Heart Tracks - Without Hope

"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope." I Thessalonians 4:13

The recent and tragic death of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and all the other passengers in that helicopter, has brought about grieving throughout the nation and world. The Bible calls death "the last enemy." No one escapes it, and for those without Christ, it is an end with no hope. This is something, based upon the above Scripture, I will try to address today.

Amid the grieving, there is something more that I have seen. A pastor friend shared that an acquaintance he knew told him that she'd been unable to get out of bed the day after hearing the news. I'm sure she wasn't alone in her response and in the extent of the devastation. Media was filled with video and photos of NBA players and fans weeping. The sorrow was evident everywhere. An icon had left, and unspoken but true, he had left nothing to fill that void.

I have seen this kind of sorrow before. We all have. Elvis Presley, John Lennon, John F., John Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. The death of these and so many equally revered men and women have left an emptiness in the lives and hearts of those who had made them bigger than life idols. When they were removed, gone, much of life's meaning was as well. That is the way of worshiping idols, and these idols are not just Hollywood and sports celebrities. They are also found in possessions, status, reputation, professions......ministry. Our love of these can be so strong and intense, that the reality of Almighty God is lost. And when that which is not Him is lost, nothing remains. There is no hope. There is only devastation. As the above Scripture says, those without Him have no hope when death, either literally or figuratively, takes place, and that which we've centered upon is lost. That is a tragedy, an eternal one, for all those in that condition will take that condition into eternity. Eternal hopelessness. My heart grieves at that thought.

Yet we who call ourselves His people need to allow His Light to search our lives and hearts for anything upon which we've placed our hopes and love upon that is not Him. We say He is our hope, but we live with much of our hope centered in that which is not Him, is against Him. When these things, relationships, people are removed, so is our hope. Are any existing in us today? Will we be able to stand when they are removed? And they will be removed.

Perhaps it's time to allow His Spirit to search us. As His Word says, "Now is the acceptable time." Kobe Bryant, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, and all those like them, were upon this earth one minute, and gone the next. Our idols can offer no guarantees, other than eventually, they will either leave or fail us. For those who are His, death is real, but Jesus Christ, and His hope, are more real. So is the eternal life, eternal hope He offers. Do you have that hope? Do you live in it right now?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Frisked

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

In my younger days, there were a plethora of "cops and robbers" shows on TV. One common scene was when the police came upon a suspect in a crime. One of the officers would be given the command to "frisk him," which meant a thorough body search, seeing if a weapon or some kind of hidden evidence might be found. For the one being frisked, it was a humiliating experience. All they could do was stand still and submit to it. No one wants to be "frisked" by the police. Few are willing to experience it at the hands of the Father either.

Recently, a friend contacted me about something she'd read based upon His Word. She told me that what she experienced was being "frisked by the Holy Spirit." I really liked the way she put that. If we are to really and sincerely pray Psalm 139:23-24, the result will surely be a complete "frisking" by the Spirit of God. He will search for whatever hidden "evidence" we might be concealing, whether consciously or not.

Like the suspect with the police, this is a humbling experience for our flesh. To invite Him to search our hearts and lives requires that we be still before Him, and allow Him access to everything. No pocket of our lives can be held back. We can't conceal anything, and indeed, if we really pray that prayer, it is impossible to do so. All we can do is submit to the search.

I remember another thing about those old shows. Whenever the officers did find something, they would show it to the suspect. Their response was anger, denial, blaming someone else, or being ashamed of themselves. The last would lead to confession. The others did not. I think our response to the searching of the Spirit are the same. When the Lord seeks out the corruption, the sin in our lives, He will show it to us. Not to bring condemnation or shame upon us, but in the desire that when its brought out in the open, we would confess it, repent of it, and be made clean in it. This is another aspect of the process of being made whole. It is the response He wants. However, too often, we resort to those first responses; anger, evasion, denial, blaming someone else. This does not bring healing or wholeness. It just deepens the grip the sin has upon us, and draws us into deeper darkness. It is painful to our flesh for Him to bring these things into the Light, but when we respond as He would have us do, the result is Life. His Life.

A favorite group of mine from the Jesus movement of the 60's and 70's was Dogwood. In one of their songs, there is a lyric that goes, "He came to my heart, tore me apart, and put me back together again." When we invite Him to search us, to "frisk us," that is exactly what will take place. He tears apart what has been held in the domain of darkness and death, and rebuilds, transforms us, into what He created us to be.

