Comfortable Carnality

 "So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful (carnal) nature craves." Galatians 5:16...."Carnality refers to preoccupation with, or indulgence in, the flesh or the body and its passions and appetites; sensuality." 

A.W. Tozer said, "We find ways to avoid the sharp point of obedience, comfort carnality, and make the words of Christ of none effect.....We sing of Him and preach about Him, but He must not interfere." Comfortable carnality. It's a state that so many professing believers are living in, all the while believing that they're doing anything but.

To be carnally minded is to be led and dominated by the desires and wants of the flesh. Sexuality and sensuality are certainly strong elements in carnal desires, but hardly all of it. Wherever we put the desires of Christ and His Holy Spirit in a secondary role to our own desires, we are being carnal believers. Our flesh and not His Spirit predominates in that area. Paul said that the desires of the Holy Spirit will always be in conflict with the desires of our flesh. Paul said, "But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law," that is, to being controlled by our fleshly desires. Paul writes in Galatians 5:24, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there." This doesn't mean that we no longer have natural physical and emotional desires. It means that we're no longer controlled by them and have the power to resist those ones that will draw us away from Him, and eventually to spiritual shipwreck. That's why Paul could say, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Paul didn't stop being Paul, but he did cease to struggle with desires that he knew to be sinful or that would lead Him away from His Lord. He lived in the power of His Holy Spirit. So can we.

Comfortable carnality then is when we find ways to justify behaviors, attitudes, desires, that we know in our heart are not what He desires for us, but somehow believe in these cases, it doesn't apply to us. We justify disobedience and dress it up in religious ways. We're comfortably carnal. We acknowledge Him in every way....except as the Lord of our lives.

Comfortable carnality is an easy place to live in because....it's comfortable. May we, you and I, have the courage to allow His Spirit to search us out and expose any place where we're living as comfortably carnal believers....and where He does expose it, yield to Him at His cross, and crucify it there.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Against All

 "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the Father of many nations." Romans 4:18

...."What do you do when you have a promise for a yes but you're living in a no?" Chris Tiegreen

Tiegreen's question is one that every sincere and true follower of Christ will be confronted with. If you have surrendered completely to Him, then you can be sure He will lead you into places where everything seems to be against you and against the promises you have believed. When that happens, what will you do? And it will happen. You will come to the place of living in a no while you cling to His yes. The place where against all hope you in hope, believe. I have known that place. Let me share a bit of it with you.

I've shared before about my time of walking through an ugly and very visible divorce and the loss of my ministry in the midst of it. About the darkness and all the accompanying emotions and terrors that came with it. I've also shared about His faithfulness, total faithfulness in the midst of it. Today I'll share a bit about having His yes, clinging to it, in the midst of living in a no.

When all of the above happened to me, I was reeling. Emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. I didn't know what would happen to me or what I would be doing. "Total Unknown" would be an apt description of my life. Yet in the midst of all of that, I felt like I had His promises to hold on to, especially His promise of restoration, that He would restore the ministry He had called me to. A promise that flew in the face of all the current "now" circumstances of my life. There weren't many who believed this with me. Divorce was seen as a ministry killer by a large segment of the church, and though I was not the one who sought or wanted it, most believed that it had killed mine.....but I'd never heard that from Him. He reminded me that the gifts and callings of God were irrevocable. He had called me and I was His. That's what I held to as I lived in my no. A no that seemed to mock every bit of His yes.

Yet here I am, more than 30 years later, and His "Yes" triumphed over the enemy's "no." Scripture says that "death is swallowed up in victory," and just as the enemy and world system he works through screamed no at me, his no was completely swallowed up by the "Yes" of Jesus Christ. It will always be so.

You may be living in the no right now. Cling to the yes He's given you in His promise and promises. He will be faithful. Against all hope...hope. Believe. Trust. He will not fail you. He never will. No matter what it may seem, the no is not real when you have His yes to cling to. Hold and don't let go. In the right time and way, His promise will burst through. Wait for it. Look for it. He will not let you down.

