God's Word Applied

Meditations on Romans 8: Therefore... (Romans 8:1)

2012-02-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

I'm working through memorizing Romans 8 these days with another fellow-Believer. As I'm going through each verse, I'm finding "succulent details" (as one person called them) in God's Word. These are powerful insights God is using to nourish my spiritual life. So I thought I would periodically pass some of them along to you in the form of brief meditations.

I'll begin with the very first word of Romans 8:1, "Therefore...." Anyone who's heard me preach before probably knows exactly what I'm about to say, right?

Altogether now: "Anytime we read a 'therefore' in the Bible, we should always ask what the 'therefore' is there for!"

Of course, this little saying isn't original with me, although I honestly don't know where I first heard it. Also, I'm sure I'm not the first person to underscore the importance of the "therefore" which begins Romans 8.

In the immediate preceeding context, Paul has just finished Romans 7. You'll recall that this is the chapter where Paul voices his personal struggle with the battle every Believer faces: "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing" (Romans 7:18-19, NIV).

After Paul explains his painful struggle, he cries, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:24-25a)!

Now we can better see the meaning for the "therefore" which begins Romans 8, can't we? Paul is about to tell us more concerning his "rescue from the body of death through Jesus Christ." The key to victory in his spiritual life is Jesus Christ! Or, we might put things this way: Paul's sinful nature brought defeat; the power of the Holy Spirit brought deliverance!

So, if we too have truly experienced Christ's rescue, deliverance, or salvation, "therefore" what? Well, this is what we're about to explore.

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Believers are free in Christ (John 8:32, 36; Romans 8:1-2), but they must "stand firm" in spiritual freedom.

Yet, how do we stand firm in our freedom? We must live in light of the truth of God's Word in the power of His Spirit.

"Therefore," let's walk in Christ's deliverance together as we live in light of God's truth in Romans 8 by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Lessons Learned...So Far! (My Multi-Site Journey)

2012-02-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Now that I’ve posted a few blogs on my personal multi-site journey (see previous four posts entitled “Sovereignty and Sensitivity”), I want to summarize a few lessons I’ve learned. It’s important to mention these lessons have been learned “so far” because I’m on a journey. Of course, this means that I’m learning “as-I’m-going,” and it also means that “hind-sight-is-20/20” many times.

While I’ve already identified some of these lessons along the way in the “Sovereignty and Sensitivity” blog posts, I hope this summary list will be a convenient place to highlight some of them. So what are some lessons I’ve learned…so far?

• Trusting God involves action. I believe God showed us the second step of our journey after we were willing to take the first step of our journey.

• God provides for where He guides. Our fellowship witnessed God’s provision for both staffing and financial needs as we followed His leadership by faith.

• Obstacles are opportunities. There is a solution for every problem as long as God is factored into the equation.

• Growing pains definitely exist. Following God’s direction by faith is exciting, but it also involves a lot of painful stretching.

• Adjustments are necessary. Sometimes certain decisions or directions initially appear to be the right ones, but changes need to be made as God reveals a different path or approach.

• Security is required in transitions. By the word “security,” I’m referring more to leaders than to anyone else. In other words, some leaders put themselves under relentless pressure to make the right decision the first time and every time there is a decision to be made. They give themselves no margin for mistakes or growth by "virtue" of their mistakes. The problem with this is that it’s simply not reality. While leaders clearly want to make right decisions, they are human like everyone else, and they are learning as they walk along life's journey. Also, security in leadership is very important for another reason. When someone suggests an alternate view or an adjustment to a plan, an insecure leader gets defensive and resists some changes which naturally come with transitions. As you can see from the length of this “brief” explanation, I’ve been helped a lot by this lesson in my personal multi-site journey and spiritual growth in general.

Again, the above lessons only summarize and highlight some of the main ones I’ve learned so far. I’m still on the journey, and as the person who mentored me for years at the beginning of my Christian life used to say, “I’m learning and growing!”

Sovereignty and Sensitivity Part Four (My Multi-Site Journey)

2012-02-04T05:58:00.000-08:00

After our fellowship voted to move forward with the River Road multi-site and we began some outreaches there, we sought to be sensitive to God’s further direction. Remember: The title of these last few blogs is “Sovereignty and Sensitivity.” The basic point is that God has been and is leading us according to His absolute sovereignty, and we are called to follow His leadership with sensitivity.

This overall point manifested itself to us in two ways. First, since the donut outreaches went so well, we thought an after-school tutoring ministry would be great for the River Road campus. A couple of teachers in our fellowship did an excellent job outlining a plan, and we presented it to the fellowship in order to gauge the possibility of moving forward on this front. However, various aspects of the idea were not coming together, so we sensed that the timing was simply not quite right.

Second, we wanted the Lord to show us who would be able to become the “point person” on our staff to provide leadership for the River Road campus. At first, we had a general sense that our youth pastor at the time would be the most natural person for the position, but as he prayed about the opportunity, he did not think God was leading him toward the campus pastor role at River Road. He did, however, suggest to another one of our staff members that he should consider the opportunity. Ironically, at first, this other staff member did not think much about the opportunity, but one day in his prayer-time, he sensed a clear direction from God to transition into the role.

As you can see from the two examples above, the title, “Sovereignty and Sensitivity,” is appropriate for these blogs. It conveys the idea that God is leading according to His perfect will, timing, and power, and our call is to walk in step with His Spirit as we seek to follow Him with sensivitity.

Sovereignty and Sensitivity Part Three (My Multi-Site Journey)

2012-02-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

One of the first outreaches we did at the River Road campus was a “donut outreach” for the high school located right across from the Church. Actually, as I recall, this idea was mentioned on the very night we were discussing whether or not to purchase the property for a multi-site location. Needless to say, we voted to get the property, and so we had a “donut outreach” scheduled within a very short time.

Our idea was to create a make-shift drive-thru in the Church parking lot so students driving to school could pick-up a donut and some juice. We had a great group of volunteers show up for the outreach; we set-up a canopy, some tables for the donuts and juice, and some cones for directing traffic. We figured a few students (and maybe a few teachers) who drive to school would pick-up some breakfast, and we would have the opportunity to share a “God bless you” with them at the beginning of their day.

In order to spread the word about the outreach, I (along with others) were positioned down the road with poster signs announcing “free donuts and juice” ahead at the Church. At first no one seemed to take us up on our offer. Then it happened….

I looked down the road from where I was standing with my poster sign, and I saw a large group of students walking across the road to get their donuts and juice. I must confess that my first thought was: I am SO FIRED! Then my next thought was the words of Jesus in John 4:35b, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (NIV).

I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, but let’s just say we had a lot of students FLOOD the Church parking lot that first day – many of whom did not drive themselves to school. When the school leadership talked to us later in the morning, they were extremely understanding and gracious. They knew that we didn’t want students crossing the road in any way. They understood we were thinking only students driving to school would drive-thru for a donut and juice.

So the school leadership told us that we could come on campus to share the donuts and juice before school began in the morning! I remember our youth pastor at the time telling me: Isn’t this just like the Church today? Here we are staying at our building, asking people to come to us, while God is opening a door for us to leave our building to go to where the people are!

Wow! What a powerful principle at the very heart of our entire multi-site strategy. One of the points we love about multi-site so much is that it helps us understand the Church is God’s people on mission. In other words, the Church is not a “place” where the world is invited to come to hear the Gospel; the Church is God’s people mobilized to go and preach the Gospel to the whole world!

