Shepherds

 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; I Peter 5:2

I think much of the emphasis on leadership in the church today has become unbalanced. I think the greatest harm has been in the diminishing of the role of the shepherd. The one who cares for their "flock," their congregation, their fellowship. Getting those who "follow" us to the point we believe we're to be has become much more important than caring for them along the way. Many who read these are themselves pastors and shepherds, as well as teachers, worship leaders, or in some ministry of service. I think some statements I've written down from Jamie Buckingham's book, "A Way Through The Wilderness," might speak to each of us. I think we'd all do well to contemplate the weight of what they contain....

"How can you tell if a man is a 'shepherd?' Look behind them to see if there are sheep who know their voice and are following." I think this is what distinguishes between the corporate style leader and the God called shepherd. A corporate leader can get people to follow from a variety of different methods, but I don't think that at the root of the reason for following is a relationship built on trust and love. Corporate style leaders can appeal to a lot of base and carnal desires in order to get others to follow. Carnal ambition can run rampant even in the church, and the temptation to use others to get to where we want to go can often be given into and oftentimes is. A true shepherd leads where their Lord is leading and moves at the pace their people can follow and that the Father sets. The well being of the people is tantamount. The people go steadily to where God is leading, but the shepherd is not only in tune to His voice, but to the condition and needs of their people. The people sense this, trust this, and know of the sincere care of the shepherd/leader. The shepherd/leader is first and foremost a servant to those they lead. The only agenda they have is God's. Those that follow know this, trust this, and follow because of it. If we're in a leadership role in His church, which kind of "leader" do we most resemble? What would those we are charged to lead and shepherd say about us?

"The leader cannot enjoy the luxury of living like a follower. Leadership encumbers." I remember one of my pastors during my Bible College days saying that in whatever I would ask of my people, I had to be the first one to be seen undertaking it. Whatever sacrifice I expected of them had to first be experienced by me. Too many leaders are more interested in being served and attended to than to be found laboring alongside those they're called to shepherd and lead. It is the leader who must be in tune with "the Way." Followers trust that this will be so, and so they don't spend a great amount of time wondering about the accuracy of the way. The shepherd/leader must. This is best seen in the way Moses led the people out of Egypt. He cared for all the needs and situations of the people, but it was the desire of his God, not his people that he sought. Followers don't think too deeply about the way they are going, but the shepherd/leader can never lose sight of it and has to be completely in tune with the Father during every step. Leadership encumbers, and it cannot be borne alone. It must have the power and presence of God. That comes only from the fruit of deep intimacy and complete obedience.

"God honors the man or woman who does what needs to be done regardless of the cost." The most visible target for a group of followers/sheep is the one who leads, the shepherd/leader. It didn't take me long in ministry to discover this truth. Being second-guessed, criticized, even accused, is all part of the cost. Leading people who think they can do better is also part of it. Staying faithful and obedient to the voice of the Master Shepherd will cost everything at times. Even when every voice in the "flock" runs counter to it. You cannot use force or coercion. You must exercise trust in He who leads you, and patience with those who may question or even rebel against you. Only God, as I have found so many times, can enable us to do so. But if we will, He will honor it all before the journey is done. If we trust Him. If you find yourself in the costly place today.....trust Him, love them, and lead on in surrendered obedience.

Just a few thoughts on Shepherds. I have needed to be reminded of them by His Spirit more than I care to admit. I hope they speak to you. They continually do to me.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Marah

"When they came to Mara, they could not drink its water because it was bitter." Exodus 15:23......"Beside each bitter Marah grows a tree that makes the water sweet.....Yet somehow turning the water from bitter to sweet seemed to be God's second best." Jamie Buckingham

We don't like the taste of bitterness. Even Jesus confessed He didn't want to drink the "bitter cup" placed before Him. We have a very hard time believing that the bitter can be made sweet, especially in the way that Buckingham goes on to explain in his wonderful book, A Way Through The Wilderness.

I first read this book more than 35 years ago, when I was walking through my own wilderness. It blessed me so deeply then, and it is blessing me anew as I re-read it now. I had forgotten some of the riches held within. One of them is how Buckingham addresses the bitter waters of Marah.

I have always tended to look at the experience there as God making the bittersweet. I think we all do, but Buckingham brings out a point almost all of us miss, and in truth, wouldn't much care to experience. We need to remember that it was the Lord who led the people to Marah. He knew the water was bitter, yet Buckingham writes of how he believes the Father wished for them to drink it anyway. Why? For what purpose?

