Leaving the Altar in Tears

It is my sincere desire to preach for decisions. Whether that be preaching an evangelistic message and desiring to see souls saved or seeing people at the altar in repentance of sin, I want to see God move. When I preach my heart out I trust God to move souls to respond. When people do not respond it eats away at me.

I left the altar about as broken this past week as I have in a long time. I preached a message about revival, prayer, repentance, and the mercy of God to respond to broken hearted, sorrowful, and repentant people. The challenge was that the people of God would be as responsive to God's word as the pagan people of Nineveh were to Jonah's message.

I concluded the message asking people to ask God for His heart about our nation and to ask God to break our hearts with the things that break His heart. Then I went to the altar and fell to my knees praying. My prayers were interrupted by the sound of laughter as I had already told people they could leave when they wanted. We went from a solemn message to casual conversational chatter in less than five minutes. My heart sunk like an anvil in a swimming pool.

Tear filled my eyes as I left the altar. I was in no mood to talk and made my way to my office trying to avoid eye contact with people. There I sat in stunned silence wondering why the people did not respond. The gnawing in my soul is hard to live with. When the altars are not jammed with people it bothers me. When people are not repentant, the lost are not saved, the people of God do not pray, and when the listeners do not adjust their lives with the truth of God's word it does not sit well with me.

Brenda has often said that when I preach my whole body and being are caught up in the message. I often feel the message deeply while delivering it. Maybe that is why it hurts so badly when it seems that the people do not listen nor respond. The prophet Jeremiah knew this feeling. The nation never responded to his prophetic utterances.

Prophets are often maligned, rejected, and persecuted. I wonder if they ever left the altar or from a preaching assignment in tears broken that the people did not respond. I would rather leave the altar broken and in tears than to leave a service dry-eyed and hard hearted because I do not care.

New Book Update

The publisher has my my new book and production has begun. Out of the $4,000 we need to hire a publicist for the book (which will all be reimbursed once the book sells 1,000 copies) we have been able to send $1,700. We thank God for the generosity of his people and for opening doors for me to preach to be able to send that amount.

We still need $2,300 and I do not have it. We have less than $100 in No Compromise Ministries. I just reread the manuscript to make a few changes before sending it to the publisher. Now we are in production. We have asked God to supply the rest of this money.

I believe in this book as much as any that I have written. Don't just take my word for it. Here is an email I received from one who read the manuscript and gave me some feed back.

"Matt, I am not a reader, I can count less than five times I have ever finished a book that quickly, sad but true! 

I couldn't put this book down. Less than 24 hours I have consumed your writings as if it were a piece of homemade chocolate cake! 

You have allowed God to speak through you as you share your personal experience mixed with truth from His Word. They have spoken to me and my soul the things I have felt, what I'm feeling now and things I haven't even realized before, but that are so true! 

Wow! Brother I believe with my whole heart this book will reach thousands NO millions of people because it's content is relevant  to 100% of the people who live here on this earth! 

The length of the book is perfect living in a busy, busy world.

I cannot wait to see what God is going to do with this book! I want to pay you for a whole case of books that I am going to share with so many I know that need this comfort! They need to know that Joy does come in the morning! They need to know that Hope comes from having a relationship with Jesus Christ! 

Hang on brother, it's going to ignite , spread and consume! Are you ready for this? 

Thank you for being obedient and allowing God to use your sufferings to reach others. Your pain has not been in vain. This book is going to be proof of that. You have exalted the Lord through your sufferings by being obedient in writing this book!  To God be the glory! "

We are still committed to giving all the money we make from this book to help pay off the remaining debt on the hospital in Honduras. I have laid this book at God's feet and trust that He will put it in the hands of the people who need healing and hope all over the world. 

If you would like to partner with us in helping to make this book a reality please contact me. Though $2,700 is out of my reach right now that is not a big sum to God. I trust Him to move this mountain like He has done so many times in the past. He has already moved one person to give a generous gift of $1,000 in answer to prayer right after a No Compromise Ministries board meting.  

It will take about seven months before the book will be released. I hope to do several book signings in west, TX, east, TX, and in this area. Your prayers are coveted and your partnership is appreciated. 