Blessings
Pastor O

The Towel

 "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God, rose up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel and girded Himself.....Then He began to wash the disciples feet." John 13:3-4...."The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we look for big things to do. Jesus took a towel." Oswald Chambers

Someone said that we find out just how much of a true servant of God we are when others begin to treat us like...servants. There is a deeply convicting truth in that statement.

The task of washing a person's feet upon a visit to a home was given to the lowliest servant of the household. It was very humbling. In the middle eastern culture of Jesus' day, one's feet were perpetually filthy. Dirt, dust, animal droppings, and a host of other things were commonly found on the feet. To take them in your hands and carefully wash and clean them was a very unattractive job. The disciples knew this which was why Peter objected to the Lord doing so. He was above such a job. Unspoken is that Peter and all the rest of the disciples thought that they were above it as well. How closely do you and I stand with them on that?

True Christlike servants are vanishing in the western church. It's not easy to get volunteers for any kind of ministry, and when the church does, it's more often for the visible, up front ministries. Many will be eager to preach, teach, sing, and play an instrument, especially with others watching them, but few come forward to "wash the feet" of others. Few of us are willing to "take a towel," and minister in ways that are not only humbling, but unnoticed, and most often, unrewarded....by men.

Brother Lawrence, a monk in the middle ages, wrote a classic book centering on living in the conscious presence of God. It's deeply inspiring. His name is well known today, he was completely unknown in his own day. Brother Lawrence served in the kitchen of his monastery. He washed dishes, cleaned tables, and served food. And He did it all with an ever deepening knowledge of and friendship with the God He served.

Chris Tiegreen said that "The rewards of heaven are for those who are background players to the glory of God." Too few of us are willing to be unseen and unnoticed....anonymous in the Kingdom of God." We may be willing to serve, but we have rigid boundaries as to just how far...and low, we will go in the service. We have no place for Christ's towel.

May we, you and I, be willing to be under His gaze in this, allowing Him to show just how much of a servant's heart we truly have....or lack. It's been said that the way up in the Kingdom is to go down. Down in humility, in surrender to His will. We will never be taller or higher than when we are bowing to Him in all things.....and lay hold of the towel. The towel of Christ.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Rock Bottom

 Someone once said that life can sometimes seem to be a series of "shipwrecks and snakebites." They were referring to Paul's experience when the ship he was sailing upon was wrecked in a fierce storm at sea, and then after making his way to shore, he was bitten by a poisonous snake as he gathered wood for a fire. Life does sometimes go from bad to worse. What we need to know is that there is no "worse" where He will not be present. Paul suffered the shipwreck and snakebite but he was miraculously saved from both. The Father had a purpose for him and no shipwreck or snakebite would keep him from it.

Joseph was a man who knew something of this as well. A great deal of this as a matter of fact. Hated by his jealous brothers, he was thrown into a pit by them and then sold into slavery. He ended up the slave of a high ranking Egyptian and was given authority over the man's household. However, the man's wife sought to seduce Joseph. He resisted her and in her anger at the rejection, accused him of attempting to rape her. Enraged, the man had him thrown into prison. He went from the pit to the dungeon. Commenting on this, Alistair Begg called it, "Life at Rock Bottom." You may know something about that. Maybe you know about it right now. I know I do.

I remember clearly the time in my life when it seemed all was a series of snakebites and shipwrecks, of pits and dungeons. Like Joseph, I know very well what it is to have someone lie about me, accuse me of something I never did. I know what it is to suffer the immediate results of that. Loss. Devastating loss. I have lived life at rock bottom, but I found that even at rock bottom, He was there, and He was not just standing by. He was at work, preparing the way to being lifted up and out of the pit. Out of the miry clay that held me.

In that time there was nothing I could do to defend myself against the lies and accusations. All I could do was to look to Him, Jesus, to be my Advocate, and He was. He always will be. A powerful Advocate against every lie and every attack from the depths of hell. He will always be so for those that are His. In my heart, I knew that He had called me to be His servant. I knew, though few gave me encouragement, that His calling was still valid and that His purposes for me remained. By His grace I would trust, obey, and press on. I would believe, wavering at times for sure, that He would lift me up and establish me, just as the apostle Peter had written that He would for those who are His. Rock Bottom was a place I was passing through. It was not the place I would stay. Neither will it be for you if you will cling to Him and press on with Him.

