasteless pastors. They are present in their communities, and many may know that they are, but they are not a flavor and an aroma of Jesus Christ. They are not impacting a lost world by their presence, and sadly, are instead impacted by the values of the surrounding culture. I don't want to lose sight of how the above verse closes. Not only is the salt thrown out because of its being tasteless, it's ground under the feet of those who pass by. Much of the church, as they have lost their savor, have also lost their power. It's resulted in their being marginalized and ignored by the world that so desperately needs them to be alive in Christ. That world spirit is grinding them under its feet. May we, His church, repent of anyplace where we've become tasteless believers, and seek His renewing and empowering. May we do this corporately and individually. We are called to represent Him as He is wherever we are. In our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and yes, most especially in His church. Has anyone lately, as Tozer asks, remarked on there being something radically different about us from most people, that we have a sense of the supernatural God about us? If not, perhaps it's time to repent of our tastelessness and seek a refiring of His Holy Spirit. To be, perhaps for the first time, a savor and aroma of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Blessings, Pastor O

Jesus Asks 2

Here's part two of some questions Jesus asked of His disciples and listeners. How do we answer? What do you want Me to do for you? Matthew 11:8 What is it really that we would ask of Jesus? Do our requests come anywhere near to the magnitude of who we believe Him to be? I think that many of us ask for little because we believe so little. Therefore, we "see" so little. There's a wonderful chorus with the lyric, Our God is an awesome God. Yet, awesome is a word that we have completely devalued. We call a good hamburger awesome. We should be awestruck by who He is, but are we really? Then there's the issue of not really knowing what it is we want. We want so many things and we don't deeply desire any of them. We're like children at Christmas. We have to have the toys we ask for, but when we get them, we quickly discard them and end up playing with the boxes they came in. If Jesus stood before you and asked you this question, "What do you want Me to do for you?" What would you say? What would you ask for? Would it be worthy of His glory? Do you believe I am able to do this? Matthew 9:28 If we really would ask of Him great and wonderful things, impossible things, do we really believe that He is able? He's not just a big God, He's an infinite One. He has no limitations....except the ones we place on Him. What are the limitations we place on Him? Do we measure Him in terms of our biggest problem or need? Which is greater in our sight and thinking? He has wrought some wonderful miracles in my life, but one stands out. I never thought that I would own a home. I desired it, but I just saw it as "impossible." I didn't have the funds, and the few attempts I'd made had almost been laughed at by bankers. I was about to sign a lease on another apartment when I received an email from a banker I'd talked to who was also a believer. He told me I'd been approved for a $200,000 mortgage. I hadn't even applied. This should never have happened, but it did. I had resigned myself to my situation, but He had "so much more for me than this." It was a miracle and it ended up being an investment that helped secure my retirement. He gave me what I never thought could be realized. In our deepest and most pure desires, do we really believe He can bring them to pass? Who do you say that I am? Matthew 16:15 Everything about the first two questions is really answered in this one. Who do we say He is? Who do we really believe Him to be? Almighty? Good? One who loves to give good gifts to His children? Not a Santa Claus God, but a holy one who always has the best interests of His people at heart. Do we believe Him to be greater than the sum of everything that could ever come against us? Do we believe that if you put every need you had, every impossibility that you face, every fear that can grip you on one side of a scale, and then God Almighty on the other, that He will always infinitely outweigh them all? That if we put all our sin, our past failures and heartaches, and our deepest wounds on one side of the scale, and the Lord Jesus on the other, that all are forgiven, healed, and cleansed? All of it comes down to who it is we believe Him to be. Who we say that He is. Who do we say that He is? Blessings, Pastor O