One other point that began to surface on that morning was: If we were going to go on campus to hand-out donuts and juice, we were going to need A LOT MORE donuts and juice! It was one thing for us to plan to have breakfast for students driving onto our campus, but it was going to be an entirely different thing for us to take donuts and juice to any student from the entire school who wanted some.

So I remember asking our youth pastor, “What kind of resources do you think we need to do this every week for the rest of the school year?” Since we didn’t have many weeks of school left, he did a quick mental calculation and threw-out a number. We both talked about the number – a dollar amount which we did not have in our budget approved specifically for this type of outreach.

But I mentioned to our youth pastor that someone in our fellowship had given a special, designated gift for community outreach events. Although I knew some of that gift had already been spent on a recent event, I figured we could find out how much was left and then plan from there.

Now guess how much was left of that gift? You’re right! When we heard the balance of what was left from that gift (remember that it was a gift given months before this time), the amount just covered what we thought we needed. Once again, God had already provided for our needs even before we knew about them!

This was just the beginning of God’s work at the River Road campus, but it was an exciting beginning for sure.

Sovereignty and Sensitivity Part Two (My Multi-Site Journey)

2012-02-03T04:49:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned at the end of my last blog, I believe God was already preparing the next step of our fellowship’s multi-site journey about 23 ½ hours after we took our first step! Actually, He gave me an indication that something along this line might be coming our way a couple of months before.

During the holiday season before January 2011, I had breakfast with a Church planting consultant in our area. Our conservation began with a few questions about our ministry and my recent books, Reaching the Next Level. Then he asked if our fellowship would be open to working with another Church in some creative way in light of our multi-site thinking.

While I assured him that we were always open to God’s will, I must admit that I was nervous about this idea. I firmly believe in the autonomy of the local Church. Our fellowship was simply trying to follow God’s lead for us; every other fellowship had to follow God’s lead for them.

Well, as I mentioned above, about 23 ½ hours after we officially decided to call our Nations location our first multi-site campus, I received a phone call. The person on the other end of the line was a leader in the fellowship the Church planting consultant mentioned to me a couple of months earlier. Although we could not meet immediately, we did schedule a meeting later that week. Of course, I didn’t know why he wanted to meet with me, but I figured that a multi-site opportunity might surface in our conversation.

As we talked, this lay-leader shared with me how their fellowship had been struggling. They had a building on six acres of land across from one of the largest high schools in our parish (this is Louisiana!). Yet, they could not understand why the ministry was not growing as they envisioned. He told me that their fellowship was ready to make the painful decision to disband, and they wanted to know if Woodland Park would be interested using their location as a multi-site campus.

Immediately, I sensed that God was showing us the next move for our journey of faith. Just as God parted the flooded Jordan only after the Israelite priests stood in the water (Joshua 3:15b-16), the Lord was opening another door for us since we were willing to trust Him in taking our first step of faith. However, this second step of faith was going to be a little more involved for two reasons.

First, it was going to “cost” something. The balance on the facility and property was about $105,000.00, but the current fellowship was very gracious. All they asked was for us to assume the balance of the loan, and they voted to give their entire savings of about $10,000.00 toward the loan. Basically, God provided the building and land for approximately $95,000.00. So our Church made a pretty aggressive move of faith. We paid about $45,000.00 immediately and borrowed against our own contingency fund to cover the other $50,000.00.

Second, it was going to take time to prayerfully discern God’s direction. While we began outreach events to high school students across the road from the new building, we did not begin services at the new facility immediately. We wanted to wait on God in prayer. There were several questions we didn’t know answers to. For example, how were we going to “staff” the new work? When were the services going to take place? What was the expression of the ministry going to look like?

All these were important questions that needed to be answered, but we didn’t know the answers as the journey began. Yet, here is what we did know: If God was leading us, He was going to direct us on the details. We knew God wanted to use the Body of Believers for the works of service (Ephesians 4:11-13). We knew He was going to provide answers for the details as we followed Him. We knew that His Spirit was going to impact lives for the Kingdom.

And God has been faithful! As mentioned above, we began a few outreach events to high school students. Also, we were approached by another ministry in the community who needed a place to meet during the summer months for their Cowboy Church services. They began using the building on Sunday nights, and the Lord allowed us to be a blessing to their work.

On the “provision” front, we realized a few months after we made the decision to move forward with this multi-site opportunity, we had extra funds which allowed us to satisfy our financial obligations for the balance of the loan. Lastly, after months of waiting on the Lord, one of our staff members sensed that he was willing to transition into the campus pastoral role at the new site. So we put together and approved a plan for his transition, and he led a core group of Believers to organize the new work over the course of a few months. Then on Christmas day (2011), the first official service was held at the River Road campus with about 100 people in attendance. In the weeks following, their attendance has held at a very solid level.

As I look back over this second step in our multi-site journey, a few insights seem clear to me:

• Walking by faith calls us to take action while we trust. I believe God didn’t open the second opportunity until after we walked through the first door of opportunity.

• It’s been well-said that where God guides, God provides. Of course, this covers both our financial decision and our staffing decision. “Hind-sight” reveals to me that God already had the entire amount of the building and land and the staffing plan covered before we even made the decision to follow Him. We simply had to obey God and prayerfully seek Him.

• Remain focused on God’s Kingdom. Although the Cowboy Church outreach (which is still meeting at our River Road campus) isn’t technically a part of our fellowship, they are a part of God’s Kingdom work in our community. We are on the same “team” with all who partner with us to proclaim the Gospel to the lost.

We are on a journey of faith! We don’t know everything God has planned, but He does. Isaiah 46:10 says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (NIV).

Basically, God is eternal and sovereign. We may not know what awaits us around the next bend in the road, but God knows the “end from the beginning.” So we can trust the Lord as we follow Him (Proverbs 3:5-7). He is leading us for the glory of His name!

Sovereignty and Sensitivity Part One (My Multi-Site Journey)

2011-04-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

I would like to share in a series of short blogs some of the amazing ways I personally think God has worked in our fellowship to bring us to a multi-site approach to ministry. I will try to present them in a chronological order so that you can get a sense of the timeline of these events in case you’re unfamiliar with our story.

But first, let me try to explain the title for this blog: “Sovereignty and Sensitivity”. This title comes from Acts 16:6-10. In these verses Luke describes the beginning of the second missionary journey for Paul and his companions. The text shows God’s providential sovereignty as He led His missionary team by closing some doors and opening others (Acts 16:6, 7, 9-10), and it also reveals how the Lord’s servants needed to be sensitive to God’s direction by “concluding that God had called [them] to preach the gospel to [those in Macedonia]” (Acts 16:10b, NIV).

This is exactly how I sense the Lord has led us on our multi-site journey. I believe we can look back and see God’s sovereignty displayed at each bend in the road, and yet we still had to be sensitive to the Lord’s leadership. We had to step out in faith and follow Him with sensitivity as He opened doors in His sovereignty.

So let’s begin at the beginning...

Years ago, before I transitioned into the pastoral role at Woodland Park Baptist Church (WPBC), our fellowship voted to sponsor a new Church plant, Stillwater Baptist Church, on the north shore in the Covington/Mandeville area. After some time and various circumstances (such as Hurricane Katrina), Stillwater decided to relocate to Hammond. They met in our building for a while on Saturday nights, and then we co-signed a loan for them so they could secure a building in our city for Sunday morning services.