Don't fear the shipwrecks and snakebites, or the pits and dungeons. Their presence in my life was used to make me a better man and a more effective servant of the King. Let Him use yours for the same. God will use what the enemy means to destroy you with to raise you up, and as one who is "more than a conqueror." Life at rock bottom is still life, even abundant life, when we are filled with His Life. Be filled!

Blessings,
Pastor O

Two Questions

 In Matthew 16:13, Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do men say I am?" They give several answers, but it is Peter who focuses on the right one. He proclaims, "You are the Christ. The Messiah." This is a beautiful passage, and it is one that must take place in the life of every true follower of Jesus. We cannot say we are His if we have no real idea or knowledge of who He is, and it cannot be mere head knowledge. Jesus blessed Peter's answer and stated clearly that flesh and blood didn't reveal the true identity of Jesus Christ to Him but that the Father's Holy Spirit did. Only the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and our minds can make who He is real to us. It moves us from knowing who He is in reputation to knowing Him by relational experience. So, who do YOU say He is, and does your answer reside only in your mind, or in your heart as well?

There is a second question for us. One that we too rarely ask or answer. Chris Tiegreen asked about it in one of his writings. We each have a desperate need for His answer.....Tiegreen asks, "Jesus, who do You say that I am? You alone define my identity."

We don't lack for people, organizations, or political leaders who try to tell us who we are. Putting labels on each other is what we do, even in the church. Most of these labels and names are destructive and have left deep wounds and scars upon us emotionally and spiritually. "Stupid. Ugly. Fat. Trash. Loser. Failure. Slut." Those are only a few and they are far from the most hurtful. The truth is, there will always be someone who tries to define you. Where is it that you've listened to them? Are you ready to break free from labels put on you by those who don't really know you? Are you ready to hear who it is that the One who does know you, who made you, says that you are?

What would change in your life if you would come to Him, and in humility ask Him, "Lord Jesus, who do You say that I am?" I guarantee you that in His time and way, He will answer you, and it will be an answer that will play out over the entire course of the rest of your life. In His telling, He will shatter all the false names and labels that others have put upon you and bring forth the truth and beauty of His name and description of you. 

Many people who knew me before I came to Christ have told me that they couldn't believe that I became a preacher. I'm never offended by that. I know very well who and what I was before He entered my life. When He did, He brought to life the person He made me to be. A person very different from the broken mess I had been. He didn't change my personality so much as He changed my heart, my mind, and my character. He brought out of my life what He had placed there when He created me and what the awful power of sin had overwhelmed for so long. He has transformed me and He continues to transform me. I'm still learning who He says that I am. It's a learning process that will extend into eternity.

No matter what label that's been put upon you, would you go to Him, right now, and ask that life altering question; "Jesus, who do You say that I am." Only He who made you can define you. Be amazed at what His answer will tell you.

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Haunting

"For in Him we live, and move, and have our being." Acts 17:28....."If we are haunted by God, nothing else can get in. Not cares, anxiety, or tribulation." Oswald Chambers

To be haunted by God may seem like a strange description of our relationship with Him, as is the title of this writing. We associate the word "haunting" with horror stories and ghosts, but one of the root meanings of the word "haunt" is for there to be a persistent sense of a person in our conscious minds. In this case, that Person is Jesus Christ. When He is constantly in our thoughts, then the fiery darts that the enemy is constantly throwing at our minds have no place to take hold. All the fear, worry, and trepidation that the enemy would have us held captive in, become powerless in our lives. Chambers says that "they become an effective barricade against the onslaughts of the enemy."

So few of us live in the reality of Acts 17:28. We know "in theory" that it's true, that it's Him that we live, that our being, our existence is anchored. Too rarely is it our reality. Each week our churches are filled with people who have been held captive by feelings and thoughts of fear, anxiety, and memories of yesterday.

The devil is expert at assaulting our minds with what has happened to us, what is happening now, and what may yet happen in the future. We are paralyzed by his attacks. We cry for deliverance but seem unable to grasp that we already have it in Jesus Christ. We know that He's real, but somehow, He just doesn't seem real to us. We don't know how to make Him so, yet the means of it are not difficult. It will however, require us to develop a new way of thinking and seeing what is happening in us and around us.