Jesus Asks

Jesus' most effective means of communicating with His disciples and followers was to ask them questions. Here are three questions He asks us. "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord" and do not do what I command?" Luke 6:46 Why do we? Calling Him "Lord" is almost an afterthought with us. We do it all the time, but we obviously have little understanding of what a "Lord" is to us. It means He has dominion over us. It means we are not our own, but His. It means that our will and desire is yielded to what His will and desire might be. It means that what He calls us to or directs us to do, must be obeyed...at once. As we honestly examine our walk with Him, does this describe us? If we can say, even in part, that it doesn't, then how can we call Him Lord? "Do you want to get well?" John 5:6 Jesus asks this of a man who'd been crippled for decades. He was at a pool that was believed to bring healing. He obviously wanted to be well, but when Jesus asked him this question, he replied with a long list of reasons why he couldn't be. How are we like Him? In our brokenness, be it in body, marriage, ministry, or life, how may we long for all to be made well and whole, but when faced with what must happen in our lives in order that we might be, we balk? We come up with many reasons why we can't escape our addictions, attitudes, problems, or whatever may cripple us. We want to get well, but not so much that we have to yield to all that He may do in making us so. What Jesus says here is, "I know you want to be well, but how desperately do you want it? Will you so fully surrender to me that I can bring it about, and in a far greater manner than you could ever ask? In our afflictions and crippledness, do we really want to get well...no matter what is involved, or we satisfied with a few "improvements?" "Have I been with you so long and still you don't know Me?" John 14:9 Jesus asked this of His disciple Philip, after His resurrection. Philip had asked Jesus to show them the Father, and then they'd believe it was really Him. Yet, His entire ministry to them had been about showing them the Father. How could they not see Him now? For three years He'd been with them in intimate fellowship, yet all of them, and Philip in particular, still didn't really know Him. How, and how could this also be true of you and me? We have years of church attendance. Years of sermons and teachings. Years of having prayers answered, and even seeing His miracles, yet here we are, still not really knowing Him. We've been around Him, but not really living in Him. We've learned much about Him, but we haven't really learned Him. He's been around us so long, but yet, we still don't really know Him. How? How deeply does the pain of His question hit you and hit me? Three questions that He has for us. What are our answers? Blessings, Pastor O

Seeing Jesus

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me Psalm 23:4 Joni Eareckson Tada, a woman much acquainted with suffering, said that "There is nothing more heavenly than seeing Christ in your hell." I know that she's right. I know it from my experience, and I know it through the testimonies of so many others. Just today a lovely young woman who has gone through two deep losses in the last two years, shared with me how she "saw" Jesus in the midst of her suffering. It was beautiful to hear, and I don't doubt a word of it. I have similar instances where He "showed up" in the midst of my pain and heartache. On a bitterly cold winter night near Christmas, on the lonely church campground I was living at, I returned home from work. I was feeling more lonely and forgotten than I ever had. Satan was tormenting me about it all, throwing darts at my mind about the seeming absence of Christ and His faithfulness. When I got into the little cottage I was staying in, I went to my Bible and came upon Paul's words concerning his trial before Caesar. He said, "At my first defense, no one stood with me, all had abandoned me, but Christ came and stood with me." His words leaped out of the pages of His Holy Word. I knew exactly how Paul must have felt. What happened next is mystical but remains as real to me as if it happened just yesterday. As I contemplated what I had read, I suddenly "saw" in my mind a scene of myself, being attacked by the devil in the form of a lion. Scripture says that he goes about seeking whom he might devour. He was certainly trying to do so with me. Suddenly, I saw my Lord Jesus enter the scene and wrap me in His arms of love. With a gesture, He put the lion to flight. The scene ended, but I knew it was real. He had come. Indeed, He'd never left, and He showed me that He hadn't. Like the old hymn goes, "He was there all the time." That's how I know how true Eareckson's words are. Nothing is more heavenly than when Jesus Christ appears in our hell. If you're walking through hell today, beloved, don't stop. Press on. He'll give you the strength to keep going, and I believe that if you're at that point of giving up, as I was, He will appear. He will put the tormentor to flight. He'll remind you again, that He's been there all the time. He never promised to keep us from suffering. He has promised to be there with us in the middle of it and take us all the way through, stronger, deeper in Him than we ever thought we could be. He has never promised to answer every question or make every hard place easy. He has promised to walk through it with us, or when needed, carry us through. A young woman named McKinnon Galloway who has been suffering through painful surgeries and debilitating physical losses since the age of 16 said, "Faith is not having all the answers. It's holding onto God when nothing else makes sense." Hold on. I believe that as you do, the old hymn words will come true for you. "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. One look at His dear face, all sorrows will erase." This will be fully true in eternity, but I believe that as you cling to Him, you will also see Him. Hold on! Blessings, Pastor O