It seemed in no time at all God blessed Stillwater, the Church grew, and they needed a larger facility which God provided. Now, WPBC had a decision to make: Either we could try to sell Stillwater’s building, or we could use it for our ministry in some way.

Well, our college ministry at the time was meeting in a home and bursting at the seams. So we chose to move our Rise Collegiate Ministry to this building, set it up in a coffee house type format called “Nations Community and Coffee House”, and continue our college ministry from this location.

Here was the first glimpse of a multi-site approach to ministry, but no one at WPBC was thinking in this way. In fact, I don’t think I had even heard of a “multi-site” strategy for ministry at this point! Nevertheless, the idea seemed attractive to me and to others of having a ministry in another part of our city which would allow us to have a different expression of our same mission in order to reach more people with the Gospel.

Quite some time later when our staff learned about a multi-site approach to ministry and spent considerable time talking about this strategy, I came to see our Nations location as God working “ahead” of us to show us what a multi-site ministry could look like for WPBC. Essentially then when we first decided as a fellowship to officially call our Nations location a “multi-site" campus, I felt as though we were simply walking through the door God had already opened quite some time before. To borrow a classic Experiencing God concept: We were basically "joining God" in His work because He was already blessing our Rise Collegiate Ministry and the Nations location with growth. We were being sensitive to God's sovereignty!

However, when we decided as a fellowship in January 2011 to formally proceed with our Nations location as our first multi-site campus, no one really anticipated what God was about ready to do a short 23 ½ hours later. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself because this is the next part of the story…

Blessings!

What's at Stake: Autonomy or Unity? (My Multi-Site Journey)

2011-03-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

When I speak with others about multi-site ministry, the issue of autonomy usually surfaces.

And rightly so - this is a crucial issue since every Church is autonomous. (I’m restricting my comments here to Baptist Churches because I pastor a Baptist Church.) “Autonomy” basically refers to a congregation’s freedom to follow Christ’s leadership according to Scripture.

Of course, the reason why some folks are concerned about autonomy in light of a multi-site approach to ministry is because they view the different campuses of a multi-site Church as separate “Churches”. But this is simply a misunderstanding of the multi-site strategy. A multi-site Church is ONE Church meeting in more than one location. Therefore, this ONE Church is autonomous, and its campuses function within its autonomy.

The above point applies to Churches with a traditional ministry structure as well. For example, even the ministries of a traditional Church (children’s ministry, student ministry, collegiate ministry, etc.) function under the umbrella of this Church’s autonomy. No one thinks a traditional Church’s autonomy is violated because all its ministries operate within its autonomy as ONE Church.

So autonomy isn’t really the issue at stake in a multi-site Church, but unity could be. Yet, unity is the issue at stake in any approach to ministry. But as long as the ministries of a traditional Church or the campuses of a multi-site Church maintain a focus on the Church's mission to make disciples of all nations, the autonomy and unity of the Church are both preserved.

Blessings…

The Church - A People or a Place? (My Multi-Site Journey)

2011-03-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

The Church is a people not a place. This is really the first step on my multi-site journey.

But how do we confirm this observation as true? Simple: We look to God's Word which is truth (John 17:17; Psalm 119:105; 2 Timothy 3:16-17), and the Scripture supports this view in two ways.

First, the Greek word translated "Church" in the New Testament is ekklesia. One helpful work which deals with the meaning of New Testament words and how to translate them accurately into other languages discusses ekklesia in the following way:

"Though some persons have tried to see in the term [ekklesia] a more or less literal meaning of 'called-out ones,' this type of etymologizing is not warranted either by the meaning of [ekklesia] in [New Testament] times or even by its earlier usage. The term [ekklesia] was in common usuage several hundred years before the Christian era and was used to refer to an assembly of persons constituted by well-defined membership. In general Greek usage it was normally a socio-political entity based upon citizenship in a city-state . . . . For the [New Testament], however, it is important to understand the meaning of [ekklesia] as 'an assembly of God's people.'

"In the rendering of [ekklesia] a translator must beware of using a term which refers primarily to a building rather than to a congregation of believers." [These quotes are taken from "Louw-Nida Lexicon" in BibleWorks, ver. 6.0 (Norfolk, VA: BibleWorks, 2003).]

So it's clear from the very meaning of the Greek word translated "Church" that people are in focus as opposed to a place, location, or building. And this is also obviously clear in the way ekklesia is used throughout the New Testament. Just consider every place the word Church occurs from Matthew through Revelation.

Ekklesia surfaces only three times in the Gospels, and all of these occurrences are in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus says in Matthew 16:18 that He will build His "Church" and the attacks of Hell will not prevail against it. Is Christ speaking of constructing a building here? He worked as a carpenter during His incarnation (Mark 6:3), but I don't think He's using the word Church in Matthew 16:18 to refer to one of His physical construction projects. Also, ekklesia occurs twice in Matthew 18:17 where Jesus outlines the final step in resolving a problem among Believers. Christ teaches us that if all private attempts at reconciliation aren't successful, then tell this issue to the "Church". Surely Jesus isn't calling us to speak to buildings! He's telling us to share this issue with the people of God who are the Church.

As we might guess, ekklesia appears many times throughout Acts, the New Testament book which chronicles the birth and growth of the Church. Acts 5:11 mentions great fear which seized the whole Church after the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. Fear doesn't attack buildings, but it does attack people. By the way, the word ekklesia is translated "assembly" in Acts 7:38 to refer to the Israelites as they traveled in the desert. Again, here's a reference to people as opposed to a place even though it's not being used to refer specifically to the New Testament Church as a congregation of Believers.

In Acts 8:1 and 3 we find ekklesia appear twice in connection with persecution. It's actually interesting to look closely at Acts 8:1 because here we find persecution break out against the Church "at Jerusalem". Can you see how the Church (which is a people) is distinguished from their geographical location (which is "at Jerusalem")? We'll see this idea surface many times as we move through every mention of the word Church in the New Testament. Also, Saul wasn't trying to destroy buildings in Acts 8:3. In fact, he was going from "house to house" because while Believers worshipped in different places in the early days of the Church (for instance, at the Temple according to Acts 3:1 and in synagogues according to Acts 9:2, 20), the New Testament mentions how the Church met in various homes (see Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 2).

We again find the Church in different geographical locations mentioned in Acts 9:31. After Saul is converted, Luke tells us in the beginning of this verse that "the church [or Believers] throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace."

In Acts 11:22 and 26 we see the Church in Jerusalem and Antioch mentioned. Once more we see that the Church isn't a place but a people who live in certain places.

It's obvious from Acts 12:1 and 5 that ekklesia refers to people because Herod arrested "some" who belonged to the Church, and the Church was praying while Peter was in prison. Buildings don't pray, but people do.

Just as we've seen above the Church "at Jerusalem" mentioned, Acts 13:1 mentions the Church or the Believers "at Antioch".

In Acts 14:23 we can see how ekklesia refers to a group or congregation of Believers, and Acts 14:27 clearly refers to people because Paul and Barnabas would not have "gathered" buildings but Believers.