It begins in our hearts and spreads to our minds. We have to decide that we are going to seek Him, know Him, and be in relationship with Him as we never have before. Paul said that the overwhelming desire of His life was to know Him, and that must become ours as well. Our prayers mustn't just be about what we want Him to do or give, but about who we wish Him to be in us and for us. We want Him to reveal Himself to us in ever deeper ways. As we do this, we ask Him to direct our thoughts to His promises, to what He's said, to the truth of His Word. We ask Him to more and more give us "the mind of Christ," that we might see things as He does. In short, we ask that we might His perspective on everything, a Kingdom based perspective and not an earthly one. What will begin to happen and increase, is the reality of Acts 17:28 in our lives. In every aspect of our lives and thinking, there is a sense of His Presence. He's not shut off from anything and so He does "haunt" us with His Presence. Then, as Chambers says, all the destructive and fiery darts and arrows that Satan relentlessly throws at our minds are extinguished by our conscious awareness of His Presence in our entire being.

We are all going to be haunted by something. The source of it will either be rooted in this fallen world, and the result will be the destruction listed above, or, it will be rooted in His Kingdom life, yielding the peace and joy that only He can give. Are you ready to be "haunted by Jesus?"

Blessings,

Pastor O 

The Story

 "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb." Jeremiah 1:5....."At the point where we stop loving and caring, Jesus is still there, loving and caring." A.W. Tozer

I've shared a lot of what "my story" is. Much of my life, especially the times of devastation and humiliation, were lived out in plain sight. I can be transparent about my weakness and desperate need of Him because it has so often been painfully obvious that I am and that I do. Still, I don't think I've talked much about what I write about today. I'm feeling led to, so maybe it will speak to someone that needs to read it, know it today.

I didn't grow up in a believing home. We tried to become churchgoers from time to time, but never for very long. I remember that my mother had a Bible, but I don't remember anyone ever reading it or even that it was placed in any visible spot. I don't remember any talk of the Father, Jesus, or of following Him. Yet somehow, some way, I have very early memories of talking to God every night before I went to sleep. I remember talking to him about so many things that a small boy would care about, as well as things I was afraid of. I believed He was there. I believed that He heard me. I trusted Him with my childlike faith. 

All of this continued into my early highschool years. He was a part of my consciousness. I know He had an effect on how I behaved and how I lived. Then, around the age of 16, everything began to change. Not immediately, but I began a slow descent away from Him. Peer pressure played a part, but I willingly went with the way my life was beginning to flow. So began a steady journey into darkness. So many of the things I did and said cause me to cringe all these years later. God, who had I once seen as my Friend, barely registered in my conscious thinking. The years passed; the darkness thickened. From time to time I would get into places where I would call on Him, promising all kinds of changes if He'd help me. Always though, I slid right back into my destructive ways. Life was a party and the party was killing me. I just didn't know it.

Until one day, I did.

In August of 1979, like the Prodigal Son, I found myself in my own private hogpen. Mentally, emotionally, and above all spiritually. I had reached the end. I knew that if I continued on this path, I would not be around much longer. I had no thought of suicide. I just knew my lifestyle of constant substance abuse would surely do me in some way or another. I was at the end, and it was at my end that I found, actually found again, the beginnings of Him. 

That's where Jeremiah 1:5 comes alive for me. I once knew something of Him, but I'd forgotten Him. He knew and knows everything about me, and He had never forgotten me. Before I was physically formed in my mother's womb, He knew me as no one ever could. I left Him, but He never ceased to pursue me. In the darkness and chaos that was my life, I cried out to Him....and that's where I discovered the truth of Tozer's words. I had stopped loving and caring about most everything, even Him, but I found that Jesus was still there, loving and caring for me. Broken before Him, He took hold of my heart and my life, and He has never left me, and by His grace, I will never leave Him. 

So, as I close, maybe you see something of yourself in my story. If so, no matter how dead you may feel or think things are, He is there, loving and caring for you. Know anew or know again the One who has always known you. He's the story. Enter into it.....and live.

Blessings,
Pastor O