Hearing and Seeing

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. Matthew 13:16 Jesus spoke these words to His disciples just after he had described the generation He had come to as having eyes and ears to see and hear, but they could not see and they could not hear....but His disciples could. I believe He speaks these very words to our present generation as well. Most especially those who would describe themselves as His followers. We cannot expect those who do not know Him to either see or hear the things of the Spirit. They have no ability to do so. Jesus wasn't speaking to a generation of people who knew nothing of God's Word. They did, yet they could not see or hear that Word as it was right before them in the Person of Christ. Here in the 21st century church, we also know of His Word, and He is definitely working and speaking in the midst of all that is happening right now in our culture and in the culture of the church....I have written in my prayer journal, Father, we see but don't see, hear but don't hear. In the events unfolding before us, let us see what You're doing and hear what You're saying. Jesus was speaking to professing believers, but most did not hear what He was saying or see what He was doing. Where do we fit today? With the "most" who see and hear without seeing or hearing anything, or with that much smaller group that does? I think what we're seeing unfold everywhere around us, as well as within the church itself, has deep ramifications for us on every level of life. For our nation, the nations, for ourselves and our families, and especially for the church. I have been praying for the Father to raise up a generation of "men of Issachar," men who recognize the times they are living in and know how to respond and act in those times. Most especially are such needed in the pulpit. The church is desperate for those who can bring forth the depths of His Word in the power of His Holy Spirit. Men and women who hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. Those who move and speak with a holy boldness, fearless, whose hearts burn to share what the Lord is saying to them and to His church. Those who are willing to be "Watchmen on the wall." Those with discernment, wisdom, and understanding. It will be a lonely calling. In many ways an unpopular one. Those who love comfort and ease do not enjoy being shaken awake. There is so much more that could be said. I simply close sharing with you the call I believe He has sent forth to His people. God never called the prophet Isaiah by name. He simply spoke, "Who will go for us?" Isaiah heard the call. Isaiah went, and Isaiah spoke. The need for a generation of Isaiah's of every kind is desperate. Who among us hears? Who among us sees? Who among us will speak up and speak out? Blessings, Pastor O

Deceived

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” – 1 John 4:1...."Deception is the penalty for rejecting truth." Dudley Hall..."Seeking God for discernment must be our first priority." Francis Frangiapane Dudley Hall's words concerning the ultimate cost of rejecting His Truth have been playing out since the Garden, when the serpent asked Eve about God's warning to not eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He asked her, "Did God really say that?" Satan convinced her to doubt what the Father had said, and deception took over. Satan hasn't changed his tactics since. He has cloaked the world in deception to this day. He's also managed to deceive, at various times and degrees, much of the professing church as well. The reason, at root, is that we don't know His Word or the power of His Truth. We're letting the enemy continue to ask, "Did He really say that?" as well as related kinds of questions like, "Could that still be true in this modern world where so much has changed?" and a multitude of other questions that all bring the truth and authority of His Word into question. When we entertain these questions and thoughts, we open the door to being deceived, and many have. We're living in days when so much of the church lacks Holy Spirit discernment, wisdom, and understanding. His Word may be known in our heads but it's not hidden in our heart. That was Eve. She knew what God had said, but it wasn't internalized, a part of her. Then, we not only don't test the spirits that speak the things we're listening to, we question whether such spirits even exist. A literal devil and the demonic power he operates in is doubted by more than a few. Satan gleefully rejoices in this. It gives him a wide open door into the minds and hearts of those who profess to know and follow Him. He's gotten so many to question and doubt the authority of Scripture, or even doubt that Scripture is really rooted in the personality and being of Almighty God. He spoke to His people Israel in the OT, "My people are being destroyed for lack of knowledge." We are still being destroyed. How much longer will the destruction go on? It's my prayer that the Father will raise up a generation of preachers who boldly proclaim the whole word and counsel of God. Preachers who fear God but have no fear of what the hearers of His truth might say or do in response. It's also my prayer that He will raise up preachers and teachers who instruct and teach on the realities of the spiritual realm; that we have an enemy who really does move about constantly seeking those he might deceive and then destroy. It's my prayer that He will raise up a church that proclaims the reality of sin, of hell, of holiness, and of the cross of Christ. Scripture says that when Christ is lifted up, He will draw all humankind to Himself. We lift up the Christ who truly is, not a Christ as we wish or want Him to be. A Christ fashioned by our own desires. I believe that when the church does this, deception will be crushed, His Truth will reign, and the people of God will walk in the fullness of His discernment, wisdom, and understanding. Lord, make it so. Make it so now. Blessings, Pastor O