The people had long been held captive in Egypt. They had gorged themselves on its food. Their systems were filled with all kinds of disease bearing bacteria as a result. The waters at Marah contained a great amount of calcium and magnesium. They would have acted as a means of cleansing the people's systems through purgative ways. They had brought bodies infested with all types of parasites picked up in Egypt. Yet they grumbled at the bitterness of the waters. As Buckingham writes, "They'd refused the bitter cup, and missed God's best purposes for their lives." The Israelites missed the truth of that. How often have we?

Scripture says that the Lord tested them at Marah. He had promised them that if they followed and obeyed Him, they would not suffer from the diseases of Egypt. It was His intention that they drink the bitter cup of the magnesium heavy water and be free of those diseases. They refused, and in His mercy, He made the water acceptable, but they moved on, still susceptible and victim to the diseases brought by the bacteria and parasites they carried. Someone said that He not only wanted to get the people out of Egypt, but He also wanted to get Egypt out of the people. This is still His primary means of bringing us out of the polluted world culture we're born into. How much do we, like the Israelites, fight against it?

God means for our wilderness to be a means of preparation. The bitter waters of Marah were to prepare them for what was yet to come in the journey, making them stronger and more able to bear the journey. They missed His desire for them in that. Buckingham writes, "The promise of a people without disease had to wait for a generation who listened carefully for the voice of the Lord and did not grumble at His commands." Which generation do our lives most clearly resemble?

If you have not yet come to the bitter waters of Marah in your journey, you will. What will you do? Will you demand that He make the "water," the circumstances of the journey sweet, or will you allow Him to bring you His best through the drinking of the bitter cup? The choice, and the results that come with it, is ours. What will it be? If you've missed it before, take heart, for as Buckingham writes, "He continually leads us back to the waters of Marah where our crusty spirits may be broken - that the Spirit of God may enter."

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Hidden

 "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3...."There is a place of holiness in the seemingly insignificant." Jenny Papapostolou

Recently I listened to a young woman named Jenny Papapostolou speak about a book she'd written titled "Sacred Smallness." It was about her journey through a ministry that went almost totally unnoticed by those around her. The significance in this is that she was the granddaughter of two very famous and visible Christian workers. Two people celebrated and admired in Christian circles. She grew up in that atmosphere, and upon her entering into what she felt He was calling her to, she admitted thinking that the renown that they enjoyed would be enjoyed by her as well. It was not. She admitted that when she had attended a conference, no one there knew who she was, and how deeply this had cut into and exposed her pride. In that place of "hiddenness," she began to discover her "place of holiness."

As I listened to her, I jotted down in my prayer journal, "What does it really mean to be "hidden in Christ?" I think when most of us answer that we focus on our safety in Him, about how the enemy cannot really harm us there, but I think it means so much more than that. I think that for some, being hidden in Christ means that they are unseen by everyone but those few to whom they have been sent. They are anonymous laborers for Christ. They go about ministering in desperate situations, far from the spotlight, given no recognition, and that is enough. It is enough because they have been freed from the lust for success, applause, and a pedestal. They are Kingdom footwashers, and I think they are His choicest people. I think in them, He finds His greatest pleasure.

As I listened to this young sister go on, she told of the ministry she felt he had called her to in Greece. A ministry to unwanted and unloved orphans that were found everywhere there. There was no glamor in it. It was not experiencing explosive growth or drawing the attention of Christian media. She was simply touching and changing young lives through Jesus Christ, and doing it one life at a time. Then she said something that both blessed and pierced my heart. She said, "Your life (ministry) doesn't have to be big to be beautiful in the Lord." She had found that beauty in Him, and with it deep contentment and fulfillment. Why is that so hard for us who call ourselves His servants? Why do we need the affirmation of what the world calls success in order to "feel" such fulfillment? Why, if He should place us somewhere that we're "hidden" from the eyes, applause, and recognition of others, that more often than not, we feel resentment, and determine to find a way out. To find a better, broader, and more rewarding "ministry opportunity?" Why do we hunger for the pedestal, and shun the towel and bowl of the footwasher? Why can't we believe there is Kingdom greatness in the hidden place and life? Why have we never experienced that there is a place of holiness in the insignificant place?

That brings me back to my original question. What does it mean to be hidden in Christ? Does our answer contain anything of which I've written, and this young woman has lived? If we are ministers of the Kingdom, we talk a great deal about our calling. Usually, we feel we have a calling to some great thing or work. Greatness. Bigness. These are key ideas. Jenny Papapostolou said this about "the call of God." She said that our primary calling is "to say 'Yes' to God." Yes, to wherever He calls us to and places us. Even in the hidden place, where no one knows us or where we are but Him. Would you go there? Would I? Or do we seek the pedestal?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Background Music?