The three mentions of ekklesia in Acts 15:3, 4, and 22 all obviously point to Christians as the Church, and Acts 15:41 again points to the Church as group or congregation of Believers.

We can see the word "Churches" referring to local congregations of Christians in Acts 16:5. Also, the fact that these Churches "grew daily in numbers" is another clear indicator that people are in view here as opposed to buildings.

Could you imagine Paul walking up and greeting a building when it says in Acts 18:22 that "When [Paul] landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the Church"? It's obvious that ekklesia here refers to the people of God.

In the context of the riot in Ephesus, we can see ekklesia surface three times to describe an "assembly" of people (Acts 19:32, 39, and 41). Once again, ekklesia refers to a people and not a place even when it occurs in the New Testament and doesn't refer to Christians.

The last two mentions of ekklesia in Acts are found in Acts 20:17 and 28. It's obvious that Believers are in view in both cases because Paul would appoint elders for a congregation not a building, and furthermore, "shepherds" watch over the people of God rather than locations.

Ekklesia occurs five times in Romans, and they are all in Romans 16. Clearly the Church is the people whom Phoebe serves (Romans 16:1); all Believers as opposed to buildings join Paul in being grateful for the sacrifices of Priscilla and Aquila (Romans 16:4); Christians met in houses for worship rather than buildings meeting in homes (Romans 16:5); surely Believers send "greetings" because buildings don't greet one another (Romans 16:16); and obviously Christians enjoy Gaius' hospitality as opposed to locations enjoying it (Romans 16:23).

Paul mentions the Church eighteen times in 1 Corinthians. He clearly refers to Believers who gather in the city of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:2. Paul refers to the congregations of Believers where he teaches in 1 Corinthians 4:17. The apostle also mentions "judges" in the gathering of Believers in 1 Corinthians 6:4. He also mentions a "rule" he lays down in all the congregations in 1 Corinthians 7:17. Surely Paul isn't talking about buildings but people potentially stumbling in 1 Corinthians 10:32. He mentions the Church three times in 1 Corinthians 11. He speaks of the practices of Christian congregations in 1 Corinthians 11:16; he mentions Believers coming together as a Church in 1 Corinthians 11:18; and he expresses his shock about how the Corinthian Christians were "despising" the Church and "those" who have nothing in 1 Corinthians 11:22. Paul names various gifts God appoints for congregations in 1 Corinthians 12:28. Ekklesia occurs nine times in 1 Corinthians 14. Believers are edified and not buildings in 1 Corinthians 14:4, 5, and 12; Paul would rather speak a few intelligible words to teach others as opposed to locations in 1 Corinthians 14:19; Believers gather and not buildings in order for the Church to assemble in 1 Corinthians 14:23; someone with a message in tongues should keep silent if there's not another Believer in the gathered congregation who has the gift of interpretation in 1 Corinthians 14:28; the plural form of ekklesia is translated "congregations" in 1 Corinthians 14:33; and Paul gives instructions to women who are a part of the fellowship in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 14:34 and 35. The apostle, as a persecutor, harmed Christians in 1 Corinthians 15:9. Paul mentions ekklesia three times in 1 Corinthians 16, and all three occurrences of the word refer to congregations of Believers: The Galatians Believers (1 Corinthians 16:1), Christians in Asia (1 Corinthians 16:19a), and Believers who meet in Aquila and Priscilla's house (1 Corinthians 16:19b).

Paul uses ekklesia nine times in 2 Corinthians. Again, he refers to the congregation of Corinthian Christians in 2 Corinthians 1:1. Next, the apostle mentions the Church five times in 2 Corinthians 8. Clearly fellowships of Christians in Macedonia are in view in 2 Corinthians 8:1; Believers as opposed to buildings "praise" others in 2 Corinthian 8:18; also, people make choices and not locations in 2 Corinthians 8:19; Christian leaders represent congregations in 2 Corinthians 8:23; and only Believers in fellowships can "see" things in 2 Corinthians 8:24. Paul also mentions ekklesia two times in 2 Corinthians 11. He obviously refers to people in Churches in 2 Corinthians 11:8; and the apostle isn't concerned with the soundness of physical building structures but with the spiritual lives of Christians in 2 Corinthians 11:28. Obviously, Paul is clearly referring to Christians when he uses the pronoun "you" and makes a comparison to "other Churches" in 2 Corinthians 12:13.

Ekklesia occurs three times in Galatians 1. In Galatians 1:1 and 22 Paul refers to Christians congregations in two geographical locations: Galatia (Galatians 1:1) and Judea (Galatians 1:22). He also clearly refers to people when he mentions his persecutions against the Church of God and his attempts to destroy the Church - burning a building down, for example, would not eliminate the Church because the congregation would still exist since it's a people and not a place (Galatians 1:13).

Paul mentions the Church explicitly nine times in Ephesians. Christ is "head" over all who Believe in Him who make-up the Church in Ephesians 1:22. Christians are a channel through whom God reveals His manifold wisdom in Ephesians 3:10, and God is glorified in His people, the Church, in Ephesians 3:21. The apostle uses the word ekklesia six times in Ephesians 5. The "body" of Christ is clearly a reference to Believers since buildings don't make-up His body (Ephesians 5:23); locations don't "submit" to Christ, but Christians do (Ephesians 5:24); Jesus died for sinners and not structures (Ephesians 5:25); Christ will have a people as His bride as opposed to a building (Ephesians 5:27); Jesus nurtures to His people as opposed to the places where they gather (Ephesians 5:29); and finally, Paul is referring to Christ's love and care for His people and not their places of worship (Ephesians 5:32).

The word ekklesia occurs twice in Philippians. In Paul's autobiographical sketch in chapter three, Paul mentions how he persecuted the Church (Philippians 3:6). Obviously, Paul persecuted people - not buildings. Also, in Philippians 4:15 he notes that when he left Macedonia, "not one church shared with [him] in the matter of giving and receiving, except [the Philippians] only." Of course, locations don't "give," but Believers in locations do.

Paul uses the word ekklesia four times in Colossians. He tells us Christ is "the head of the body, the church" in Colossians 1:18. Clearly, the apostle isn't referring to Jesus as the head of a building's physical structure. Again, Christ's body is referred to as the church in Colossians 1:24. Once more, we see the imagery of a "body" describing the Church which accentuates the fact that the Church is a people and not a place. Paul mentions the Church that meets in Nympha's house in Colossians 4:15. This is another place where we see a distinction between the Church, God's people, and their place to meet, a house. The clear implication is that the Church is a people and not a place. Lastly, in the next verse, Colossians 4:16, the apostle refers to "the church of the Laodiceans." This is a fellowship of Believers from Laodicea - a people in a certain place because the people and the place are to be distinguished.

In Paul's correspondence with the Thessalonians, the word ekklesia surfaces four times - two occurrences in each letter. The apostle's opening words is to "the church of the Thessalonians" (1 Thessalonians 1:1). As mentioned above, this is a congregation of Christians in Thessalonica. While the English word "churches" occurs twice in 1 Thessalonians 2:14 in the NIV, the Greek word ekklesia only occurs once at the beginning of the verse. And again, we find here a reference to the Church, God's people, in a certain geographical location, Judea, making the clear distinction between God's people and the place where they worship and serve. In 2 Thessalonians 1:1, we also see Paul open his letter in the same way he begins his first letter to the Believers at Thessalonica - "to the church of the Thessalonians". Of course, the same point fits both of these references which is that the Church refers to God's people in a particular location. Finally, Paul notes in 2 Thessalonians 1:4 how various congregations of Believers "boast about [the Thessalonians'] perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials [they] are enduring."

