Loss of Influence

Let me set the scene for you. A man who learned the ways of God from his uncle one day packed up and moved out on his own. In doing this he drifted toward a wicked city filled with all sorts of immorality and made his home there. He tried to raise his daughters in the midst of this immoral sewer flowing all around him.
I suppose at first some of the things this man and his family saw shocked them but over time they learned to compromise their moral standards saw such acts as a way of life for the inhabitants of this wicked city. It became tolerable and then acceptable. Things rocked along like this for some time until God revealed to the beloved uncle that His judgment was coming to this wicked city.
Through some fervent intercessions from the uncle God allowed that the life of the nephew would be spared only if he and his family left the city of Sodom. God sent two messengers to reveal this message to Lot but the men of city tried to have homosexual relations with them. They surrounded the house and tried to break the door down. I know this sounds wild like some scene from a raunchy movie but you can read the whole story for yourself in [Genesis 19]. Lot in an unimaginable act of compromise and moral failure offers his two virgin daughters to this twisted group of men for the fulfillment of their out of control lust. God struck the men with blindness to protect the young girls and to give Lot the opportunity to get out of the city.
Lot wanted to go to his son in laws to warn them to get out of the city. At this point I will let the scriptures speak for themselves, “And so Lot went out and spoke to his sons in law who were to marry his daughters and said, ‘Up, get out of this place for the Lord will destroy the city.’ But he appeared to his sons in law to be jesting.” [Gen 19:14]
Lot lost the ability to have any spiritual influence over his future sons in law because of the compromise they saw in his own life. His life did not count. He took the path of least resistance and his attempt at preaching appeared foolishness to these men. They had watched Lot. They had seen him chumming up to the towns men and turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to their evil ways. Lot knew better. He was influenced by Abraham who willingly followed God away from the pagan culture of their home town. Lot for whatever reasons slid of next to sin and made his home there. He lost the ability to have any good influence on Sodom or his sons in law.
I see this same thing all the time. It breaks my heart to watch parents live hypocritical lives in front of their children and then watch the children rebel against everything they learned at church. When it is not lived out in the home, the parents forsake the right to have any spiritual influence over those children. Parents cannot get away with the philosophy of “Do as I say and not as I do.”
If parents drink alcohol you had better believe that children will follow suit and if the parents do it moderation the children are likely to do it in excess. Parents who are immoral in their sexuality will not be able to steer children away from promiscuous lifestyles. Children want and need boundaries. Those boundaries are proof of love and desire to protect the children. When there are no boundaries instead of feeling freedom children often feel unloved.
Parents are not the only ones who can lose the ability to influence for good. Look at hypocrites in the church. The pews are packed with them. This is why I have heard with my own ears that many people want nothing to do with church or with following Jesus. The church preaches one thing but often the members live a whole different life outside the stain glassed walls under the steeple. Profanity flows profusely from the lips of church members. Just as much alcohol is consumed by many so called Christians as by those with no relationship with Christ. Many “Christians” compromise standards and make concessions continually for church attendance in lieu of hunting, fishing, select sports teams, and entertainment. Sexual immorality is alive and well among people in the church. My Sunday School teacher as a teenager, who was the president of a bank and a deacon, had an affair on his wife leaving her for the other woman. His two boys were devastated and one died early during his teenage years in a late night car crash. This dad lost the ability to influence his sons for good. Sin will cost us and those close to us more than we ever imagine.
Many “Christian” teenagers who have made sexually abstinent vows have given in to compromise in moments of heated passion and thrown it all away. I think of a young man I knew in college who in a moment of passion forgot his calling to ministry and thought of sexual gratification. The girl ended up pregnant and the name of Jesus was shamed yet again. You know the preachers who have fallen immorally. Though some of them still preach, do you trust them? Do you listen to them with the same respect you once did.
David sinned in the scriptures and lost the respect of some of his children even having one who formed a coup to take the thrown from him. David had to run for his life from his very own son Absalom. David lost his influence for good in Absalom’s life.
If the church is ever going to have any influence on our communities and in our neighbors we are going to have live lives worthy of respect. Contrast Noah to Lot. Lot compromised and it cost him the lives of his future son in laws and nearly cost him the lives of his daughters and did cost him the life of his wife. Noah grew up in a wicked culture where the Bible tells us that every thought of man was on evil continually. [Gen 6:5] God determined to destroy the world. One man found favor in God’s eyes and it was Noah.
Read for yourselves what the Lord thought about Noah. “These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” Noah was not perfect but he distinguished himself in his generation. He went against the moral tide. He lived against the ethical tide of his generation and did not compromise. He walked with God and held fast the confession of his faith in a wicked and pagan culture. Noah had influence over his sons and their wives for they were all saved on the ark when the flood came.
Whether you are a parent, part of some church and you claim to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ, or you are a friend, I exhort you not to throw you’re your influence for God. Stand firm. Don’t bow to peer pressure. Hold the standard of holiness high in your own life. Don’t lose your influence for good because of hypocrisy and compromise.

