An Eye-Opening Moment

Posted on by
Reply
outreach-hands-ss-1920

I had an eye-opening experience last week. I was driving to Shaw AFB, where I serve. The weather turned bad, and the rain came down in sheets. As I approached the base, there was flooding on the roads and in the surrounding areas. When I finally arrived at the front gate, I handed my ID card to the MP and said, “I heard there was an ark here.” He looked up from my ID, squinted his eyes, and shook his head, indicating he didn’t understand the reference. So, I said, “Noah’s ark?” He looked at me with the same lack of recognition. I finally said, “Flood, big boat, saved people?” There were cars behind me. The MP still didn’t understand the reference. He shook his head and said with a nervous laugh, “I don’t know.” He handed back my ID, saluted, and said, “Have a good night, sir,” as he looked to the car behind me.

As I made my way to lodging I was a bit stunned. This was a young man in his early twenties and had no clue about Noah’s Ark. Given the weather, I expected a short laugh at a corny joke. Instead, I got an embarrassed “I haven’t a clue about what you’re talking about.”

I have been a pastor for almost seventeen years. It is so easy to become insulated from the outside world. And to remind me of that reality

Continue reading →

Serving Who?

Posted on by
Reply
lips

“Did you really fast for me?” (Zechariah 7:5).

In the book of Zachariah, a tragic event occurs. Sometime after the captives have returned home from their seventy-year exile, a group of men inquires of the priests: “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?” Apparently, the people fasted and prayed during this period while they were exiled in Babylon. On the surface, both the fasting and the question seem legit. After all, they were in exile, being punished for their sin. Responding with prayer and fasting seems appropriate.

However, God’s response to the question reveals a startling fact of the human heart (both theirs and ours). God responds to the question with these penetrating words,

Continue reading →

Grace. How good it is.

Posted on by
Reply
grace

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5).

There are many things that can be said about these verses, but I want to point out one area that we sometimes overlook. These verses, in a roundabout way, speak to the reality of God’s grace that sinners receive when they come to Christ. We are not to stand in judgment of others lest we forget that we, too, are sinners who are guilty of sin. Not judging others does not mean we suspend our spiritual discernment or ignore sin, but it does mean we recognize that we are no better than others. Only a hypocrite can pass judgment on another without

Continue reading →

Look Up

Posted on by
Reply
love came down

“They turn, but not to what is above” (Hosea 7:16).

Trying times came upon the children of Israel. They were threatened by foreign nations. They were facing a very real existential crisis. But, they did not know that turning away from God led to their problems – and the further they walked away from the Lord, the greater their problems became. Yet, when all seemed lost, they refused to come back to God. They refused to call upon Him. Instead, they turned to false gods. They turned to Ba’al, Marduk, Molech, and Ashtoreth, amongst others. They turned everywhere but to the one true God who was calling to them (Hosea 7:7, 10, 14). As they called to Ba’al, they cut and mutilated themselves. As they called to Molech, they sacrificed their children. But, despite the intensity of their actions and the sincerity of their misguided beliefs, there would be no answer. They called, but all they received was silence. Yet, during all this, God was there, watching them and calling them through His prophets. The message was simple, “Seek me with all your hearts, and you will be found by me” (Jeremiah 29:12-13). God longed to save them, but they would not “cry to Him from their hearts.” Even in all their sin, He was ready to save and protect them. How much sorrow do people bring upon themselves because they don’t “turn to what is above?” God never turns from people. People turn from God. God loves with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3) and will gladly receive anyone unto Himself. There is no sin that can carry one too far away from His reach. No one is too far gone for the Lord’s help. He comes – He always comes – to those who look to Him and cry out to Him from their heart. When we turn to Him, even in the depths of our sin, we will be met with compassion, kindness, love, and hope. All we have to do is “Look to what is above.” When we do, we will discover that God is already looking at us.

Agonizing Joy

Posted on by
Reply
cross_0504

“And what communion has light with darkness? God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (2 Corinthians 6:14, 1 John 1:5).

Light and darkness are incompatible. Where the one is, the other must flee. When I was a non-believer, I detested the things of God. God was offensive to me. Of course, I couched my contempt for God in a different language. I cloaked my disdain in the language of righteous indignation. I piously proclaimed my own righteousness while heaping disdain on those who might dare to point out my deception. Then one day, the light itself came. Uninvited, it entered my sphere of consciousness, beginning as a dim glow. Even when the light was barely visible, it was enough to cleave the darkness that clung to my soul. It was through the light of the gospel that I began to see how the darkness obscured what was real. It not only clung to me, but it also enveloped me. It had entered my soul and was forming it, shaping it, sculpting it to become something entirely foreign to what God had created it to be. Of course, at the time, I did not know that God had created my soul with a purpose – until the light came. Absent this understanding, I let the dark shape me, believing that’s what I wanted.

At first, it was painful. Upon entering one’s life, the light hurts. There is an agonizing power in the light. First, it reveals what is really there. Part of the pain is in seeing this reality. All pretense to self-righteousness evaporates in its presence. It showed me who I really was. It showed me that my identity was far removed from the fantasies the darkness whispered to me in the night. It revealed to me what I desperately did not want to see. Looking into the mirror with the light on is not the same as

Continue reading →

If?

Posted on by
Reply
Dali

“If you are the Son of man, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40).