In the Pastoral Epistle of 1 Timothy, ekklesia appears three times. In 1 Timothy 3:5, Paul writes, "If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?" Surely the apostle refers to shepherding people here as opposed to looking after buildings or locations. Notice this crystal clear reference to the Church as God's people in 1 Timothy 3:15 where Paul explains what he means by the words "God's household" with the words "the church of the living God." In the final mention of ekklesia in 1 Timothy, Paul is addressing an issue related to widows, and in 1 Timothy 5:16 he teaches, "If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need." Again, the English word "Church" occurs twice in this verse in the NIV, but the Greek word ekklesia occurs only once. And it's obvious from the way Paul uses the word that he is referring to a congregation of Believers because buildings can't be "burdened" while people can.

Paul mentions ekklesia once in the second verse of his brief letter to Philemon. And as the apostle used the word before, he uses it again here to refer to a fellowship of Christians who meet in a house for worship.

Ekklesia occurs twice in Hebrews. The word is translated "congregation" in Hebrews 2:12, and it's a clear reference to Believers who are called "brothers" in the previous verse. Lastly, in Hebrew 12:23a the writer of Hebrews mentions "the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven." This is an obvious reference to Christians unless we want to assert that the names of "buildings" are written in heaven.

James uses ekklesia one time in James 5:14, and he speaks of elders from a congregation of Believers when he mentions the Church.

The word ekklesia surfaces three times in the Johannine Epistles - all in 3 John. In 3 John 6, the apostle mentions how some "brothers" (see verse 5) told the Church about Gaius' love. Obviously, people speak to people as opposed to buildings. John also says that he wrote to the Church about Diotrephes in verse 9. Again, people write to people and not to buildings. Lastly, the apostle mentions how Diotrephes acts in ways dishonoring to the Lord when he puts certain people out of the Church or congregation of Believers in verse 10.

John uses the word ekklesia twenty times in Revelation. As you might guess if you're a student of Scripture, fifteen of these twenty references to the Church appear in Revelation 2 and 3 which deals with Jesus' messages to the seven Churches. But before we take a look at them, John addresses his book to "the seven Churches in the province of Asia" in Revelation 1:4. Clearly the apostle is writing to congregations and not to buildings. Again he mentions these seven congregations in Revelation 1:11, and John uses the plural form of the word ekklesia twice in Revelation 1:20. He first refers to the "angels" (or messengers or pastors) of the seven Churches or congregations, and he also mentions the seven Churches or fellowships of Believers themselves at the end of this verse.

For the majority of the occurrences of ekklesia in Revelation 2 and 3, a clear pattern emerges. For instance, for seven of these occurrences, Christ refers to the Church in a certain location - Ephesus (2:1), Smyrna (2:8), Pergamum (2:12), Thyatira (2:18), Sardis (3:1), Philadelphia (3:7), and Laodicea (3:14). It's obvious for all of these occurrences that the word Church refers to fellowships or congregations of Believers who gather in different geographical locations according to Jesus. Also, another seven of the occurrences of ekklesia in Revelation 2 and 3 appear at the end of Jesus' messengers to the seven Churches. In other words, Christ closes His message to each Church with the following words: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Of course, these words clearly tells us that Jesus has people in view when He refers to the Church because people "hear" what the Spirit says and not buildings. The only exception to this basic pattern of how the word ekklesia surfaces in the Jesus' messages to the seven Churches is found in Revelation 2:23. In the beginning of this verse, Christ tells the Church in Thyatira that "[He] will strike [Jezebel's, see 2:20] children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds." Once again, it's plain to see that Jesus is referring to Believers when He mentions the Church because people "know" as opposed to buildings or locations which do not.

The final mention of ekklesia in Revelation is in Revelation 22:16a where the following words occur: "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches." This use of the word Church is an obvious reference to people unless we want to think Jesus sent His angel to buildings. Clearly, Jesus sent His angel to give a testimony to His people who are His Church.

While the above exercise of going through every mention of the word ekklesia in the New Testament is tedious, it shows the opening statement of this blog enjoys solid Biblical support: The Church is a people not a place. This is the only way the word Church is used in the New Testament.

Again, all this relates to my multi-site journey in one major way. I desire for everything I do to align completely within the perimeters of Scripture, and in light of the New Testament evidence above, a multi-site approach to ministry fits firmly within what Scripture allows because it accentuates the Biblical fact that the Church is a people and not a place.

There's nothing inherently sinful about constructing buildings for ministry - I preach in one weekly, and all of our multi-site campuses meet in buildings. Jesus and Paul both preached in synagogues and in other locations. However, there's nothing in the New Testament which says that a congregation of Believers can only meet in one building for various ministry purposes. The reality is that one of our campuses has three separate buildings on its property that are all used for different ministry opportunities. Again, according to the New Testament, the Church is a people, God's people on mission with Him, and not a building, and so they can use different buildings to extend the ministry and mission of the Gospel to other places.

Okay, more on my multi-site journey in the future (Colossians 1:28-29)! Blessings...

Checking-In with an Update!

2011-02-28T04:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! You probably thought I "fell off the cyber map" because it's been a while since I've posted a blog. But I haven't fallen off the map at all. Actually, God has been doing some pretty amazing things. So I wanted to check-in with a quick update on three fronts...

First, the Lord has been opening some neat doors for more writing opportunities. I just finished (2/14/11) a second writing assignment for a devotional pubication, and one of my articles entitled "Leadership Lessons: Strength, Strategy, and Security" is posting for the first two weeks of March (2011) at an on-line magazine (www.disciplemagazine.com). My prayer is that God will use these writings for His purposes!

Second, the Lord has been leading in some amazing ways at our local Church through a multi-site vision for ministry and mission expansion. A multi-site vision is simply one Church in more than one location. We actually "launched" our first site yesterday (2/27/11) at our Nations campus in Hammond, and we are praying about another possible opportunity in the near future as well. Please pray that God will lead us as we seek to follow Him. Without Him we can do nothing (see John 15:5).

Third, the Lord has been blessing in using Reaching the Next Level. I am currently teaching three groups through the book right now! Whew! I'm acutally wrapping-up a group in the next week or two on Wednesday mornings. This is a group of about 15 ladies who've been going through the study. Also, I'm teaching two groups on Sundays. At 10 o'clock in the moring, I'm meeting with about half a dozen college students at our Church, and at 7 o'clock in the evening, I'm meeting with about 50 folks at our Church. We're having a great time in the Word as we're all Reaching the Next Level by God's grace and for His glory!

Okay, there's a lot more going on, but this is the "quick" update. I'll hopefully be posting some more blogs again in the near future. I appreciate your prayers and trust the Lord is doing a mighty work in your lives everyday (Philemon 6)!

Blessings...

Helpless Without God

2010-11-27T05:19:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but I love to see God's truth expressed in the "hands-on" aspects of life. I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy abstract theological discussions as much as anyone, but I beleive God's Word was given for us primarily to demonstrate as opposed to debate.