No COMPROMISE ministries began as a faith ministry in 1998 and has continued as a faith ministry for the past fifteen years. We have trusted God for His provision over and over again and watched God move in answer to those prayers in timely fashion. We trust He will do it again with this project. I am happy to report that God has used this ministry to send nearly $30,000 to pay on the hospital to date. It is our desire to see God wipe out the debt on the hospital completely as the doctors continue to minister to poverty stricken Chorti people around Copan Ruinas Honduras. 

We will not stop praying, serving, and laboring until that mountain has been moved. We believe this book is going to be a huge part of that miracle. 

My Choice

Life is filled with choices. Today I chose to wear jeans, a green shirt, and boots. I chose to buy breakfast rather than to cook. Those are simple choices.

 Other choices are more complex. Choices about how to spend and invest your money. Choices about how to use your time. There are choices about where you live or where you work. These are not as simple.

The one choice I am most interested in today and every day is the one I found while reading in the scriptures this morning. Read it for yourself. "Now fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth and put away the gods which your Fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord , choose for yourself today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." [Joshua 24:14-15]

Will I choose to serve the Lord? Will I decide day in and day out to serve the one true God? Will I elect Him day after day to rule and to reign on the throne of my life. What will I choose when He works in ways I do not understand? Who will I serve when life does not work out like I thought in my long term plans? Will I decide with God when life gets hard and the way seems unsure? Who will I serve?

Everybody chooses to serve someone. Many bow down to the god of self. They live to serve self. The enjoy whatever they want with few restraints as long as it makes them happy. They put self at the front of their agenda. They promote themselves in every realm of life. They indulge in every selfish pleasure they want.

Others serve politicians, philosophies, and other religions. Some serve money. The question posed before me today is who will I serve. Put another way who or what will I give my whole self to be enslaved as a bondservant. Who will get my allegiance?

It is easy to say "as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." Will I choose serving the Lord when things get tough. When God calls me to serve Him requiring sacrifice will I still I choose Him? When God beckons me to hold things in this life loosely and to let them go, will I still choose and desire to serve Him? Will I still want to serve Him when the nights of weeping outnumber the joys in the morning? Will I still choose to serve Him when the tears blind the path and obscures hope for better days.

Will l still bow in submission to God the Sovereign King and give my allegiance to Him when His plans clash with my plans and I have to alter my course? Will I still remain loyal in service when youth has faded and my body and mind become feeble with old age?

Then, I wonder if my household will choose to serve God. Will they elect God the King of their hearts. Will they live out their days as good church members or truly devoted followers of Christ? Will they give their allegiance to Jesus Christ for all of their days? Will they choose the easier road. A more populated road but a road leading to destruction?

These are the questions I am pondering today. You know what I have decided. I have decided to serve the Lord and with every fiber of my being to lead my family to do the same. I know full well what I am choosing. I am choosing the route of surrender.[Matt 16:24] I am choosing to relinquish control.[Gal 2:20] I understand I do not get to call the shots.[Eph 2:10] I know there are things that are off limits to me. I know there are things I may have to do that will not be popular. I know the choice of this path will often be lonely. It could lead down some risky trails. I may not come out unscathed. I still choose to serve the Lord.

So again, today as I have done numerous times, I give Jesus Christ my allegiance, my loyalty, my service, and my life. I seek to give Him all of me down to the last drop. I bow in submission to Him, His purposes, and His commands. I give my worship and service to follow Him even if none go with me. I lay my life, my family, and my ministry at His feet. Today I choose to serve the Lord. I choose for my whole household to serve the Lord. When I fail I will not quit. When I sin I will turn in repentance. When I am unsure of the direction I will wait on His marching orders. When I am hurt, wounded, and broken I will trust Him for healing and run back to the battle. I raise the white flag of surrender. No holding back. My choice today and everyday has to be JESUS!

What do you choose? Who will you serve?

Patience and Perseverance

While driving to Seminole on Monday I began anticipating seeing the cotton fields ripe for harvest. What I found were barren fields where in some places the crops never came up due to lack of rain. I witnessed a dismal sight of sparsely under grown fields. I expected to see fields of green plants laced with cotton balls. I found a wasteland depicting broken hearts and broken dreams for a great harvest.