After all the people who had experienced and seen Jesus do, they yelled, “If you are the son of God….” Jesus gave sight to the blind. He healed all sicknesses, cast out demons, and even raised the dead. How short the people’s memory was when it came to remembering all he did for them. So they yelled, “Come down from the cross” as though that would be the definitive proof he was the son of God. Raising the dead did not lead them to consider the truth, but coming down from the cross would? This verse demonstrates how blind the human heart is when overcome by sin. The people were blind to Jesus’ true identity, despite his teachings and miracles. They were blind to God’s true ways, not knowing who God really is. They were also blind to the Word of God, not understanding that the Scriptures foretold that the Messiah must suffer and die. And they were blind to the love of God, not realizing he was dying for them. No, the Son of Man did not come down from the cross precisely because he was the Son of God.

 

God Knows

Posted on by
Reply
godknows2-e1494419233101

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:33-34).

God is the Lord of history. It has been said that history is His-Story. In Daniel chapter eight (verses 1-8), God gave Daniel a vision of future events. This vision came to pass two centuries later. It is an amazing thought that God can reveal in detail things that will not occur for centuries. No wonder Jesus told us not to be anxious. The Gentiles, He said, are worried about the daily affairs of life. But our Father not only knows our needs, He knows the events of the day long before the day arrives. Because He is our God, we can leave the worry to Him. He said, “Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and all our needs will be provided for. In Christ, we are free to let God be God, which releases us from all worry, anxiety, and fear. If God can direct the affairs of nations centuries before they occur, He is capable of meeting my meager needs. My eyes can only see to the horizon. But my faith anchors me in the One who sees through the centuries and directs all of time.

God Sees

Posted on by
1
Saving-Hand-610x351

“…For the dark places of the land are full of violence” (Psalm 74:20).

The psalmist retells how the enemy of God’s people destroyed the sanctuary “Where God met with us.” There was great violence in the land. The invaders had no regard for God’s sacred things. But what is not told is why the enemy came in the first place. God’s people had deep darkness in their hearts long before the enemy destroyed the sanctuary. And in the place where they met God, they themselves had no regard for the things of God. Through their idolatry and sin, they brought spiritual darkness into God’s house. In response, God sent the enemy, so they could see just how dark their darkness was. The violence they experienced at the hands of their enemy was proportional to the violence they brought into God’s house through their idolatry. And when the darkness came to light, they felt the violence of it and longed for the light of God’s presence.

Going to the house of God does not mean we are walking in the light of God’s countenance, nor that we are truly seeking Him. God sees what is in our hearts and responds to what is truly there. And, for our own sake, He will expose what is in our hearts. God wants to meet with His people. And, He wants to bless His people. But he cannot respond to what is not there. If what is in our heart is different than what is on our lips, then God’s response will be to jar us into seeing our real spiritual condition – even if He must hand us over to what we truly long for (see Romans 1:18-32). The people didn’t know that the idolatry they practiced and loved was the same sin that drove their enemy to so great a violence against them. Their sin was one and the same. The outward violence of their enemy was proportional to the inward darkness in their own heart. So, the Psalmist gives the warning: “For the dark places of the land are full of violence.” When we allow the darkness in, violence is all that is left for us. So, Jesus said, “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:23).

However, Jesus came so that we may be delivered from the darkness. And He will deliver us, even when we call from its depths.

 

Preaching 101

Posted on by
Reply
preaching-101-001.jpg

“Preacher, your long winded! I’ve got lunch plans, and your preaching is interfering!” So said the anxious church member who thought a twenty-minute sermon once a week was all the church needed, because “No one remembers what you say anyhow!” I hope his chicken and dumplings were memorable. Church life has its share of twists and turns. But, such encounters raise the question, “What is the real purpose of preaching?” Every preacher knows that the closer they get to the 12 o’clock hour, the more fidgety the people become. Pass that sacred time threshold and worship becomes something else altogether.

Over time, it’s easy to forget why something was started. And what had a specific purpose becomes obscured over time. Church worship services sometimes fit into that category. Many people attend church every week, and if you were to ask them what the purpose is, they would most likely say, “To worship.” On the surface, that sounds good. But then ask, “What is worship, and why do we do it?” At that point, the answers become thin and vague. The reality is that many people who attend church don’t really understand the church’s purpose.

When Christ created his church, he was very specific in its purpose. Over time, his vision for the church has been obscured. Today, people think the purpose of church life is to attend church. It’s not uncommon to find people who believe attending church on Sunday morning is what God desires. Bring up the topic of church life, and it’s not uncommon for people to say,

Continue reading →

The Pathway to Fruitfulness

Posted on by
Reply
Faithfulness-and-Fruitfulness

Introduction

It was during the greeting time in worship that he asked me, “What’s your plan to reach our community?” He was an evangelist who was visiting the church. He and his wife had attended church for several months. I had been to his house to visit them. We had some good conversations. My answer to him was brief: “In a word,” I said, “discipleship.” He turned away as I went to shake someone’s hand behind him. I never saw him in church again. That night, as I was leaving for vacation with my family, I received a message on Facebook where he “rebuked” me. That was his word.

I was disappointed, but not surprised. Discipleship is a word that has come to mean different things to different people. But if there is one thing I have learned in ministry, it is that discipleship has lost its significance as being the foundational ministry of the church. There are many good things a church can do through ministry, but if the church is not focusing on discipleship as the focal point of everything it does, it may very well not be fulfilling the very purpose for which Christ created and commissioned his church.[1] In this article, I will argue that discipleship is the path to fruitfulness for the church. True, lasting transformational growth (both numerically and spiritually) will be most evident when discipleship is the leading vision that defines the church’s work. Hence, church growth will be most fruitful when discipleship is the church’s primary ministry.[2]

Understanding the Mission

Any discussion of church growth and the spiritual factors that lead to such growth must begin by

Continue reading →