I was reminded of this again this morning in my reading from a few verses in Psalm 44. For example, verse 1 says, "God, we have heard with our ears - our forefathers have told us - the work YOU accomplished in their days..." (HCSB, emphasis added). Also, verse 2 explains, "[T]o plant them, YOU drove out the nations with YOUR hand; to settle them, YOU crushed the peoples" (HCSB, emphasis added). Again, verse 3 reads, "For they did not take the land by their sword - their arm did not bring them victory - but by YOUR right hand, YOUR arm, and the light of YOUR face, for YOU were pleased with them" (HCSB, emphasis added).

Are you getting the picture? I think it's pretty obvious, but let's keep going for just a little bit longer...

Verse 4 plainly teaches, "YOU are my King, my God, who ORDAINS victories for Jacob" (HCSB, emphasis added). And now check-out the clarity of verse 5: "Through YOU we drive back our foes; through YOUR name we trample our enemies" (HCSB, emphasis added). Lastly, just in case we missed it, the Psalmist wraps-up verses 6-8 with the obvious point that God alone is our hope: "For I do not trust in my bow, and my sword does not bring me victory. But [note the contrasting conjunction here] YOU give us victory over our foes and let those who hate us be disgraced. We boast in GOD all day long; we will praise YOUR name forever" (HCSB, emphasis added).

So the point here is pretty plain, right? God alone is our Hope, Strength, Victory, Shield, Fortress, Power, Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, Shepherd, Shelter, Strong Tower, etc. In a word, God is our EVERYTHING! Jesus says that without Him we can do NOTHING (see John 15:5). I once heard a guy explain that "nothing" is a zero with the rim knocked off of it. Now that's nothing!

If you want to catch just one little historical glimpse of what this looked like in Israel's conquest, for instance, read Joshua 10:1-14. In these fourteen verses, we find a reference to Jericho in verse 1. By the way, who demolished the walls of Jericho as Israel shouted? God did. The Israelites didn't build a seige ramp nor use a battering ram to break through the walls. Also, notice what verse 11 says: God sent hailstones on the fleeing enemy, and more of the opposition was killed by the hailstones than the swords of Israel! Isn't this an obvious reference to the fact that God was fighting this battle? Lastly, after we read how God held the sun still for a while, the end of verse 14 simply reads, "Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel" (NIV)!

So let me close this blog with a simple but probably obivous question at this point: Who or what are you really trusting in today?

I read a statement a long time ago in The Complete Green Letters that I never forgot. I'm not sure I'm quoting it verbatim, but this is very close if it isn't exact: "To be disappointed with yourself is to have believed in yourself."

WOW! Everytime I read or remember this quote, I'm convicted of how much I do rely on myself - my strength, my wisdom, my training, my personality, my resources, my, my, my!

God, help me grow and consistently live according to the truth of Your Word: Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (NIV).

May we live this day and everyday completely, consistently, and joyfully dependent on the Lord for His glory alone!

Blessings...

Truth for the Trenches of Life

2010-11-24T01:40:00.000-08:00

While I've not been posting blogs on my daily Bible reading lately, I'm currently in the book of Psalms. My focus for today was Psalms 34-36, and I wanted to share this thought which came to me after I finished my reading.

Check out the "title" for Psalm 34: "[A Psalm] Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left."

The historical background for this Psalm is very likely to be 1 Samuel 21:10-15 which chronicles how David fled from Saul to Achish, the Philistine king of Gath. The NIV Study Bible explains that the name "Abimelech" rather than "Achish" appears in the Psalm's title because "perhaps Abimelech was a traditional dynastic name or title for Philistine kings" (see the commentary note in the NIV Study Bible Psalm "34 title").

But here's the main question: Don't you find this title interesting? I certainly do. I think this title (and many others) show how God's Word is truth for the trenches of life. In other words, the Psalms are prayers, praises, pleas, and petitions offered to God in all seasons of life - times of worship and war, community and conflict, deliverance and disaster, pleasure and pain, triumph and tragedy, etc.

And here's the comfort and confidence this truth breeds in my life: The truth of God's Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, indeed! Isn't this the self-proclaimed testimony of the Psalter? Sure it is. The Psalmist declares to God in Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (NIV).

I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that the truth of God's Word is for the trenches of life. It's not flowery sentiments locked away in the unreachable heights of stained glass windows in the sanitary confines of cathedrals. Rather, it's truth you can sink your fingernails into as you navigate every season and situation of life's oftentimes stormy journey.

I've personally sung through many Psalms and sweated through many others. I've celebrated through many Psalms and cried through many others. I've shouted "Amen" at times when my heart agreed with the Psalmist's proclamation of praise originally uttered thousands of years ago, and I've whispered my own "questions" to the Lord from my heart filled with pain as I saw a reflection of myself in the pleas of a Psalmist who was suffered thousands of years ago as well.

"Truth for the Trenches of Life." I guess, I could use this title for any blogs on the Scripture because this is what all of God's Word, Genesis through Revelation, is: Truth for the Trenches of Life.

May we always thank God for His inspired, inerrant Word! And may we always seek to be doers of His Word by the power of His Spirit and not just hearers of His Word (see James 1:22-25). By doing this, we'll build our lives on a rock which will stand through every storm of life (see Matthew 7:24-27).

Blessings...

Reaching the Next Level Is Available through SonLife Christian Bookstore in Hammond, LA

2010-11-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

Great news! Reaching the Next Level is available through SonLife Christian Bookstore in Hammond, LA. So now you have more options than ever on how you can get your copy today. You can get the books directly from the publisher by clicking on the book ad located on the right column of this blog, from major online bookstores (like www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com), or through our very own local Christian bookstore right here in Hammond!

SonLife Christian Bookstore is located at 1417 West Morris, Hammond, LA 70403, and you can reach the store at 985-345-6576.

The hours of operation for the store are as follows:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: 9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday: Closed

You can access the Hammond store's website at:

http://www.sonlifechristianstore.com/Hammond-Store.html.

If you chose to go by SonLife to order your copy, please let the owner Whit know how much you appreciate his service to our local community and for ordering your copy of Reaching the Next Level through his store.

Blessings!

The Centrality of the Cross

2010-11-22T17:31:00.000-08:00

Here's another quote from Pendleton's Christian Doctrines (see my last blog post). Actually, Pendleton takes these words below from a Dr. Edward Payson.

I can't help but reflect on Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 as I read this quote. In these verses Paul says things like:

1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (NIV).

1 Corinthians 1:23-24, "[W]e preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (NIV).

1 Corinthians 1:30-31, "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord'" (NIV).

1 Corinthians 2:2, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (NIV).

Seems pretty clear that the centrality of the cross should be proclaimed in every aspect of our life and message.

So here's Dr. Payson's thoughts on the centrality of the cross as Pendleton quotes them. Of course, please remember that this language and manner of expression is from a by-gone century! Enjoy...