The Crisis

I recently listened to a brother talk about a number of men that he has worked with who never seem to really enter into victorious and abundant life in Christ.They live in cycles of defeat. I understood. In more than 40 years of ministry, I have encountered the very same thing, and I believe I know why it is so. I'm an adherent to Wesleyan-Arminian doctrine and teaching, the teachings of John Wesley. Wesley was a strong advocate of what he called a "second work of grace," what we call "entire sanctification." To be sanctified is to be set apart for Him alone, with no part of our heart, lives, or will held back. Paul said that we are "crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us (and through us.) Our will and desire to control our lives is crucified, and we are fully yielded to His will and His Lordship. The result of this is the fullness of His Holy Spirit entering our being and we now have the power and ability to live a holy, overcoming and victorious life. The power of those things that once controlled us and held us in bondage has been broken. Wesley's brother Charles wrote of it in his great hymn; "My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee." This deeper work of grace comes about as a result of a crisis. We are brought to a place where we are confronted with our inability to free ourselves from those things holding us in captivity, be it alcohol, drugs, pornography, raging anger, lust, and a seemingly endless range of "masters." This deeper work of grace happens at His cross. We come to His cross, and at His cross our will is crucified so that we might come fully alive in the fullness of His. We begin to live in His resurrection life and power. The things that hold us captive are the things of death. His Cross yields life, His life. At the cross, the cycles of defeat are broken. We can now live in the power of His risen life. Space doesn't allow me to tell you of how I came to know the truth of all this. Let me just say that for the first year of my walk with Him, growth was very difficult. Habits, ways of thinking, attitudes, and more were stumbling blocks in my walk. I kept failing at the same things. Finally, after another failure, I had reached my crisis point. I had come once more to His cross. This time I didn't turn away, I surrendered. Everything. I died to my way at the cross and came alive to His way. Abundant and overcoming life was the result. Yes, there were still great challenges, and yes, there was still much needed growth in my life, but the cycles of defeat were over. He kept calling me upwards and I kept walking by the power of His life. I still am. Not perfectly, but consistently. Maybe you're at another crisis point in your life. Maybe you think all this just isn't possible. I invite you to run to His cross, not away from it. Let Him crucify all that is not Him in your life so that you may live in the power of all that is His life. All you have to lose is your prison cell, and you gain all the fullness of His life. At the cross you will find life. He promises it. Put that promise to the test. All you can lose are your chains. Blessings, Pastor O

For Joy

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 We live in a fallen world. Because of this, life can contain a great amount of pain and suffering. Followers of Christ are not exempt from any of it. As Scripture says, it rains upon the just and the unjust. Hebrews 12:2 shows us the way we are to live in the midst of this reality. We are to keep our focus on Christ, the Author, the Pioneer of our faith. This can be deeply challenging, especially in some of the dark places that life can take us to. The death of loved ones. The waywardness of our children. Divorce, strife, the estrangement of families from one another. These all bring deep cuts into our mental, emotional, and spiritual well being. It can all be, it all will be, too much for our human strength to endure. It is not too much for Him. Psalm 23 tells us that we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but it also tells us to "fear no evil." Shadows cannot really harm us. We're also told that He is with us there, and He is, but too often, we end up living and thinking like He isn't. So, we end up living as victims of the valley rather than overcomers in it. We overcome by continuing to look to Him, and we are able to do so because we are abiding in Him, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We keep looking to Him, and as we do so, the joy of the Lord becomes our strength. His joy is always set before us and it is not just some future reality, it's a present one. Joy is not a feeling. Joy is the deep assurance and presence of God Himself. Through it He sustains us on the journey and assures us of all the beauty of eternity that awaits us in all of its fullness. It's so easy to become distracted and distanced from His joy. Satan specializes in making it so for us. He wants us to look at what is going on all around us, at his handiwork. Christ calls us to look past it, at Himself, at who He is, what He does, and where we're going. This is how we live in the joy of the Lord. We abide, we press on, we overcome, we endure. We know this life is not all there is. We know we will have all the fullness of His promises realized in part today, and in all their wonder on that day. When we're looking at everything but Him, we're living outside of His joy, peace, and strength. When we abide in Him, we overcome, because He is living through us. We become, as Scripture promises, more than conquerors. Today, may we abide. May we fix our eyes on Jesus, who has conquered all that could ever come against us, including death. He's already in the throne room of the Father. That's His place. Our place is in Him, which means we are there as well. Let us live out that truth and reality....for the joy set before us. Blessings, Pastor O