Farewell

When I walked into the sanctuary this morning I saw an old familiar face I had not seen in some time. It was the face of our former High School Principal and member of the search committee that called Brenda and I to FBC Paradise. Shaun was sitting with his wife and both of the boys came along as well.
Shaun was the first person to invite me to lunch and to drive me around the community. I played my first round of golf in the area (if you could call what I shot playing) with Shaun as we laughed over some sobs (inside joke.) Shaun and I went to district events together, ate lunch together, and we spent a great deal of time praying together especially as he felt the Lord leading him away from the Paradise community. He contacted me for counsel and prayer about other major life decisions since leaving town. He was and is a friend.
It is never easy to say farewell. I was there during the farewell party for Shaun and his family. Those things are never easy. Emotions run high, words often run dry, and we are left with hugs, handshakes, and best wishes. This used to not be a problem. People lived in the same communities and worked at the same jobs for a life time. Often children were raised in the same towns going to the same schools with the same friends and then got married and started their own families in the same towns they had grown up in. Nobody had to say farewell unless somebody was going into the military, off to college, or they passed away.
Things have changed today. A family might live in several different communities in a life time and have multiple careers in this day and age. We live in a highly mobile society and have all had to learn to say farewell. It is not easy but we have learned to cope. Coaches come and go, principals move on, kids grow up and go off to college never to return. This is a different day and age and farewells are part of it.
This morning during the welcome time during the service one our men told me that this would be his last Sunday. He has accepted a coaching and teaching position in New Mexico. New Mexico! Not only are John and his family moving but they are moving to a whole other state. I watched last Sunday they told people and his daughter wept and wept after the service. They have one son in the Navy and another son finishing up a summer spent as a missionary in Tokyo, Japan. Their daughter is the age of my oldest son. I know it is difficult but God’s call on their lives is leading them away from Paradise and toward His purposes.
In both the same service I was saying hello to a long parted friend and farewell to a beloved member of our church. Life is filled with transitions like that. I am encouraged that there will be no more farewells in Heaven. We read in Rev 21: 4, “And He shall wipe away ever tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death, there shall no longer be any mourning or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
I talked on the phone to a dear friend I have seen maybe twice in the past four years after Brenda and I moved from Lufkin. In Heaven we shall have plenty of time to catch up. We will never have to say farewell at another sad funeral in eternity. There will be plenty of hellos as we see those who have gone on before us. There I will see my mother, baby sister, and grand parents. What a special reunion that will be.
Down here we have to cope with a few farewells. I miss Shaun and his family and will miss the Ward family as they transition to a new life in a new state. It makes me not want to take relationships for granted and to cherish memories and times together. People are precious commodities and often we do not value them until they move or are dead and gone. I exhort you to find time to spend with the special people in your life and tell them how much you value them. In so doing, when we are forced to face farewells, maybe they will be a little easier to cope with.

Go Forth

God is continually calling His people to go forth. Sometimes this may not mean going forth physically but rather spiritually. You may not move one foot physically and yet the Lord could call you go forth light years spiritually. On the other hand, God can call you to move hundreds of miles physically while also calling you to go forward spiritually.
That is exactly what the Lord did with Abraham. He was called to go forth physically and spiritually. [Gen 12:1] This really challenges me. Going forth means leaving things behind. It means venturing into the unknown. It means walking by faith in obedience to God’s leadership with no guarantees of success. It means going to uncharted territory in my soul. It means being stretched out of my comfort zones. Ultimately it means trusting God no matter what.
I have been challenged in recent days by reading about the lives of two daring and dangerous disciples who heeded God’s call to go forth; one to Africa and the other to Burma now known as Myanmar.
David Livingstone heeded God’s call to go forth from his native Scotland to be a medical missionary to Africa. His going forth was so dangerous after getting married, he eventually had to send his wife and children back to Scotland where they were separated for years at a time. Livingstone labored hard but so little fruit. He was driven to open up the interior of Africa with the gospel and fought against the superstitions of tribal religions.
Livingstone’s going forth into the interior of Africa led him to create maps to be used by subsequent missionaries. He was attacked by a lion, encountered savage tribes and chiefs, witnessed the brutal murder of a tribal chief by a jealous brother, he was robbed by tribes and guides and endured other challenges like being misunderstood and disliked by the other missionaries for his boldness and zeal. After years of labor he had only one convert to show for it, but he kept going forth. When he died years later the African people cut his heart out of his body and buried it in Africa before shipping his body back to Scotland.
Adoniram Judson .followed God’s call to go to Burma. Right before he died decades later he made the comment to a friend, “Few there are who die so hard.” He suffered and suffered for following Christ. He buried two wives and several children in his constant labors to go forth in translating the Bible and a dictionary in Burmese. It was a hard row to how for Judson but he stayed the course. When he followed God’s call to go forth leaving his family behind; he never saw his father, mother, or brother ever again. In fact, he did not return home for thirty-three years and only then because his wife was sick. His going forth meant sufferings like the sufferings of Job. .
Where is God calling you to go forth? It might not be a physical location but a spiritual destination. No matter where it is, may we all have the courage and the faith to go forth as Abraham, Livingstone, and Judson did. May our going forth for the furtherance of the kingdom of God inspire others to do the same.