"To the cross of Christ all eternity has looked forward; to the cross of Christ all eternity will look back. The cross of Christ was, if I may so express it, the first object which existed in the divine mind; and with reference to this great object all other objects were created. With reference to the same object they are still preserved. With reference to the same object every event that takes place in heaven, earth, and hell is directed and overruled. Surely, then, this object ought to engage our undivided attention. We ought to regard this world merely as a stage on which the cross of Christ was to be erected and the great drama of the crucifixion acted. We ought to regard all that it contains as only the scenes and draperies necessary for its exhibition. We ought to regard celestial luminaries merely as lamps, by the light of which this stupendous spectacle may be beheld. We ought to view angels, men, and devils as subordinate actors on the stage, and all the commotions and revolutions of the world as subservient to this one grand design. Separate any part of this creation, or any event that has ever taken place, from its relation to Christ, and it dwindles into insignificancy. No sufficient reason can be assigned for its existence, and it appears to have been formed in vain. But when viewed as connected with him every thing becomes important; everything then appears to be a part of one grand, systematic, harmonious whole - a whole worthy of him that formed it. It was such a view of things which led the apostle to exclaim, 'God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.'"

[This quote is taken from Dr. Edward Payson as it appears in James Pendleton, Christian Doctrines: A Compendium of Theology (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1878), 103-104.]

All I can say to this is "Amen!" May we all live every moment of our lives in light of the centrality of the cross.

Blessings!

It's All About God's Glory

2010-11-22T04:19:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a couple of books these days. One of them is by James M. Pendleton, and it's entitled Christian Doctrines: A Compendium of Theology. It was originally published in 1878. The other book I'm reading is by Joshua Harris, and it's entitled Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters. It was originally published in 2010! Both books are basically systematic theology books - they're attempting to systematize what all of Scripture says on particular theological subjects like God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Humanity, Sin, etc.

Of course, everything you and I read must be measured against and filtered through the truth of God's Word. Only the Scriptures are inspired and inerrant (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

So here's a little "nugget" from Pendleton's book which I thought I would pass along to you concerning what Scripture says about the supreme priority of God's glory in all things. I love the message in these words, and I must say I also love the 1878 language, too! Enjoy...

"God in willing to create the universe designed thereby to promote the glory of his own name. It is needless, and indeed it would be untrue, to say that he had no other object in view; but manifestly his supreme purpose was the glory of his own name. All other purposes are inferior and subordinate to this. For men to seek their own glory is selfish and culpable, because in this case they seek a low and insignificant object; whereas the highest and most important object - namely, the divine glory - should ever be had in view. Hence there is a positive command: 'Do all to the glory of God' (1 Corinthians 10:31). But how is it with God himself? The divine intellect in the boundless range of its contemplations finds no object of such exalted importance as the divine glory, and God is therefore under the blessed necessity of acting with a view to his own glory, and of subordinating everything to its promotion. He had his glory supremely in view in the creation of all things; and as the purpose of creation is executed in providence and redemption, we see that is one and the same. We therefore learn from the Old Testament that 'the Lord Jehovah hath made all things for himself' (Proverbs 16:4), and that his glory he 'will not give to another' (Isaiah 42:8); while in the New Testament it is said of Christ that 'all things were created by him, and for him' (Colossians 1:16)."

[The above quote is taken from James M. Pendleton, Christian Doctrines: A Compendium of Theology (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1878), 102-103.]

Well, I think the message here is clear, don't you? May we live everyday for the purpose for which we were created - To glorify God!

Blessings...

"Silent" But Not "Still"

2010-11-13T04:21:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been about two weeks or so since I've posted on the blog. Although I've been "silent" during this time, I've certainly not been "still"! The Lord has done some really neat things over the last few days, and I can summarize His work with four words...

1. Replicate

I was honored to be a part of the Replicate conference in New Orleans on October 29-30th. I led a breakout session on Reaching the Next Level, and God encouraged me greatly with the response I received toward the books.

Let me share a little background about why I was so encouraged. You see, some time ago (a couple or so years ago, I guess), my wife and I participated in another conference at New Orleans Seminary called Kaleo (basically, Greek meaning "to call"). This is a conference NAMB (or the North American Mission Board) puts on for Juniors and Seniors in high school and college students who are exploring the possibility of a call to ministry or missions. I spoke in one of the large sessions at this conference, and I also led a couple of breakout sessions.

Well, for my second breakout session, no one showed up! Listen, I mean, NO ONE showed up! I was sitting in my designated room at the appointed starting time with the door opened, and no one arrived. It was just me, my Bible, and Jesus - which is more than enough for any and every situation in life, by the way.

But I must confess, I was feeling pretty discouraged at the time. Then a college student walked by my room. I don't think he was coming to my session because he first walked past my room, then he took a couple of steps backward to check on me. I explained no one was in my session so he asked if he could talk with me. I told him that would be fine - all I had was time!

We had a very good conversation sharing about all God was doing in our lives both through the seasons of spiritual "plenty" and seasons of spiritual "pain". After we talked, we went our separate ways. We talked again either personally or via email since that time, and it always amazed me how this student would refer back to that conversation at Kaleo as a special time God used to encourage him. By the way, he's now serving the Lord through missions in Canada.

Okay, now fast forward to a couple of weeks ago to Replicate in New Orleans. When I arrived early on Saturday morning, I was planning to connect with one of the conferenece leaders to find a place to set my "books" up with order cards so that anyone who was interested in the books could glance at them and take an order card. But I really second-guessed this plan when I arrived. I mean, all the other exhibits were on big tables with tons of info, banners, decorations, candy, brochures, etc. I was going to have a set of printer proofs of the books with a typed-out flyer saying they were not for sale and a stack of business-sized order cards! I decided I wasn't going to worry about it. So feeling a bit discouraged and foolish, I kept the books with me.

I must tell you at this point, I was remembering my empty room at the Kaleo conference and wondering if anyone was even going to show up for the breakout session on Reaching the Next Level. And so after a busy morning connecting with folks and finding out my breakout assignment, I set things up in the room and put everything in God's hands.

Then when the time came to begin the session, I was amazed. People started coming through the door. They filled every seat, stood against the back wall, sat on the floor, and (I found out later) one person said she was sitting in the hallway, I believe! While things were pretty rushed because of time constraints, we had a great time overviewing the books and sharing a few questions and answers.

After the session, folks were coming up to me to get order cards and ask questions about using the books. One youth pastor was interested in maybe using it with his students, another leader was curious about using it for a new members orientation class, one Dad asked about using it as a discipleship tool for his family, etc! I don't know if anything will come from these inquiries, but it was nevertheless very encouraging to me to see how people were responding to the books.

2. Rest

After the Replicate conference, I preached at our Fellowship and led the Lord's Supper the next day (Sunday), and then our family took-off for a few days of vacation. We traveled to Hope, Arkansas to visit some friends. I was able to relax and watch the second half of the Sunday Night Saints game - WHO DAT! We had a great time sleeping in, hanging out, and sharing with our friends about the Lord's work in our lives.

Then we traveled to Missouri and stayed at the Big Cedar Lodge just outside of Branson, Missouri. Man, this place was amazing! The sights were unbelieveable. I've never been to the Ozark Mountains before, but I definitely hope to go again.

You might ask what we did while we were there - we took things day by day! Some of our sweetest friends were with us on the trip, and we just enjoyed sleeping in, taking naps, checking things out around the Big Cedar Lodge area and Branson, and eating some fabulous food. It was so much fun and such a wonderful time of rest!

3. Release

When we returned home from the vacation time, Reaching the Next Level was already officially released. The books are now available through the main distribution channels (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.).