Given Over

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. Romans 1:28 If you're 40 or older, perhaps even 30 or older, you likely have heard it said and even say so yourself, that the world has gone insane. We're seeing things in our nation and in the world that would have been unthinkable just 20 years ago. How did it get to be so? What is the church's response? What is yours and what is mine? In Romans 1, Paul the apostle points out what the problem is; the sinfulness of the human race. The choice of most to rebel against God and worship themselves rather than Him, despite His constant reaching out through His grace to bring them to Himself. This has caused Him throughout history at key times, to turn the cultures and nations over to a "depraved," that is, fallen mind. In short He let them have their way, and let them reap the awful consequences of doing so. Believe it or not, He didn't and doesn't do so from a desire to destroy but to draw them back to Himself. Oftentimes, most times, it's the only way to open their eyes to their need and condition. I believe we are in such a time right now. I believe that the Father has turned our nation, all nations, over to such a mind and condition. Instead of bewailing how awful things are, I believe He is calling His church to seek His face in brokenness, and to intercede for a people intent on destroying themselves....and who have no idea that they are. I can't remember who said it, but I have it in my prayer journal that when the darkness grows ever greater, the problem is not with the darkness, it's with the Light. We, who are to be His Light to the world, have not been so. In too many ways we've sought to accommodate the world spirit rather than see it crushed. We've wanted to be liked and accepted. We've resisted speaking and preaching about sin, holiness, and yes, hell. We invite people to Jesus Christ, but too often, it's a Christ who bears little resemblance to the Jesus Christ of Scripture. As a result, the darkness has grown, and the rebellion of humankind has grown with it. Hatred has grown in every segment of society, but against the authority and message of Jesus Christ most of all. That's seen in the response of telling people that not only is He the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. Rebellion is the way of the world right now, and we're seeing it everywhere. So again, how do we respond? I believe there is no answer but to humble ourselves before Him. For us to repent of our own sin, to seek His cleansing of it. All of it. Then, for us to, in holy love, intercede for this lost human race. That He would pour out His grace and His Spirit upon His church and then through His church, minister to a lost world. That we would cry out for a move of His Spirit that crushes the darkness and shines His Light wherever the darkness has reigned. To pray without ceasing until He comes with power, which is the only way He ever comes. We talk much of how God will judge all that we see. We forget that His Word says that judgement begins (always) in and with the House of God....the Church. May we not just rail against the darkness. May we come against it in Holy Spirit Light and power. And.....may we come against it first.....in our own hearts and lives. Blessings, Pastor O