I thought of all the farmers I know. I thought of how year after year they plow in hope. They sow seed in hope. They pray for rain and wait in hope. Most can no longer irrigate because the water below has dried up. For the third year in a row the harvest was bad.

One man told me the crop insurance companies are discussing classifying the farm lands as dry land instead of irrigation land. Those farmers are some of the most stout hearted people I have ever met. Year after year they climb on their tractors with the hope for a better year. They never give up. They press on in faith and hope year after year.

James tells us to consider the farmers and their patience waiting for their precious crops [James 5;7]. The word patience there is a good word for us today. We need to learn this. It means "to be long in spirit, not to lose heart, and to persevere bravely even in enduring misfortunes and troubles."

Even the mundane tasks become difficult when we are heavy laden and trying to endure trials patiently. I think of those farmers year after year preparing the fields under the stress of drought. One man told me experts predict the drought could last anywhere from five years to fifteen more years. Yet those stalwart sod busters plow the fields and plant trusting God for rain and to bring the harvest. They keep laboring though their hearts are heavy with mounting debts and decreasing yields from the field. Though their hearts are anguished they still do their daily tasks.

They inspire me. They inspire me to persevere. They inspire me to keep praying, to keep hoping, and to keep laboring for the Lord. They are an example of steadfastness as are the prophets.

Perhaps none inspires me to persevere through hard times more than Job. He suffered but he kept singing God's praises. He got knocked down but he didn't stay down. He lost most everything he held dear but still clung to an unfailing God.

I don't know what you are up against today. I know what my farmer friends face. I know that God can strengthen our hearts with two things. His word. [Ps 119:165] [Rom 12:2] God gives us peace and transforms our minds with reading and meditation of His word. The second thing is the inspiration of others. Weekly I meet brave men, women, and students who persevere through adversity. I read in history books about those who have suffered but they kept the faith and ran the race God set before them with endurance.

O weary and worn pastor let me encourage you. William Carey labored for seven years in Burma before he saw the first convert to Christ and Adoniram Judson likewise waited seven years before seeing anyone saved. Charles Simeon endured twelve years of ill treatment before his church accepted him as their pastor and he remained in that place for over fifty years. Persevere. Endure. Remain constant and steadfast.

We all have a need for those character traits. We need it in marriage, raising children, at work, doing the mundane tasks of every day life, and in our pursuit of intimacy with Christ. God help us to persevere and to endure to the end.

Don't Take Them For Granted

Matt Edwards

16 seconds ago · 

• How easy it is to take people for granted. From where I write this I can hear Brenda's gentle breathing as she enjoys these last few moments of slumber. She has been a part of my life for the past twenty-five years. Three of those we dated off and on and we have been married for the rest.
  
  I have lunch with her most everyday. She is my best friend. I unload my burdens to her, share my dreams with her, and have followed and pursued God with her by my side. She has weathered the storms in my life like the death of my mom in 1998 and the death of numerous ministry dreams. She has prayed for me diligently while I stood to expound God's word. At times I have been awakened in the middle of the night with her hand resting on me as she prayed for me to get a clear word from God to preach.
  
  We still laugh together. We still enjoy going on dates together. We still chase the kids together. We quietly grieve and rejoice that Taylor is about to graduate this year and pray with him for where God would have him go to college.
  
  I write all this because I was afforded a rare opportunity yesterday to sit with a man who recently lost his wife of almost 63 years. 63 years! We talked about how they met and where life had taken them. He loved his wife and devoted himself to her care when her health began to fail. While we talked his continued love for her and grief were evident.
  
  I let that sink in. His life has changed. The things I take for granted he does not. I wake up with a warm body next to me. I came home from traveling to a hot meal last night. Brenda was doing my laundry when I came home. When I opened the door she greeted me last night with these words, "Hello Daddy." Today we will have lunch together at one of our local favorites. Tonight she will sit dutifully on the front row for our midweek Bible study Lord willing. We will most likely talk numerous times on the phone before the day ends. I can smell the dinner she already has cooking in the crock pot for tonight.
  