Trials and Tribulation

Why is it we are surprised when we encounter trials in this world. Just yesterday my college roommate’s car broke down in Fort Worth leaving him stranded. He called me to pick him up and was disheartened to learn the repairs would cost nearly $2,000 which he did not have at the time. I visited with another family whose air conditioning went out in their house. The husband told me it was over one hundred degrees inside as we sat and visited under some shade trees.
Trials and tribulations happen to all of us. Some relate to other people and decisions they make. Who has not had to deal with family or friends involved in destructive behavior? The pesky tests also can come in financial form like for my friend and his car. They might manifest themselves in health issues like watching an aging parent slowly deteriorate physically and mentally. They come in the form of a rebellious child who continually breaks your heart.
Jesus does not sugar coat the fact that following Him is not easy and does not exempt us from trials and tribulations. Not long before He was crucified He had a heart to heart talk with His disciples. He knew the trials they would face and wanted to give them words that would serve to strengthen their resolve in the difficult days. He told them they would be turned on by people in the synagogues who would not only outcast them but seek to put them to death. He foretold of His own death and resurrection and promised the Holy Spirit would be sent to comfort them. Then, Jesus ended their discussion with this verse, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” [Jn 16:33]
Jesus did not promise a problem free life for His followers. Just because you are in a relationship with God does not exempt you from facing trials. What Jesus does promise is that if we are in relationship with Him and walk with Him through the pilgrimage of life that we can have peace. The word peace means a tranquil place in the soul. There is a calm center even though outside the center there may be chaos. The word peace also means to be content with our earthly lot in life. Paul summed it up best when he wrote, “Not that I speak from want for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” [Phil 4:11-12] Paul knew how to be content with his earthly lot. His life was tough and he faced numerous trials most of us will never have to endure such as physical persecution.
No matter what we are going through we can have peace in the midst of trouble. This baffles people who do not know God. I recall the mother of a friend of mine who was dying of breast cancer and talking to everyone she came in contact with in the hospital exhorting them to get right with God. She radiated joy despite a broken body. She defied her tribulation with a good attitude and by not blaming God for her troubles but rather leaning on Him for strength to endure in the faith to the last breath.
I have read of countless missionaries who suffered hardships and yet endured them with joy and stayed faithful to their task. Read about the lives of William Carey who went to India only to see his wife suffer a nervous breakdown which incapacitated her for years before she died. He buried children in the foreign soil and yet he did not pack up and go home. Adoniram Judson buried two wives and several children in Burma, yet he kept going until disease ravaged his body forcing him to take a sea voyage for relief. The relief did not come in this life as he died on the ship and was buried at sea. His third wife did not get word of this for four months and she was coping with the birth of new child. They were only married for four brief years. When Judson’s wife returned to New England she died of tuberculosis eleven years later. Some of God’s choice servants had to endure severe trials and tribulations.
In our emotionally fragile society we do not know how to handle adversity. We question God’s love, think He is punishing us, or cry out that our lot in life is unfair as we compare our situations to those of others around us. Instead of seeing trials as a normal part of life people turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, prescription drugs, or fantasy entertainment to help escape the hardship and the pain thinking they are facing trials foreign to other earth dwellers. All this does is to exasperate the trials even more and hurt those close to us.
So how do we cope? In Jn 16:33 He concludes that verse by telling us we must take courage. The word courage means to be of good cheer. What is there to be cheerful about when the car is in the shop, the a/c breaks down, your health is deteriorating, and when there is not enough money to make it to the end of the month and you get behind on bills and creditors start calling? Jesus tells us the reason for our courage and good cheer is that He has overcome the world.
The word overcome means that Jesus has conquered and proven victorious over this world. Herein lies much of the problem. We forget that for a Christian this world is really not our home. We were created for eternity and no matter how hard we try, no matter how many times we are deceived by commercials, this will never be Heaven. We may enjoy a blessed life but that does not mean that there will be no trials or tribulations. We will most assuredly face both. What gives us courage and reason to be cheerful is that no matter how hard it is down here, better days await in Heaven. Picture life as a hard marathon and Heaven as the finish line where there is relief. We may have to gut it out to get there but the reward will be worth it.
Trials and tribulations should not frighten us. We should expect them from time to time and when they do come we need to be reminded that Jesus offers peace and that He has overcome and prevailed. There is nothing that you and I will ever face that Jesus has not triumphed over. Come what may, if you have Jesus you have more than enough not only to cope but to overcome any trial or tribulation.

A Lighted Path

“Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path.” [Ps 119:105]


These can be confusing days we are living in. People are fighting to survive economically in a globally unstable world. People who did everything right to ensure a secure financial future have lost their life’s savings with little hope of getting it back through the stock market. Panic and indecision have set in for multitudes of people who are desperate for answers.
More and more people face the uncertainty of job losses. College graduates who entered college with dreams have now graduated only to find one of the worse job markets in recent memory. Government bailouts and stimulus packages have done little to turn things around. There seem to be fewer jobs to go around. Things look pretty grim and the tide of confusion continues to swell like a tidal wave.
Some families are forced to contemplate moving to go where the work is. Others scramble from week to week to scrounge a meager existence barely scraping by. This only produces more and more stress causing some families to be torn apart at the seams.
Where are the answers? The President who talked big to get elected has not found the solution so far. Economists who make big bucks to steer the country in the right fiscal direction seem to have led us to a dead end road. For the longest time people have told us education was power but tell that to the recent graduates who have sent out hundreds of resumes only to come up empty handed and who live under the stress of massive student loans to pay for that education.
Like I said in the beginning, these are confusing days. Some people have the good fortune to have a secure job and plenty of money not only for today but also for rainy days in the future. It seems to me more and more people are trudging through life on the other side of the coin. In times like this multitudes of decisions confront the confused. Do we stay the course or do we pursue a different career? Do we go back to school to get a more marketable degree or do we stay in our chosen field of profession? Do we take our money out the stock market so as not to lose everything or do we believe our investment counselors who tell us to ride it out and that the market will bounce back? Do we down size our homes in a housing market where properties continue to lose their value but where people continually struggle to make ends meet?
Where can we go to find answers? I love what Ps 119:105 says. God’s word is like a lamp that gives light on the path for our feet. It does not say that God’s word is a flood light, a light house, or even a light tower. God’s word is a lamp. Think in terms of a candle or a lantern. The light given off may only help us see enough to take our next step or two. If we look down the long dark path ahead us we might not be able to see very far. God’s word gives us enough light to take the next few steps. Our path is illuminated enough to keep walking through the darkness and confusion of our times.
When you and I really need answers we can go to the Bible and find direction. I recently talked to a distraught person who needed a little counsel. At one point I said, “If you want to hear what the world says you will have to talk to someone else. If you want to know what the Bible says I can try to help you.” The contents of the scriptures seem antiquated to our modern times. Experts have ridiculed people who read their Bibles and try to live their lives according to the principles they learn there. Many so called wise men have made themselves to look foolish by doing it their own ways. The most rock solid people I know who know how to cope with adversity and who continue to forge through life come hell or high water are people who read the good book. In the pages of the Bible they have found solace, hope, guidance, strength, assurance, and peace.
I am proposing that each of you reading this begin to saturate your mind in the scriptures if this is not your habit already and plead to God for wisdom and direction about the path you are to take. You may have tried everything and everyone else to help you. What do you have to lose? If God can really help illumine the path you are to walk by shedding light along the way, isn’t that a better option than groping in the darkness and finding yourself unknowingly walking toward disaster near the edge of a cliff. Let God guide and light your path. You may only have enough light to see the next few steps or the next few days, but that is better than no light at all. You may not be able to see years down the road. That’s okay! God knows the way. He knows every turn, every hole, everything that could cause us to stumble. We are not the first people to have to walk through confusing times and God used His word to light the path for them too. Trust Him and walk the path He illuminates.
You can continue to do what feels right or listen to the experts contradict themselves about what we should do. Or you could chose today to make opening your Bible daily a life long habit as you get a little more light to keep walking. This little habit in my life has made all the difference. Sitting with an open Bible and seeking God for direction, hope, comfort, and counsel, not only for myself, but for those who sit in the pews on Sunday has made all the difference. God has used His word to guide me through some harrowing and confusing paths. Need direction? Desperate for hope? Confused and looking for answers? Go to the God of the scriptures who offers a lighted path.