 "Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists." Hebrews 11:6....."God drifts to the back of our minds, and before we know it, He's an idea, a quiet piece of background music to our lives." Chris Tiegreen

Practical atheists. I first heard that term some years back, and it described how so many professing "believers" were living. They're still among us. Maybe we're, maybe you're among them. Perhaps not full time. He can be real enough to us in the crisis, but in our day to day experience and awareness of Him.....not so much. He really is relegated to "background music" in our day to day reality.

For such Tiegreen writes of their connection with Him, "He doesn't exist in any way that's meaningful to them. And that doesn't lead to any kind of meaningful experience with Him." What that means is that in our day to day thinking, choices, and consciousness, He's no more real to us than He is to someone who doesn't believe in Him at all. We are indeed, "practical atheists."

This truth invites His searching of our lives and actions. Do we really order our lives and ways before Him? Do we truly seek His guidance, His heart, and His will? Does the thought of what pleases Him ever enter into our choices and desires? Do our lives actually reflect that we rely far more upon our strength, our wisdom, and our intelligence than they do His? Is He nothing more than a Sunday morning God, which means He is really no God to us at all?

The thing about background music is that you hear it while not really hearing it at all. We can function quite well without the melody or notes making any impression upon us. We have a vague awareness of it, but it goes no further. It has no impact upon us beyond that. Is that also how it is with the Father and us? Is He just a faint melody living in the background and nothing more? 

I have often conversed with people who flatly state their belief in Him, but who, when confronted about His will and purpose for their lives, begin to tell me about "the real world" they live in. In other words, His ways do not fit into what they see as the true reality. He's a nice idea, One they tip their hat to, but it ends there. Their awareness of Him ends when they reach the church parking lot, or when they walk out the door of their home each morning. He's little more than background music, and too often, He's not even that.

How vital is our relationship with Him? Is He on the fringe of our life, or at the center of it. Is our belief in Him a powerful witness and testimony in the midst of an unbelieving culture, or are we practical atheists, every bit as unbelieving as the culture we profess to have come out of?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Random Questions

 I thought I'd share some random questions from my prayer journal today. I don't remember just where they originated, but ultimately, I'll credit the Holy Spirit.

"How much of what we do in "worship" distracts rather than focuses?"  Scripture says that we're to worship Him in "Spirit and in Truth." Can we honestly say that everything going on in our corporate gatherings is centered on that directive from the heart of Christ Himself? Can it be so with all the add-ons that we have to aid the visual and emotional experiences of "the crowd" are really focused on Him, and not the preferences and desires of that crowd? Jack Hayford once said, "We must differentiate between the sound of praise and the noise of people." Those are sobering words. Many equate "noise," no matter how melodic, with being a response to His Presence. How often is it? How much time does a worship leader spend trying to "warm up the crowd," and set the table for the morning message? None of this is meant to detract from the sincere desire in many fellowships to really worship the King. But we would do well to allow Him to search us for the areas where we've given in to the devices of the world culture that seeks a crowd rather than a body of worshipping saints. Where might it be so in us?

"Has the blessing become the enemy of the Blesser?" I think it was T Austin-Sparks who wrote of the scene in Song of Solomon 2:8-9 where the bridegroom is gazing at his bride through the latticework. She is in her room, alone, satisfied with the blessing that fills her life, while all the while he is longing for her, and yearning that she would equally desire him. How much of a picture might this be of us and the Lord? Where have we become satisfied with His good things to the extent that we are very content to enjoy them apart from Him? Where does His longing for us, for you, go unmet because His blessings are desired above Him? Someone asked that if all of our heart's desires have been satisfied and yet in that, we did not have Him, would we still be content and satisfied? Would we? Would you?

"Can we say 'God is good' when life is not?" This is a heavy duty question. We've likely all been in a gathering where the worship leader or pastor shouts out, with our joining in, "God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good!" We may join in on that, but where are hearts and our beliefs really at when we do? Do we really believe He is good when our lives are not? Does our thinking on that rise and fall according to the outward conditions of our lives? If we have not settled this issue, then when life does take a turn into darkness and pain, bitterness, resentment, and anger against Him are waiting at the door of our hearts for entry. Something that you and I have got to "nail to the cross" is our belief and trust in the goodness of God. A belief and trust that is not based on our circumstances but His Word and promise. We may quote Romans 8:28 freely, that He works all things together for our good, but how deeply do we really believe that when all things just get progressively worse and more painful? Job, in the midst of his deep suffering cried out, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." At some point, that has got to become our cry as well. It's best if we decide that it is so before such a time does come upon us. Has that become your cry yet?

Just some random questions for us today. What are our answers?