  These are blessings my friend no longer gets to enjoy and my heart grieves and aches for him. While many people grieve the death of people for a few hours or days and then move on with everyday life, the spouse or parent who lost the loved one never get over the grieving. A song, a movie, a picture, or a face in the crowd can jolt hundreds of memories of a lost loved one reopening the grief wound. They may learn to cope but they never forget. Life is never the same. NEVER! Many have to learn to live with a hole in their heart. Days are spent alone. The phone does not ring as often. Meals are now eaten alone. Life is different.
  
  We ended our visit yesterday with prayer. We had a tender moment as I asked God to comfort and strengthen this brother. He is a hero to me. He inspires me to want to be a better husband and a better man. He is the best example of a man who honored his wedding vows "to love and to cherish in sickness and in health to death do us part" I have ever known. Many more prayers will be lifted up on his behalf over the days ahead.
  
  Today I will not take my wife for granted or my children. I will hold her hand. I will look deep into her eyes. I will listen to her intently. I will make mental notes of every feature of her face. I will rejoice in the wife of my youth and now my middle age. I will rejoice in the Lord who gave her to me. I will not take her for granted. I will enjoy driving the kids to school and listening to them. I will hug each of them as if for the first time. I will not take them for granted.

Home Bible Study

The living room was crowded with all sorts of different chairs filled with people eager to study the Bible. After six hours of driving west, visiting with several people, and a board meeting, we were eager to dive into the scriptures.

There were a couple of students and a room filled with familiar faces of adults. There was not an empty chair in the room. Most had open Bibles. A few had note pads to take notes. They were hungry for God and I was hungry to get to teach those I love once again. I taught from Jonah chapter two. It was the same message I delivered at Faith Community Church this past Sunday morning. It is a message about how God pursued, chastised, and brought Jonah to a place of brokenness. I lost track of time as we dug into the passage feeling the presence of God in the room.

We had no music. There was no choir. No special music. No throngs of people. It reminded me of what [Acts 2:42-47] must have been like. A simple gathering of God's people hungering to grow and to learn. I sat with an open Bible and a few scribbled notes exploring the text verse by verse.

At times I got choked up. I shepherded these people just two short years ago. The bond is still strong. At times I fought back tears as I expounded the text. I told about a vow I made to God several years ago. That vow is to follow God anywhere, to do anything, at anytime. It is a vow God has called me on time and time again. It is a vow I believe God will continue to call me on time and time again. Like a broken and repentant Jonah [Jonah 2:8-9] I want to pay my vow to the Lord.

Paying vows can be costly. Numerous times I have had to look my wife and boys in the eyes to tell them God had called us to move to a new ministry in a new town. I have felt their anguish as the reality set in that would mean leaving friends and the familiar for the unknown. Yet submission to the Lordship of Jesus trumps the pain of keeping my vow. God desires obedience even when it requires sacrifice.

We ended our time together in prayer. The tears began to flow freely. There are no words to communicate how the presence of God permeated our souls. I cannot describe the deep level of love that flowed freely in that room. Love for God. Love for His word. Love for one another. We all cried.

It was Monday night. These close to two dozen people hungered for God and the study of the scriptures more than Monday Night Football or a leisure night at home. I cherish the memory of that home Bible study. I thank God, not just for the chance to teach His word, but also for the chance to teach it to people I love so much.

A Quick Answer to Prayer

After a few weeks of prayer we have a publisher for my latest book "Weeping For A Night". The No Compromise board of directors voted last night accept the contract from Tate Publishing. We have to come up with $4,000 for a publicist but there is a catch. If we sell 1,000 copies of the book the $4,000 will be reimbursed. So last night the board closed our meeting by praying for God's provision. 

Later that night, before a Bible study, I was handed the phone to talk with a man from Seminole. The conversation went like this. This man had gone to the hospital to pay off his wife's hospital bill. He learned it had been payed in full already. He had some extra money and asked my friend who handed me the phone if there were any needs he might make a contribution to help meet. My friend with the phone is on our board of directors and told him about the book. All the money we make from the book will go to pay off the debt on the hospital in Copan Ruinas Honduras. The man committed to a $1,000 gift.

I picked the check up this morning. God will supply the rest and we trust in about seven months the book will be available. Praise the Lord for answered prayer and for a board of directors who believe God still works. We continue to pray for the Lord to move the rest of this mountain and to put this book into hands of people all over the country.