Breaking The Silence

Have you ever endured the long dark night of the soul? I am referring to periods when God chooses to remain silent. Silent to your cries. Silent to questions. Silent concerning future direction. This is what happened to Israel. Not for a few days, months or years. God remained silent for centuries.

Israel still had Levitical priests. They still had the law. They still had their religious ceremonies. What they did not have was any fresh word from God. Nor did they have prophets. Nobody stood up and declared, "Thus says the Lord." Nobody got fresh words from God for the nation.

Picture this. For centuries one generation came and passed and God remained silent. Surely stories resurfaced about Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and David. Elijah's prophetic ministry must have been a topic of study and conversation from time to time. In each case God spoke to those men about His purposes and plans. He revealed to them what He wanted done.

I wonder if those generations cried out for God to speak to them. I wonder if they pleaded and begged God to come visit them or to send another prophet. God remained silent.

Suddenly, without warning God chose to break the silence to a man named Zechariah concerning a son he would have. We know that son as John the Baptist. He was rough around the edges. He did not fit into the professional priest status. He dressed out of fashion. He ate like a barbarian. He did not get educated like priests but received the Master's education in the desert as God prepared Him to prepare the way for His Son.

John came preaching fiery messages of repentance. He offended the religious experts. He baffled them as well when the crowds heard God breaking the silence with a new prophet on the scene. They heard John's message and they repented as well as following in baptism.

What is the point? You may endure seasons when God is silent. You may not understand but God has His reasons. He will break the silence in His time. When He is ready and when it serves His greater purposes God will break the silence. Keep seeking. Keep asking. Keep knocking. Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV) 
⁷  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
⁸  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

An Open Letter To Kermit

Dear Citizens of Kermit,

I have never spent an entire day in your community. I have never spent an entire night among you. I been there less than two dozen times. Yet  I have been  there numerous times though in my prayers over the past three years.

In that time my burden for your community has grown. My love for your town has not only begun but blossomed over these past several years.I cannot say I even know a dozen people by name in Kermit. I have never met another pastor from your town.

I have driven up and down your streets. I have sat in one of your parks praying. I have visited you weekly in my prayers for the past three years.

Here is what I am convinced. God loves Kermit. He also has Kermit on his heart and mind. I believe God will soon visit your town in a very special way this year.  I've been praying for that specifically. I know many of you have been praying the same thing for a long time. Pastors have prayed and labored faithfully. God has heard those prayers. He has not forgotten them. I trust the answer will come soon.

My encouragement is for you to keep praying. I would like to encourage the local churches to consider beginning a Community Prayer Room ministry if one does not currently exist. This is a simple prayer ministry where on Thursdays from 11:00a.m.-1:00 p.m. a different local church would open their facilities for a come and go prayer meeting. The only need would be to provide prayer request cards and to pass on the prayer requests to the next church hosting the meeting. In addition a local church is needed to open the doors of your facilities for people to come and pray on their lunch hours. Hopefully this will resonate with someone reading this from Kermit and you will put this into motion.

I am trying to solicit much prayer for your community. Soon I will be passing on a business card that reads, "Pray For Kermit. Acts 4:31]." I hope to get these into the hands of people both inside and outside of Kermit. please pray for Kermit, GTX.

I am convinced days of refreshing will come to Kermit. Prayer is the key. I pledge to keep praying  for you myself.

A Day At Denman Avenue

I went home this past weekend. Not my current home. I went back home to the Piney woods of east Texas. Back home to Lufkin where I was born and grew up. Back to my home church - Denman Avenue Baptist Church. I was invited to preach to the students there this past weekend.

I saw so many people from the past. So many people who invested in me, supported me, encouraged me and whom God used to help me not only in being discipled but also in ministry. What a great weekend. I ate at a Lufkin staple called Ray's. Best burger I've ever had. I ate Mexican food at Cafe Del Rio. I drove by my old home on Cunningham street. Many times I dreamed of buying that house and living there. I saw the yard I played ball in. The trees I climbed. Even the pine straw I used to rake.

I drove in awe of the towering Pine trees that grow so tall they overshadow two lane roads. I stayed in two different homes of people I love more than I can ever put into words. My mind swirls with memories of prolonged conversations mostly about God and the Bible.

I sat in a Sunday School classroom this past Saturday night to pray before preaching. Thoughts of the grace of God in salvation, connecting me with Denman Avenue Baptist Church, with Charles Roberts, Eli Bernard, and scores of people that have influenced my life in profound ways overwhelmed me. I could not hardly take it all in  God did in connecting me with so many wonderful people who loved me, prayed for me. embraced me, and invested in me.  The Denman Avenue people took in this  troubled teen, an unbridled young adult, and now a middle aged pastor. I love my home church and owe them a debt I can never repay.

I had the chance to worship with my home church this past Sunday morning. What a blessing. I was deeply moved by the music. I met with God. I saw people I have not seen in years. It has been close to six years since my last visit to Denman Avenue.

I am thankful for the chance to go back home. I cannot remember a trip over the past decade back home that meant anymore than this last one. Thank you Jesus for your amazing grace.

Fools

1 Corinthians 4:10 (ESV)
¹⁰  We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.


The word "fools" means stupid, dull, and blockhead. Not very flattering. We prefer words like honor, respect, noble, and intelligent. Nobody wants to be thought of as stupid, dull, and a blockhead.