Have You Lost Your Axe Head?

That’s a pretty interesting title don’t you think? It comes from a passage of scripture found in II Kings 6:1-7. In this story some sons of the prophets want to build a larger place to live. They recruit Elisha to help and begin felling trees to begin construction. One man loses the axe head from the handle in a body of water while he is working. This man becomes distraught because the axe was not his in the first place but was borrowed. The God of Elisha made the axe head float to the surface. At first glance that story seems to have very little to say to us today but we would be remise in that thinking.
In this story the axe head represents a couple of things for me. It represents the cutting edge or the power of God to make us effective in our work and a passion and love for God while we are working. Many people in the context of church work labor but that does not mean they are effective. Their axe heads have become dull or worse they have become loosened and fallen off the handle all together. The work may continue but God does not bless it.
Churches are busy. Maybe too busy. Axe handles are being swung but do we ever take time out to question how effective our labors are and how much of the power of God is on what we do? Are teachers anointed and seeing God use them to make a difference? Do they have passion to learn, train and instruct those pupils entrusted to them in small groups? How many people in the pews are merely going through the motions from Sunday to Sunday with little passion for God and little power of God on what they are doing?
Multitudes of people have lost their axe heads. They may still do and say all the right things on the outside. They may use the right religious jargon but hearts have become cold and calloused and the work of God suffers. We have programmed ourselves to death. Programs and technology are no substitute for the cutting edge of God’s power. We may work as hard as ever in the church today and yet see less fruit from our labors if God is not supernaturally enabling us.
How is the axe head in your life? Is it firmly secured and brought to a razor’s edge through the disciplines of prayer and scripture reading? These things may seem like old hat but if we ever hope to be effective in building the kingdom of God we must walk closely with God and beg him to sharpen us so we can be effective for Him. What does God want from us? Does He want us to be busy for Him without accomplishing much or does He want us to be effective. According to [John 15:8] God wants us to bear much fruit and thereby bring Him much glory.
Many people look committed and passionate from the outside. They are involved and serve in various capacities but if we were to really look at them from God’s perspective they might look like a person swinging away to chop down a tree with only the handle because they have lost their axe head. They are going through the motions but God’s anointing is not there. We may be an educated society and have technology at our finger tips but we desperately need God’s power to make a difference in our respective communities.
Perhaps you are one who has lost your axe head. Somewhere along the way you lost your passion to walk closely with the Lord and you lost your zeal, vigor, and God’s power in your life. If you are one of those people please read the conclusion of this story in II Kings 6. We discover that the man cried out in sorrow because the axe was not his to begin with but had been borrowed from someone else. In the same way your life is not your own if you have been saved and transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ. If you have come into relationship with Him your life is no longer your own. He owns us and we will give an accounting for our life and how we lived and served Him. [I Cor 3: 10-15]. We are stewards of our lives like the man was a steward of the axe. There is a day of reckoning. It should break our hearts if we find ourselves going through the motions with no cutting edge. The man in this story cried out in anguish. Is there any brokenness over the loss of our passion for God and His power at work through us? We must have integrity to stop the work and fall on our faces in repentance begging God to renew our hearts and revive His work in and through us.
Elisha asked the man where he lost the axe head. That is a great question for us as well. Where did you lose your love for God and your heart became cold and hard toward Him? At what point did you lose your vigor in serving Him and fall into the trap of mindlessly going through the rituals and routines of service for Him. Maybe you said yes to something you have said have said no to and as a result you are burned out. Maybe you disobeyed His leadership in leading you into ministry years ago and due to your rebellion you have not been the same since. If you lost your axe head you need to go back where you lost it. If you cannot find that place let me ask you to revisit the place you were first introduced to a saving life transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. Let the Lord rekindle that love and fire in your soul you once had in serving Him. Let Him make His grace boil over in your heart causing you to worship and serve Him out of humility and gratitude. Wherever you lost your axe head go back there spiritually and recover it.
God used Elisha to miraculously make that axe head float to the surface. It will take nothing short of a miracle to get the cutting edge of a new love for God and a fresh empowering to labor for Him in our lives as well. We need to cry out to God for this miracle. Then and only then will we be effective for Him.
Once the axe head floated to the surface, Elisha instructed the man to pick it up for himself. As we come to the conclusion of this story we are faced with a choice like we are so many times in the scriptures. Do we take responsibility to recover the axe head in our own lives by reaching down to pick up what God has made resurface or do we go on trying to live off the spiritual experiences of others. You cannot recover the lost axe head for my life and I cannot recover yours for your life. Each of us must bow in humility and take the lost axe head for ourselves. Once we do this spiritually it will be time to go back to work after we reattach the cutting edge to the handles of our lives. It is then and only then that we should go back to work. Until we recover the axe head of the cutting edge we should cease the work in brokenness.
So let me ask you, have you lost your axe head? You and God may be the only ones to know. Nobody around you may have discovered your secret of seldom ever meeting with God and rarely having fresh experiences with Him. Today you have a choice to make. Will you plead for God to do a miracle in your life to restore the cutting edge of passion and power or will you continue to fake it? O God, please restore the axe heads of our lives for your glory and the effectiveness of building your kingdom.