Can we pray this prayer? Can we submit to the frisking of the Holy Spirit? Or do we seek to keep the evidence hidden, and hide in our denial and blame games? He seeks to search us out. Are we ready to yield to the search?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Images

"Our God is able to deliver us.....But if not......" Daniel 13:17,18....."If you are facing a furnace, make provision for the 'if not.' If you are not healed, if the dear one is taken, if that friend fails you, be faithful anyway." Vance Havner

The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is well known to most who have spent any time in the Bible. They were three Jews, taken to Babylon as part of the great captivity after being conquered by Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful ruler on earth, and in his pride, had constructed a 90 ft tall statue of himself, and demanded that all should bow and worship his image. All did, except for the three Jews. In response, the king ordered them thrown into a furnace to be burned to death. They did not, and then spoke those powerful words above. They proclaimed a steadfast trust in Him, believing He would deliver them. Yet, even more powerful are their words to follow; they would trust Him and be faithful even if He did not. They made provision for the "but if not," and if we are to be a people of faith, so must we. So I end the first part of this writing with the question of have we made provision? If we have not, then we may be sure that we will stagger, even fall, if in response to our faith, He does not. He calls us to a faith that trusts, obeys, and rests, even when He does not respond as we desire. Such faith trusts in His goodness, and believes that He will do right and well for those He loves, even when our circumstances scream it is not so.

There is also a deeper teaching in this passage, and its one Vance Havner helps me see. I hope he helps you as well...He points to that image constructed by Nebuchadnezzar. Most stop at just seeing it as an idol. We tend to focus on idols being things, or even people. We don't think much about them being attitudes, mindsets, or thoughts. Or what the Bible calls a stronghold. Spiritual strongholds are lies that we believe to be truth, and the enemy uses them to operate against us out of our own minds and thoughts. We get what it is to "bow down" to idols like money, success, pleasure, relationships, possessions, and comfort. Yet we have let "images" control us, even block out the face of the Father in our lives. Havner writes of the power of images like fear, discouragement, and doubt in and over our lives. When any or all of them have the upper hand with us, we are bowing down to them. We may despise them, hate them, but nevertheless, they draw our hearts from Him. They take our eyes from Him. In the places where they prevail, they "own" us, and in those places, He doesn't reign. They do. They are false images and they have no power against Him, except we have believed that they do. We believe the lie that they, and the things or people they represent have more power than Him. They, not He, reign in our lives. Which ones reign in ours?

Can we confess the presence of these images before us? Can we admit to the captivity they hold us in? Everyone of us will experience a "but if not" time. How we respond will determine whether the power of these images is either broken, or grows. If, like the three, will confess our trust in Him, a "furnace" will follow. The trust will be tested, but also like the three, He will be in it with us....and He will bring us out. And the image(s) will fall, while we remain standing.....with Him.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Impossible Life?

I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5...."Instead of praying for the resurrected life, accept it and live it." Chris Tiegreen

I have a prayer written down in my journal that goes, "Lord, today I am abiding in You, receiving all of your intentions for me, and being a vessel of Your intentions to others." I'd love to say that this prayer get answered in my life every day, but it doesn't. But the lack is not on His part, but mine. Why is that so for me? Why is it so for you?

I love the above quote from Tiegreen. We spend so much time pleading with God to give us what He has already given us in Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He has freely given and we're to freely receive, but we don't take Him at His word. We think we must have to show Him how well we can do this faith walk before we can get into the fullness of life He promises.....and we fail miserably as we do so. We don't know the meaning of "abide." We know even less of its reality. At best, we seem to spend some time abiding in Him, and much more abiding in ourselves, and our own strengths and resources.

We speak much of His peace and rest but experience very little of it. We want to be about the "Father's business," but attempt it in our own strength and not His. The result is burn-out, discouragement, anxiety, even depression. We try to live a life impossible apart from Him, even though we know its impossible. We don't know how to abide. Could it be because we don't really know Him? Abiding in Him as a lifestyle requires total trust, and somehow, though we profess love for Him, we don't love Him enough to place that level of trust in Him. For too many of us, the Abundant Life is an Impossible Life.

So how do we live it? There's only one way; at the cross. We consciously come to Him, and consciously remain there. We do not let the distractions of the day draw us from His Presence. Like the branches Jesus speaks of, we are literally "in Him" all the time. This doesn't mean that we spend all day reading our Bibles and praying, but we live in an awareness of His presence, and in an attitude of prayer. Then, when circumstances, great or small collide with our lives, we are instantly facing them with a conscious awareness of Him, and responding (not reacting) to them in His life and way, and not our own. When this takes place, that prayer I wrote above gets carried out in our lives. We receive all of Him we can, and He in turn flows out of us into the situations and people around us. That is abundant life. That is what it is to abide in Him. The Impossible Life becomes very possible. It becomes our reality.