Paul minces no words. He and his companions stated it clearly. He saw them as fools for Christ's sake. FOOLS.

How many prefer to look dignified as opposed to a fool in following Christ? Following Jesus wholeheartedly can appear foolish. Most faith steps look foolish. Just read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Noah looked foolish building an ark. Abraham looked foolish moving to a place he did not know. Sarah looked foolish believing God for a child well past her child bearing years. Abraham again looked foolish offering his son to be slain to God. Each of these did these foolish things in obedience to God's leading.

Are you willing to look like a fool in obeying God? I have numerous times. I am well on my way to doing that again. In the end I would rather look like a fool and hear God say, "Well done," than for the world to see me as highly respected and displease God. Many times people have doubted and been skeptical throughout history when people obeyed God by faith.

Call me a blockhead, dull, stupid, even a fool. For Jesus it is worth it.

Dad, I'm Not Scared - God Is In Control

It is hard to believe after a solid year of sitting in Dr. Robert Clifford's office with Tucker I found myself there again with Turner. Dr. Clifford even looked shocked when he walked into the room  and saw me there again. Tucker finally got fully released only a month ago.

Yet there we sat. Turner with an injured knee from playing basketball. We were there to review the MRI results. Dr. Clifford's diagnosis made my heart sink. "There is a torn ACL." My first thought was, "Not again."

Turner is an eighth grader. I immediately looked at him to see how he received that news. He sat stoically. I remember like yesterday when Dr. Clifford diagnosed Tucker with a torn ACL. Tears welled up in Tucker's eyes. He tried to be brave and wiped them away quickly. I knew his heart broke in that moment.

My heart hurt. I could not fix that problem for him. Nor I could I fix a torn ACL for Turner. Believe me. I prayed for healing. Supernatural healing. It did not come. Tucker had to have surgery. Two of them in fact. I prayed for Turner's healing as well. God chose to do it another way. He too will have to be operated on unless God intervenes between now and sometime in January.

When Turner and I got into the truck to leave asked him how he felt. Here is what he said. "Dad, I am not scared. God is in control. He will help me through this."

O that we all had child like faith. Lord help our unbelief.

Confirmation

I live a long way from west Texas. I have not lived there in five and a half years.  God keeps drawing my heart to a small town out there called Kermit. That town keeps showing up over and over again in my life.

While I can't begin to go into  all the ways God keeps confirming my call to go there and preach a revival, I will share the most recent one.

Two of my boys and I went grocery shopping a few days ago. Broookshire's Grocery has a rewards program for frequent shoppers. To access it you can use a card or your phone number. When I gave the cashier my phone number she asked, "Are you from west Texas?" The 432 area code gave it away. We never changed our cell phone numbers after we moved from Seminole.

I responded, "I used to. Are you from west Texas?" She used to live in west Texas. I asked her where she used to live. Her reply, "Kermit."

That grocery store is six hours form Kermit. What is the likely hood that she would live and work in the same area I live. What is the likely hood that she would have previously lived in Kermit? Of the two grocery stores in our area is it coincidence that I chose the one where she worked.  What are the chances that I would just happen to be grocery shopping during her shift and furthermore randomly get into her line. She could have been off.  She could have gone on break. Her line could have been backed up with several people. Three was only one person in front of the boys and I.

She could have been from a hundred different town in west Texas.  The fact she was from Kermit seems more than random chance.. She could not have known about God giving me a  burden for that town. She had no way of knowing about  and my calling to trust the Lord for revival there. She could have just entered my phone number and never said anything about west Texas. It  does not seem like coincidence to me. It seems more like confirmation.

Pen To The Page

It has been nearly two years since I last put pen to page to write a book. While have written hundreds of flogs I have not written any books.  had no desire to write another book. I did not have inspiration. It has never been my desire to just write books. My desire is to only write what God alls me to write.

He has called me to write two books. I just finished the first. I am not certain about the title yet, but it is a book about the Seminole revival back in 2010 that lasted 23 straight days. I've felt compelled to write that book. I consider it my life's work to this point. I hope when it finally gets released God will use it to inspire people to pursue Him more. At this point I only have the rough draft finished.

I am working on a second book. It is the third edition of the 40 Days To Shake City Devotional. This book is more critical in that I hope to have it available 40 days from the start of the Kermit Shake The City Revival. That revival is scheduled to begin July 23, 2017. Time is of the essence. Like with all my books I have to trust God for the provision to get it into print.

There is much tedious wrk to be done. My aim is to be done with the revisions on the devotion book by the fist of the year. Then the tedious work of proofing and editing work begins. I hope to have the manuscript sent to the publishers in early January. I am trusting God to print 5,000 copies of this book. This will cost several thousand dollars.

Afterward, I will proof and edit the other book. Possible titles are The Glorious Pursuit: The Pursuit of God For Revival or I like 23 Days When Heaven Kissed Seminole In Revival. 

I need your prayers. I need anointing to write and the stamina to finish these projects in a timely manner. No Compromise Ministries also needs God's provision to especially get the devotion book into print and available byJune 14, 2017. That is 40 days from the start of revival services in Kermit.