Courage to Follow

Jesus never said being a follower of His would be easy, comfortable, or safe. It takes courage to follow Him. I know there is a type of following the Lord that includes regular church attendance, giving a few dollars in the offerings, and living as a good moral upstanding citizen. This kind of life does not require much courage. People who live like this blend in with the rest of the people and very little courage is required. It takes courage to rise above mediocre living and half hearted following Christ.
On the other hand take the life of Paul. His life bleeds daring, boldness, and courage. He faced down enemies of the gospel and never backed down or giving in to their demands for his silence. He lived a life of sacrifice, boldness, intellectual prowess, and of course courage. It did not matter what his enemies did, they could not distract Paul from staying on mission. They beat him, stoned him, flogged him, imprisoned him, and opposed him. How did Paul respond to all of this? He continued to courageously follow Jesus. Paul summed up his attitude in Act 20:24. “But I don’t consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
One of the reasons Paul had courage to follow the Lord was Paul was not in love with his own life. He did not consider things like personal security. In fact, everywhere Paul went put his life at personal risk. At times he had to be pulled from riots by his companions. Paul was a man to run toward the battles and not away from them. That take guts. It takes bravery to keep preaching a message that offends but a message you believe to the core of your being. It takes raw boldness to preach this message when you see the stones in the hands of the people and feel those same stone crushing the bones in your body as they are being hurled at you.[Acts 14:19] It takes even more courage to go back to the same community that stoned you and left you outside the city for dead and preach the message to their hard hearts and spiritually deaf ears again. [Acts 14:21] Paul did that and in order to live like that you cannot care about your life. You have to be willing to lose your life to follow Christ that courageously. Most of us are far too in love with our lives for that.
We are addicted to comfort not courage in the church today. As I write this it is 6:41 a.m. I have been prayerfully contemplating the courage it takes to really be a follower of Christ. I wonder if I have the guts to really lay it on the line and follow Jesus no matter where He leads and no matter what it costs. Courageously following Christ sounds easy from the air conditioned comfort of this chair seated at my computer after a restful night of sleep in my comfortable bed. Everywhere I look around me I see things that are meant to combat my following Christ with courage and imprison me in the comforts of this world. I think it was pastor and theologian John Piper who once said that anything that makes us more at home in this world is a dangerous thing.
I am surrounded by comforts. Television, relationships, music, my bed, rocker recliners, air conditioning to give refuge from the triple digit Texas summer heat, abundance of food, entertainment, and my personal and work computers. It is easy to write about following Christ courageously from my safe, predictable, and comfortable little world but what about when He calls to leave comfort zones for the risk of the unknown. What do I do then? What do I do when His call on my life upsets everything safe, predictable, and comfortable? Do I hunker down and cling to the familiar resisting courage and God’s call or do I submit and summon the courage to follow Christ no matter what? This is a decision we all must face.
I am inspired to summon the courage countless other followers of Christ found when they obeyed the Lord. I am referring to people like John Wesley who often had rocks thrown at him while he preached outdoors. People like David Brainerd who despite a constant battle with tuberculosis courageously followed Christ into the wilderness of the North Eastern Colonies to take the gospel to the Native Americans in the 1700’s. Like Paul he did not count his life as dear to himself and braved the winters in his tent, forged raging rivers, and fought depression to fulfill his mission and losing his life spiritually over and over again and his life physically to the diseased that ravaged his body by the time he was twenty nine. William Carey, Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, John Patton, David Livingstone, and Amy Carmichael all found the courage to follow Christ into hostile situations and yet their lives inspire others to do the same. They put it all on the line for Jesus and really LIVED! Far too many of us merely exist. They lived with mission and purpose for a cause greater than themselves.
Before I get too carried away, God does not call every person to pack up to become a missionary in a hostile country. On the other hand, God does call all of us to be ready at a moment’s notice to follow Him courageously in the world we live in.
Last week I was test driving a car in Arlington with a young salesman seated in the passenger seat. As we buckled our seat belts I introduced myself and found out his name was Jason. I light heartedly commented to Jason that this might be the last ride of his life. I knew I had a captive audience. What do you think I did? I couldn’t really tell you much about the vehicle I drove that day but I can tell you Jason is not saved and one of the reasons why is that he has too many friends who are hypocrites. He doesn’t get it. He cannot grasp how some people can say they have met Christ, been saved, transformed and yet live the same kind of lifestyle he does. What if Jason could have met and befriend Paul, or Brainerd or Wesley?
I can tell you about a man named Jim whom I met in another community yesterday working at a convenience store as the manager. Jim does not go to church and told me that nobody has invited him to church. I invited him to attend the church of some friends of mine. It takes small amounts of courage to engage people all around us in spiritual conversations. Few do and pews in the church and dry baptisteries reflect this.
I am not saying that it will be easy but I am telling you by God’s help I intend to be a Christian who will courageously follow Christ no matter what! I am a soldier in the Lord’s army and my one response everyday to life is to find my marching orders and to courageously obey them. It will not be easy. There will be many along the way who will not understand. I hope through following with courage that God is glorified in my life and that others are inspired to follow suit as I have been inspired by the life of Paul. Will you follow the Lord courageously?