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Other Side

 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” John 20:14-16...."In the place of despair, Jesus calls to us from the other side of the cross." Jack Hayford

There are not many of us who can truly understand what the disciples were feeling and thinking in the first hours and days after the crucifixion. Their beloved Lord was gone, taken from them. And it was so final. He was dead. What is more final than that. Despair was what they all felt. It was certainly what Mary and those with her were experiencing that morning as they went to the tomb. It was deepened, if that were possible, when they discovered that the body they had come to wash was gone. All Mary could do was weep. Sometimes, that's all we can do as well. I've been there. Maybe you've been there too. Maybe you're there now.

It is such a great tragedy that so many people who are living in that place are living in the place of no hope. It's an even greater tragedy when among them are found the people of God. In Christ, we are born into a Living Hope, but we seem to so easily forget that. Mary and all the disciples had. Have you? If we have, we need to hear and take to heart not only the words of Jack Hayford, but even more, the words of Christ Himself. He'd told the disciples, and Mary, that He would be taken from them, but that it would not be permanent. He'd promised that He'd not leave or forsake them. They'd forgotten that. Mary had forgotten that. Then she heard the voice of Jesus. A voice she instantly recognized when He called her by name. A voice that spoke to her from the other side of the cross.

I've known the place of the dead end, the place of no way out. I know the panic of despair, of hopelessness. With all glory to Him, I also know the place of His hearing His voice calling my name. I have heard Him call to me from the other side of the cross. In those places of seeming hopelessness, I still do. He never ceases to call to us in the place of despair, from the other side of the cross. The place of His resurrection. Not from His death, but from His risen life. Have you heard Him? Can you see Him? He's there, breaking through all the black clouds of despair and hopelessness. They cannot hold Him because death could not hold Him. They cannot hold Him now.

Wherever you are today, in your marriage, your family, relationships, finances, livelihoods, ministries, He calls to you from the other side of the cross. He calls your name, and with that call comes the instant wonder of His peace and joy. He's alive. He knows where we are, and no matter how desperate, He assures us that He has already overcome all that is against us in that place. That place cannot hold Him and it cannot hold us. I have this as the testimony of my life and am one of seeming unending numbers who do as well. May it be your testimony as well. In the place of despair, He calls to you from the other side of the cross. Hear His voice as He calls your name. Be lifted up from that place as He calls your name from the other side of the cross.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Passion

 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5....."I want to love God more than any person in my generation." A.W. Tozer

There are countless songs in the church today that tell of how much we love God. How much we love His Son. Yet, I have to wonder, just how deep is this love for Him that we profess? How passionate is it really?

In a devotional that contains the writings of A.W. Tozer, he tells of the 18th century missionary to the Delaware Indians, David Brainerd. Brainerd was a passionate lover of God, and because of that, a passionate lover of those to whom he'd been sent. Tozer says of him, "He had such a passion for God that nothing else could satiate his heart. He would kneel in the snow and be so lost in worship, prayer, and intercession that when he was through, the snow would melt around him in a wide circle." So great was the depth and passion of his love.

Then Chris Tiegreen tells of the life of John Fletcher, a contemporary of John Wesley. He was a man known to be completely devoted and in love with his God. So in love that in the home where he lived and exists to this day, one can see the indentations from his knees on the floorboards of his bedroom, where he prayed. On the wall there can be seen the stains from his very breath as he breathed his prayers before his Lord.

Passion for Him so intense as to melt snow and stain walls. What do you and I know of such passion? Where in our lives do we display it? We testify of it, sing of it, even preach of it. Where do we live in it? We throw the word love around so loosely with each other. Our love can burn towards another one day and be gone the next. Perhaps this is because it was never love at all, but nothing more than lust. Maybe it's because we don't really know what love is, and never will until we truly come to know and love the One who is the Author of Love, Jesus Christ.

I'm convicted by the words of Tozer, used above. He wanted to love God more than any other man or woman of his time. Is there even a small amount of such desire in us? If there is, where is it displaying itself in our lives? Are we passionately loving Him when we have to be constantly urged to attend to His Word, to prayer, to even attending corporate worship on a regular basis? Is there passion in how we serve Him, with what we offer Him. Is there any real sacrifice in our testament of love? His love knows no bounds, but ours seem to have many.

We will never be able to work ourselves up to such love. It is impossible for our flesh. We must first be swept up in His love. Consumed by it. His Word tells us that He is a consuming fire. His love is a consuming fire. When it consumes us, it ignites us. His love becomes ours. The passion He has for us becomes the passion we have for Him, and for all that He loves in this fallen world. When that happens, snow, as well as a hard heart, melts. Such is the yield of a life consumed with a passion for Him. May it be my yield and yours as well. May His love not just be something we casually receive and take passing note of. May we live in all of its fullness, filled with all of its fullness. May it start in us today.

Blessings,

Pastor O