Would you join me in that prayer? Would you have, receive that Life that He has already given us through His resurrection? Would you have that Impossible Life become His Abundant Life now? Believe and receive.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Good Enough?

"There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 14:12...."Good enough Christianity.....leads us to travel on a broad road that promises a pleasant life but delivers a wasted life." Larry Crabb

The Bible contains four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Juan Carlos Ortiz says we western believers have come up with a fifth; he calls it the Gospel of the St. Evangelicals. He says that in it, we take what we like, and eliminate everything we don't, especially the demands (commands) of Christ. He calls it an optional gospel; "we receive it if we want, and if not, that's OK too."

Larry Crabb writes that we "Shrink Christianity into a good-enough life of morality, good values, friendly relating, and church involvement designed to win from God the good life of good things that define the abundant life." I challenge any of us to dispute how true that is as concerns what we can call "the American Gospel Message." We give people a message that tells them that if they do things right, live right, they'll reap abundant and joyful rewards. We don't just give the message, we tell people that they're entitled to those things. We present a God committed to our well being, our success, even our comfort. The cross, suffering, dying out to self, crucifying our flesh, these things have no place in the Gospel of the St. Evangelicals. After Jesus transformed Saul of Taursus on the Damascus Road, He gave him a new name, Paul. Then he chose a man named Ananias to take a message to this new convert saying, "I will show him how much he must suffer for My sake." In Ortiz' 5th Gospel, Jesus does not send such messages to his people. In this gospel, He gives us what we want, and sets it all up in nice weekly installments each Sunday.

I have come across far too many believers who have as their central goals having a good marriage, raising good kids who stay off drugs and out of others beds, having a rewarding profession or job, and attaining a comfortable life. That's what His Good News is, and it never contains anything that could be construed as "bad news." Things like suffering, loss, hardships, and times, sometimes prolonged, in the wilderness. There's an old hymn that contains the lyric, "On a hill far away stands an old rugged cross." For many believers, that hill is indeed very far away, as is the cross we're to come to.

Scripture tells us that in the last days we would have a form of godliness (of faith) but deny the power of such a life. That means we acknowledge His reality but know nothing of His power and life. That's what "good enough Christianity" is. It's a form of godliness, of faith, of obedience, of following Him. It's a form, its not the reality of it. Is it what you've been living to this point?

Good enough Christianity is just not good enough. Nothing formed around ourselves ever will be. Ortiz says we have created a Gospel that has made "me" the center of its message. Christ is the Savior, Healer, and King, who has come for me. Self is central. The true gospel message has only one center....Jesus Christ. He doesn't give us a good enough life. He gives us His life, lived out through ours. We live it from His perspective, through His eyes and His heart, with His attitude, and above all, with His sacrifice. Self-life has no place because Christ-life fills all. That's the Gospel. Is it our Gospel?

Someone said that we tend to see three "ways." The wide way is for those horrible sinners that lead openly despicable lives. The narrow way is for pastors, missionaries, and what we call full time Christian workers. For the rest of us there's a middle way. Not so wide, but definitely not too narrow. It's leaves room for lots of leeway, which actually means compromise, evasion of His commands, and of course, the pleasing of ourselves. If this is the way you've chosen, you're on a dangerous path. Proverbs says it leads to death. Crabb says it yields a wasted life. Have you been deceived into thinking such a life is....good enough?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Stop Lying

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool." Isaiah 1:18...."When we try to bury our problems, we bury them alive." Ruth Graham...."The level of honesty we have with God about our pain reflects the level of trust we have in Him." Sheila Walsh

Back in my Bible College days, I had a wonderful teacher named Dr. Thomas C. Mitchell. He said so many things that lodged in my memory, but one of the best was also one of the simplest. He said, in relation to our walk with the Father, "Stop lying to God!" It stuck because I realized that lying is exactly what we often do with Him. Not the conscious, pre-planned outright lie, though some may certainly do so, but the subtle denial of what is really the truth. We have problems, conflicts, unresolved anger, bitterness, addictions, and on an on, and we're not honest with Him about any of it. We bury them, but as Graham says, we bury them alive. And they just won't stay buried. They find a way to claw to the surface, and show up in so many destructive ways.

Someone said that unresolved anger may be the biggest problem facing the average believer today. We're angry about many things. Angry at our parents, siblings, friends, the church.....the Father Himself. The thing of it is, as Christians, we're not supposed to be angry, or at least, not stay so. We're commanded to love and forgive, except doing so can be difficult. There can be so many deeply hidden issues. Issues that need to be talked out, reasoned out. Not just with other people, but with God Himself. After all, the things that we're angry about could have been prevented by Him, right? We can't bring ourselves to admit it, since we're not supposed to be angry with Him, but oftentimes, we're more angry with God than anyone else.