Promise Keeper

It was December of 2008 and I was driving around loop 820 in Fort Worth in a borrowed truck. Brenda’s car was in the shop for repairs and I had just given my truck away in obedience to God’s promptings a few days before. Brenda had drifted off to sleep as we were driving around to finish some Christmas shopping when I sensed the Lord speaking two things to me, “You are going to love the truck I give you. I will give you a better truck than you gave away.” It was so real that I laughed out loud waking Brenda up before I told her what the Lord had put in my heart.
That was seven months and ago. During those months there has been hundreds of hours of prayer, several tests, and countless lessons in patience and perseverance. There have been seasons of confusion, and even bouts of doubt. My faith has been tried and tested and reluctantly I have had to learn to wait on the Lord.
All of that ended today. Through a series of three different miracles, God blessed my family with a truck today. It is better than the one I gave away and now it is time to brag on the Lord. He is faithful. [I Thess 5:24] He is the ultimate mountain mover. [Mark 11:23-24] He is a promise keeper not a promise breaker.
Words fail me and my family is humbled. On the way home today in that truck Tanner kept exclaiming, “I can’t believe it! This is awesome!” He was so excited he told me he could not sleep all night since Brenda and I had told the boys we were getting the truck today. I have walked through this day with gratitude, peace, and humility knowing my God has kept His promise to me again. He does not break promises.
There were times I did not think He would. There were days when my frustration got the best of me. In God’s perfect timing, in God’s sovereign solution, and when He was ready to bring glory to His name, God came through. I did not earn His blessing nor do I deserve it. I had a need and God gave a promise to meet that need. “I will give you a better truck than you gave away.” He is a faithful provider. [Phil 4:19]
I know there are some of you reading this that have been waiting on God for a long long time. It might appear that He has abandoned you. It might look like He is breaking His promise to you but if you hold on long enough, persevere in believing prayer tenaciously enough, you too will behold His faithfulness as I am doing today. There are desires God put in your heart that ache because your hope has been deferred for such a long time but keep trusting when there seems no hope and no use. Keep believing and do not entertain any doubts that God will not come through. HE WILL! He will do it in His time though and learning to wait on Him can be a hard lesson to learn.
Sitting outside my office is a 2006 truck. It is not brand new but it is new to me. I appreciate it because I have waited on it so long. Though I appreciate it I do not treasure it more than the God who gave it to me. Be careful in all of your longing that you do not long for anything more than you long for a closer walk with God.
I would like you to picture that thing you have been waiting on God to do or to provide. Get a good mental picture of it. Now in your mind I want you to look to the future and your reaction when God makes that hope so long deferred become reality. How will you rejoice? How grateful will you be? Keep that vision in mind. Believe for that day. God knows your sacrifices, your faithful obedience, your persevering praying, and your strong faith. God kept His promise to me and my family. We have experienced over and over again. I know He will do the same for you.