Awakened

This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14 I came upon a news item this morning that I'm sure has gone unnoticed by the majority, even the majority of the professing church. Two villages in Nigeria were attacked by Islamic terrorists, with 168 killed and the villages burnt. I didn't know. You likely didn't either. Yet I do know about Bad Bunny and the half-time show at the Superbowl. I also know about the alternate show put on by Turning Point USA. I also know a lot about my favorite sports teams, entertainments, and a host of other subjects, but I didn't know anything about this. Oh, I know there is persecution of believers going on in Nigeria and so many other places in the world, but those places are so far away. The things that have my attention are much nearer, and come to mind so easily, but I wonder today, what impression do "these things," my things, make upon the heart of God? I know the answer to that, so why, when I know how these things grieve Him, do they not grieve me as they should? Could it be that the places that these terrible persecutions are taking place are so far away, and make so little impression upon me...and you, is because as concerns them, my heart is also far away from His? I'm thinking out loud here, and I don't care for the answers I'm getting to my questions. It's very hard for us American believers who are so focused on our comfort, happiness, and success, to be much moved by anything that doesn't contribute to maintaining and expanding that. More than 40 years ago, Jesus Revolution singer Keith Green wrote a song titled, Asleep In The Light. One of the lyrics asked (you and me?) How can you be so dead, when you've been so well-fed? Brethren, God is moving upon His church here in America and everywhere in the world, but how deeply is He moving upon you and me? Are we more asleep in the Light than we are empowered by it, awakened by it, called to action by it? Those 168 men, women, and children, were brothers and sisters in Christ, as were the thousands more who have been killed in Nigeria alone. How moved have we been by this? How fervent have our prayers of intercession for them been? I heard the late Derek Prince say that we can pray, fast, and come together pleading for revival, as many are, but that we will see no revival without the first and most important step, that of humbling ourselves in repentance before Him. In too many areas and ways, the western church has been sleepwalking. It cannot go on. It is time to be awakened by His Spirit. It is time, past time, to cease being "dead men and women walking." It is time for the Light of Christ to shine fully upon His church in America, for His church to "rise and walk." His time is always "now." May that now time take place in His church...in you, in me, in us. Blessings, Pastor O

Who?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” John 16:15 Jesus had just asked His disciples who the crowds believed Him to be. They gave a diverse number of answers while Jesus patiently listened. Then He confronted them with a question that had to be asked and that His disciples could not avoid answering. Peter, impetuous Peter, answered; "You are the Christ!" The Messiah. The Savior. Jesus blessed him, saying that Peter knew this because the Holy Spirit had revealed it to Him, and not the reasonings of men. I've been thinking this morning about how it seems so many who profess to have faith in Jesus Christ seem to know so little of who He is. We can recite who the Bible says He is, but if we're pressed to answer who He is to us, we often stumble. We know facts about Him, but we know little of Him. We know little because we have experienced so little of His reality. When we come into our times of crisis, we often flounder about because facts lodged in our heads have little impact upon what is going on in our hearts and in our spirit. We can "believe" that He is our Healer, Provider, Protector, Champion, Almighty God, and all the Bible says that He is, but we have never really experienced Him as such in our day to day lives. He's a historical figure whom we know is real, but He's never been "real" in our daily lives. The key to understanding all of this is found I believe, in Jesus' statement to Peter, that he was blessed because he didn't know this by his own reasoning but because the Holy Spirit, at work in his heart and through his experiences with Him, had revealed to Him who this Jesus was. And there was so much more knowledge and understanding yet to come for Peter and all the disciples. The Father, through the Son and His Holy Spirit, longs for us to know Him. For you to know Him....beyond anything you ever thought possible. In His Word He says, "I have so much more for you than this," but that so much more is too often not realized. We're satisfied with bread crumbs instead of bread, fresh and whole. We're satisfied with second-hand knowledge and second-hand faith, trusting in what others say about Him or have experienced in Him, but never really experiencing Him ourselves. We sit as paupers at the doorway to His riches. May we, wherever we are on our journey, constantly seek to know Him in ever deeper ways. Ask His Spirit to reveal to you deeper understanding and knowledge of Him. To shape you, transform you, to take you ever deeper into the reality of who He is. It can start with the simple prayer, "Lord, I want to know You. The real You, as You are, and as You wish to be with and in me." Ask for a burning passion for Him and be sure that He will answer that. I don't know how He'll respond to you in that, but I know this; when He asks "Who do you say I am," you'll be able to answer from your heart, because His Spirit will have revealed Him to you, and you can trust that He will never stop doing so. Never, ever. Blessings, Pastor O

Invited

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,
Pastor O

Christ Crucified

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

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

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

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

Blessings,
Pastor O

A Way Home

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,
Pastor O

Have We?

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,

Pastor O 

The Goods

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,
Pastor O

Thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,
Pastor O

Distractions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,
Pastor O