What happens in these situations is that we become human time bombs. At some point, in some way, we're going to explode, and when we do, the destruction will be massive. We see the truth of that in every direction we look. Devastated lives, marriages, families, and churches. We try to bury these things, but they just won't stay buried. Pain, anger, unhealed wounds, they will always wreak havoc unless they're brought out into the open. Unless they're brought out and into the light of Jesus Christ.

After many years of ministry, I've observed that people, myself included, will come to Jesus for so many things. Usually those things we could label as "bread and fishes." Things, results, that would be pleasing to us. We also eagerly come to Him for physical healing, or financial and material help. But as concerns the open spiritual and emotional wounds we carry, we hang back. We don't come. We don't because we don't really trust Him enough to surrender them all to Him. We hold them to ourselves, and they become a cancer to our souls. A cancer that eventually destroys us, and many around us. In all of it, He stands before us, always before us, and simply says, "Come.....let us reason together."

One translation of this verse says, "Come, let us settle this." Might it not be time, past time, that so many of us do just that? Isn't it time to "settle" with Him, the issues that have kept us from the fullness of His life and healing? Settling things with Him, and settling things with others around us. We can't always "settle" things with others. They may refuse, or they may be gone, but we can always settle things, everything, with Him. We simply need to come. Everything, and I mean everything, starts and finishes with that beautiful word from His heart and voice. Does He speak it to you? If so, can you also hear the words of my old professor, Dr. Mitchell. "Stop lying to God." Stop...Just simply come.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Account

"So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God." Romans 14:12

Francis Chan has a wonderful teaching on this Scripture. In it, he takes a very long length of rope. He paints the first three inches of this rope red, while the remainder stays its natural white. He uses those first three inches as being the length of our natural lives on earth. All the rest of the rope stands for what will be the state of our eternal lives after death. The point he makes is that most of us obsess about what goes on in those first three inches, giving little if any thought to what "life after death" will be for any of us. My observations after nearly 40 years of ministry is that he's very much on target.

The first thing that needs to be stated is that every aspect of our lives after death must start with what we do with Jesus Christ. Our choice here is clear. We will either receive Him as both Lord and Savior, or we will reject Him as both. There is no middle ground. Lord and Savior. He is not one or the other, but both, and He must be both in our lives. Literally. To receive Him as such opens up our eternity as one spent with Him, in the presence of the Father. To reject Him is to spend an eternity apart from Him, without His presence, in darkness and separation. The Bible tells us the first is heaven, and the latter hell. One or the other will be our eternity.

Beyond that stark choice remains deeper choices for we who profess Him as our Lord and Savior. Chan speaks to us and says that how we believers live out those three red inches of the rope will determine what our eternity will be like. I don't think the majority of believers give much thought to this. We made it into heaven, and so that's good. What our reality will be there doesn't seem to be a priority in our thinking. This is a terrible omission, and one we will deeply regret. Especially so when it comes our time to stand before the Father to give an account as to how we lived our lives for Him in that "red period" here on earth. For too many, I think we'll hear that we spent the majority of our times worrying about ourselves, our needs, our success, our desires, and the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams. Yes, we loved Him, but we loved ourselves even more. Jesus talked of whether the fruit of our lives would amount to gold and silver, or wood and stubble. The first would carry over into eternity, the latter would simply be burnt up. Sobering news for pastors, worship leaders, teachers, and Christian workers who spent lifetimes in pursuing the building of their own kingdoms rather than His. And we each of us will give an account for how we went about our work....and the motives we had in the doing. Not just sobering news, but news that we should tremble over in our anticipation.

Charles Spurgeon said that the one thing that made his heart and mind tremble was that he knew that one day he would give an account of his life and ministry to His God. The accolades of the church and men would mean nothing in that moment. Only hearing "Well done, good and faithful servant," would matter. Is it so for you and me? I don't know how many years are left to me, but I know they are far fewer than what I've lived. I know that in the end, it will be me, standing before my Father, giving an account for how I lived and ministered for Him. I know that far too much of the past will be burnt up as wood and stubble because so much mixture was in the service. A mixture of too much me, and too little Him. I desire to live out these days solely for Him, and like Spurgeon, I tremble at the thought, while longing to hear His "well done". I know how little of my eternal life will have been lived in that red piece of rope, yet how much the quality of it will mean. May we all come to know that as well. May our eternity be spent with Him, and not apart from Him. May that choice be made for Him now, for it will be too late then. But with the choice, may we also choose that our lives be all about Him, and not about us. So that when the time of accounting comes, we hear His well done, and see our lives as far more of His silver and gold, and very little of our wood and stubble.

Blessings
Pastor O