Yes, Lord

In this life we face multiple decisions about whether we will follow the Lord or reject His counsel and His will. In essence we will find ourselves at crossroads where we will give God our “yes” or our “no”. The sum total of those decisions will in large part determine the course of our lives and whether or not we fulfill the purposes of God in our generation.
I am thinking this morning of the multiple people in scriptures who faced tough decisions but who said, “Yes, Lord,” and followed by faith. By faith Noah being warned by God about His judgment yet to come built an ark. [Heb 11:7] It took him a long time to complete the task and surely there must have been times when Noah’s resolve ran low and he was tempted to quit. His “yes” reserved not only the animals but also his family.
Abraham gave God his “yes” when called to uproot and leave everything familiar to follow God to the unknown. [Heb 11:8] He was forced to walk and obey in blind faith having no idea what that simple “yes” was going to really mean. I am sure Abraham must have appeared very foolish and irrational to those close to him. Abraham heard from God and obeyed. The word “obeyed” means that Abraham submitted as a subordinate and conformed to what was commanded Him. We think that the only things God will ask us to do for Him will be convenient for us and fit into our comfortable lifestyles. This is not the pattern you see in the Bible. God often called people to make radical adjustments in their lives to follow Him. He still does. God spoke and required people to submit to His commands in obedience. He still speaks and calls people to submit to Him. Many times it is very inconvenient, it is very uncomfortable, and obedience requires great sacrifice. It is at this very point when many people give God their “no” and rebel against His commandments.
Is that why there are so few miracles that testify of the greatness of our God? Could it be that because so many say “no” to the Lord that is why our worship seems stale, ritualistic, and our relationship with the Lord often cold and indifferent? Every time we reject the Lord and His commandments our hearts grow a little harder, we become increasingly indifferent to His will and our ears more and more dulled to His voice.
Moses was called to an impossible task. [Heb 11: 24-28] His “yes” after some reluctance saved an entire nation and eventually gave us the Ten Commandments. Moses encountered God like a person encounters a friend. His “yes” brought him to the pinnacle of leadership and influence over people even to this day. How could he have known what that simple “yes” was going to mean for him personally and for people even to this day who read about his thrilling adventure of leading the people of Israel out of Egyptian slavery by the powerful hand of God. We have no idea how our “yes” or “no” to the Lord will impact the lives of others.
I could go on but I think you get the point by now. In every one of our lives God is bringing or has brought us in the past to moments when we will have or had to give him our “yes” or “no”. I don’t know what that will mean for you but I do know that God will call us to obey Him in things that will require us to trust Him. Some of you told the Lord “no” a long time ago and you have not been the same since. Your life has been a series of tragedies and heartaches all because you refused to submit and surrender. Your “no” has impacted more than just your life. It has negatively impacted the lives of those around you. You cannot go back and change the past but you can right here and right say, “Yes Lord,” for the rest of your days. It is only then that will know peace, fulfillment, and joy like you have never known. I am not saying that it will be easy but submitting to the Lord is always right.
I have been reading the fascinating account of the life of David Livingstone who gave God his “yes” as a young man to be a medical missionary in Africa. Livingstone was not content to set up his mission work along the coast line of Africa as missionaries before Him had done. He instead pushed further and further inland creating maps of places no white man had ever set foot and reaching out to people who had never heard the name of Jesus Christ. His “yes” meant hot jungles, dangers from lions, savage tribes, poisonous snakes, dangerous insects and often being separated from His wife for months and even years at a time. He worked tirelessly to promote the cause of Christ in Africa. He was savagely attacked by a lion on one occasion but never backed down in his mission. He lived daily to say, “Yes Lord!” His “yes” inspires me to keep saying “yes” to the Lord no matter what He calls me to do.
Will you give God your “yes” today no matter what? Will you say “yes” to the Lord to fulfill His purpose for you in your generation? Will you willingly follow Him no matter where He leads and what He leads you to do? Lord, I submit to you. I give you my “yes” no matter what that means for me personally. I will surrender and follow you with my whole heart. I will go where you lead me to go. I will do whatever you lead me to do. I only ask that my “yes” would inspire others, the multitudes to say, “Yes Lord,” with their lives so that you get all the glory. In Jesus name, amen.

Choices

It is 4:11 a.m. I have tossed and turned throughout the night waking up in attitude of prayer off and on. I am facing several big choices and have been pleading with God in prayer for guidance and direction. It is difficult to know exactly what He wants me to do. There are no easy formulas to determine the right decisions. There is no clearly marked out path. There are not easy buttons.
There is a time line for one of the choices to be made by today. I have to make my decision before lunch today. I have mulled this choice over and over in my mind and come up with dozens of different scenarios. I have read and studied the scriptures for these choices. I have prayed for hours on end [Matt 7:7-8]. I have sought the counsel of trusted friends [Prov 11:14] and family members and after all of that I have no clear cut answers. There are four different choices to be made in the one choice before lunch. Three are clearly defined and distinct and the final choice is to say “no” to all three choices.
I know all too well from reading about the lives of others and from personal experience that making a wrong choice that does not honor the Lord can have disastrous consequences. It might not be hard for others, but over the past six months, being able to hear clearly from the Lord has been extremely difficult for me. The more I have sought to know His will in several matters the more confused I have felt. There have been no special revelations to help in these choices. There has been a lot of praying and reading the Bible but more than anything there has been waiting.
By nature I am pretty impulsive. This has gotten me into a lot of hot water over the years so as I have aged I have tried to learn to wait on the Lord before making choices that impact my family and others. I am not as quick to jump as I used to be. I am often slower to speak. My decision making is more deliberate as I seek the mind and heart of God before coming to any conclusions but here in lays the problem. In seeking the mind and heart of God I do not always know what He wants or what He is saying. Try as I might, I often cannot say with one hundred percent confidence that the Lord wants me to choose this or that.
Making moral choices is easier. There are principles in the scriptures that are clearly laid out. Do not steal. [Ex 20:15] Do not lie. [Ex 20:16] Do not murder. [Ex 20:13] Do not commit adultery. [Ex 20:14]. There are also other things we clearly know God wants His church to do. We are to take the message of Jesus Christ to every nation in the world. [Matt 28:19-20] I know from these verses that I am to continue to go on mission trips.
Other choices are not so clearly laid out. Whom do you marry? What vocation do you pursue? What house and car do you buy? What community do you live in? These choices are not clearly outlined in the scriptures. There are no verses that say buy this one and not that one. At this point we need wisdom [James 1:5] and discernment. We need guidance from the Lord. Life is filled with hundreds of choices that I need God’s help in making. I know some of you are in the same boat.
Here is my counsel. Do not get in a hurry. Wait on the Lord. [Ps 27:14] Two times in that verse we are counseled to wait on the Lord. We are told to wait on the Lord in [Is 40:30-31]. Haste makes waste as the old adage goes. Even when God appears to be silent we would be wise to keep waiting on Him. Patience is a virtue. In this fast paced world where we are often pushed to make quick decisions we need to be reminded to slow down and wait on God’s counsel. If more people had done that over the past few years we would not be facing the economic crisis we are facing. People would not have gone in debt over their heads making purchases they could not really afford.
Fill your mind with scriptures. [Ps 119:147-148]. Rise before the dawn to seek truth from the God of the Bible. Wait for His words to be imparted to your heart. Over the years when I have needed direction God has used His Word to speak to my heart many times. At times those revelations have been stunning. At other times they have come in a collection of themes that seem to resurface over and over again. Sometimes I have been able to take the general principles of scripture to make my best decision. The Bible is a road map for life. It is a life survival guide and the play book for making decisions.
Lastly, and I would caution on this one, I look at circumstances. Some people refer to God opening and shutting a door. I do not put as much stock in this as I do in reading the Bible but I know God has used circumstances in my life to reveal His will. It was through the circumstances of being offered a football scholarship that I went to Howard Payne University where I met my wife Brenda and my close friend Eric as our souls were knit together in Brownwood, TX. It was through Eric that I was connected with a youth ministry position in Weatherford, TX right after Brenda and I got married and it was through Eric again that I was brought to Paradise. God can use circumstances and people to reveal His will.
I have some major choices to make and one of them in less than six hours. I am off to do what I have been doing over and over again. I will keep sitting before the Lord with an open Bible and asking Him to show me what choice to make that would most honor Him. I know He will not fail me in this time of indecision.

Welcome Home

After seven days being away from home on a mission trip our team of thirteen made our way back from the airport in Saskatoon to come back to the States. We spent our time serving the community of Humboldt by volunteering at a town festival called the Summer Sizzler. We engaged people in spiritual conversations, worshipped with a handful of Canadians, prayed for God to raise much needed pastors throughout the province of Saskatchewan and the whole nation, and passed out hundreds of balloons to children with the First Baptist Humboldt logo printed on them.
When we started our way back home we were all exhausted. The sun does not set in Humboldt during the summer months until around 10:30 p.m. and rises in the morning about 4:30 a.m. We were often up late and out of bed early to start our day’s activities. It was seven days of setting up tables and chair, putting up tents, cleaning, and prayer. When we finally headed back to the States we were all exhausted.
Our flight from Saskatoon to Minneapolis was uneventful. I tried to read a book on the life of Martin Luther but kept drifting off to sleep. I was surprised how fast time went by when the pilot told us to prepare for our landing. After exiting the plane we walked down a long hall way to clear customs. Taylor and I got in what appeared to be a short line. After several minutes had passed I looked up to notice a sign and realized we were in a line for people who were visiting the United States and who were not citizens.
We had to get out of that line. I hurriedly scanned the large room for the shortest line for American Citizens. After a few minutes an agent came from behind the counter to inform us that the line we were in and the line next to us were supposed to be one line. This put Taylor and I even further back. We watched as all the other people from our team cleared customs in a line on the other side of the room while we remained half way back in our line.
Ahead we could see one border agent who was taking three times as long as the other agents to clear people. It seemed he was grilling each person or family with a barrage of questions and holding up the line. Behind us other planes were arriving and every line backed up so moving to another line was not an option. We were trapped where we were. Next to us a lady was talking on her cell phone and agent came out to scold her for breaking this rule. People in the line all around us became impatient as we were forced to wait to reenter the country, many anxious about missing connecting flights. I knew from experience that on the other side we had to reclaim our baggage and pass through another check point where we would turn in our declaration forms and then recheck our luggage before once again going through security before we could actually enter the airport.
It was a trying experience. It was nothing like going through customs to get into Cuba on my first mission trip. There were armed military personnel all throughout the Havana airport. In Minneapolis it was merely a slow methodical process. As we approached the yellow line which represented actually being back on United States soil, I looked up to the agent who was once again grilling those who came to his window. Across from him was another agent who was working much more efficiently. The gentleman who was in front of us unfortunately was ushered by the slow agent to come to his window allowing Taylor and I to be freed up to go the window of the faster agent.
When we were summoned we presented our passports and declaration form. He asked where we had been and what the purpose of our trip had been. I told him we were coming back from Saskatoon where we had been on a mission trip. I will never forget his next words. “Welcome home.” Two simple words that meant a great deal to me. We were home in our native country, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
We didn’t actually get home back in Paradise for another seven hours but crossing that yellow line and walking past his window, I felt I was home. I was in my native land. Our team was back in America. We were once again walking on the soil of the United States.
It felt great to come back home. Since coming home we enjoyed a family birthday celebration at “Babe’s” restaurant with Brenda’s family. Yesterday we celebrated Independence Day around a swimming pool, with great friends from our journey group, ate great American food and watched fireworks for over an hour. It is great to be back home. Today I stood in the familiar pulpit of the First Baptist Church in downtown Paradise and preached from the Proverbs. It is good to be home.
This all got me to thinking. I am citizens of two countries. Yes, I am a citizen of the United States of America. I am also a spiritual citizen of the Kingdom of God and a forgiven and redeemed man who swears allegiance to Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. One day after the trials, adventures, and the ministries of this life come to an end I will be in a different customs line, only this time God Himself will be the customs agent. People will pass under His scrutinizing eye and our passports will be nothing less than a personal salvation experience in Jesus Christ. When we face God and present our passports our names will be looked for in the book of life. If we have not come to God on the merits of Jesus Christ and His mercy there will be no entrance into Heaven but banishment to experience the fury of wrath for eternity.
I can only contemplate the sweet sound the saved will hear as God says, “Welcome home.” We were created for another world. All around people are dying and some are being welcomed into their eternal home while others are being banished into an eternity of suffering and torment. Death comes for us all. Just this week a former sex symbol died of cancer, the “King of Pop” died of cardiac arrest, while a former NFL Quarterback was found shot to death. When death comes for you and me and we wait to go through the customs of eternity I hope you will be able to present the passport of a personal testimony of a salvation experience with Jesus Christ. He alone is the doorway to Heaven. [Jn 14:6] He alone has the authority to welcome us home.