However, I must say that I still think the best deal, at least from what I can see, is to get them through the publisher's website by using the book ad located on the right column of my blog. It seems the prices for the books "fluctuate" on Amazon, for example, but they are the same on the publisher's site. So while you may get one version of the book at a lower price on Amazon, for instance, the other version may be listed higher. Whereas on the publisher's site, the prices for both books are listed at the same discounted amount and set at a certain price which has remained the same since the pre-order phase.

4. Revivals

The Lord also opened a couple of doors to preach for two revivals in the last few days. First, I was with my dear Brother Kevin and his wife Beth (and their precious little son, Silas) at FBC Lockport for a "Discipleship Revival".

Wow! This was a sweet and special time of ministry for several reasons. One reason was that I was sharing preaching time with Bro. Tim, my "father in the faith" and one of my key mentors. What an honor it was to serve in this way.

And another reason was that some of the men who attended the revival were used by God in very special ways in my life over the years. For example, one of the men who attended all the services was another "Bro. Tim" who encouraged me to return to school during a time when I was out of Bible College for a season. And another man was "Bro. A.J" who was the Deacon who used to take me and my older brother to the nursing home to preach on Thursday nights soon after I was converted. Both of these men attended the services on the last night I was preaching which happened to focus on the practical need to invest in others for God's Kingdom purposes. Their lives are an excellent illustration of obedience to Christ's command to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20). I will always be personally thankful for the ways they invested in my life!

Second, I was honored to preach on Tuesday night (11/9/10) at FBC Kentwood. Pastor Joey there was such a wonderful host, and the fellowship with the Believers was very special. One of the men from our Fellowship in Hammond offered to drive me up to the meeting since he was a former member of FBC Kentwood, and we had a delightful time visiting together during the round-trip drive and a late-night breakfast at Cracker Barrel on the way back.

Again, as you can easily see, while I've been "silent" on the blog, God's not been "still" in my life! By the way, I think here's a great principle to always remember: When God is "silent", He's not "still". You know, there may be times when you feel like God isn't "saying anything" to you, but when God is "silent", He's not "still" because He's always working to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect timing for the glory of His great name (see Romans 8:28)!

Blessings...

They're Here!

2010-10-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

As you can see from the picture on your right, the author proofs for Reaching the Next Level arrived in the mail yesterday! Praise be to the Lord!

Now that I've approved the proofs, they should be scheduled for their first printing within the next couple of days. They should also go "live" on major online bookstore websites within a couple of weeks.

I would like to say "Thank You" again to so many people Jesus used to help me through this process. I could never express enough gratitude to my sweet wife - she has sacrificed and supported me and this work more than anyone will ever know. My boys, Joseph and Joshua, are the best sons any Dad could ever have. And scores of others have invested in my life for God's Kingdom purposes. I hope that this milestone is in some small way an encouragement to them as well.

Okay, now that the books are here, let's keep making disciples of all nations for the glory of God (Matthew 28:18-20)! This is the whole goal, right?

Blessings...

I LOVE My Wife!

2010-10-27T04:19:00.000-07:00

Today is my sweet wife's birthday! While I won't tell her age, I will definitely say how much I absolutely ADORE her!

You know, the book of Proverbs wraps-up with a description of the virtuous woman, and in the closing verses of this portrait of true beauty, it quotes the husband of the virtuous woman's opinion of her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all" (Proverbs 31:29, NIV).

Well, I can't find better words to capture my thoughts and feelings for my wife. Simply put: She surpasses them all!

There's no way for me to list all the ways I love my wife in one blog - I couldn't do it in one lifetime, but I do want to share just three of the ways...

1. I love her love for God and others.

I've said this many times before, and I'll say it many times again because it's just the truth: My wife is the clearest expression of God's grace in my life on a daily basis. Her love is unconditional, unlimited, and unbelieveable. As a pastor, many people see my life when I'm always trying to be strong for others, but my wife is the constant source of encouragement for me when I'm weak, struggling, and confused. Yet, her love never flinches.

I know that Wendy demonstrates this type of supernatural grace in and through her life because she's encountered, experienced, and embraced the grace of God herself. This is why she cares for others so much. It's because the Spirit of the God of All Grace has redeemed her with His incomprehensible love! And I thank the Lord Jesus that she shares with others what she has freely received from Him.

2. I love her wisdom.

As a pastor, many people come to me for counsel, and I try to give the very best Biblical counsel I can in every situation. But who does the pastor go to when he needs counsel? You guessed it: Wendy is a treasure of godly wisdom! Of course, she always offers wise counsel because she is a "woman of the Word". She doesn't lean on her own understanding, but she acknowledges God in all of her ways.

In fact, just last night after Wendy and I had a conversation about a certain decision we're seeking the Lord's will on, she offered the most perfect Biblically balanced solution. And my thoughts later as I reflected on this were: "What am I going to do if I ever lose my wife? Who am I going to talk to? Who is going to share God's wisdom with me as I struggle through the trenches of life?"

I can't recall all the times I struggle on a weekly basis and just a word of wise counsel from my wife soothes my troubled mind and heart. Her conscience is so rock-solid in her Biblical convictions that I always aspire to be as strong as she is.

3. I love her devotion to our family.

I've never met a person who has ever sacrificed more for her family than my wife. I can do all the things I do because my wife has always supported and sacrificed for me.

During our college days, Wendy worked. She took some classes here and there, but her focus was to do whatever she could so that I could follow God's call. For much of my Seminary studies when we had to cover the expenses, Wendy never blinked at how much tuition and books cost us. She simply managed things (both time and money) with unbelieveable wisdom and frugality so that I could do what I sensed the Lord leading us to do.

Of course, these couple of comments don't even come close to all the sacrifices she makes because of our service in local Church ministry. No one will ever know the hours she recently worked through the days and late into the nights to get our home ready for Open House. And she does all of this with joy in her heart because she loves God and others.

Then I could mention the fact that she's always stayed home to be with our sons. We've simply counted the costs on this one, and we've never regretted it. I know my wife - she's bright, unbelieveable in talents and skills, beautiful, etc. I know that she could succeed with excellence in anything she set her heart on. Yet, she has always used everything God has given her to make sure our boys were cared for and received the very best opportunities to become all God wants them to be in life. For example, even through the difficulties of homeschooling two boys, she's always done what needed to be done in order to offer them the very best foundation for their faith.

Wendy and I joke sometimes that if anything ever happened to her - I would starve because I'm absolutely helpless and hopeless in the kitchen! And once again she's right!

But the truth of the matter is that I would die because I couldn't live without HER. I don't know what I would ever do without her.

So I just want to say again: "Thank you Lord Jesus, for my sweet wife. She's clearly a demonstration of Your amazing grace, and may I love her as You loved the Church. She truly deserves nothing less."

"Many women do noble things, but Wendy, you do, indeed, surpass them all!"

I love you, Bae, with all my heart!

Happy Birthday
October 27, 2010

God's Providential Fingerprints - Part 3

2010-10-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

As we come to the closing chapters of the book of Esther (Esther 7-10), we find yet more of God's providential fingerprints on every page of this story. Consider these three additional examples...

8. Gallows (Esther 7)

One of the fascinating aspects of the book of Esther is the use of irony. For example, Haman desires to be honored and to execute Mordecai, but he ends up having to honor Mordecai and being executed! And of course, another aspect of this irony is that Haman is literally executed on the gallows he built for Mordecai's execution.

So how does this evidence God's providential fingerprints? God takes note of the wicked, and He executes His justice (see Psalm 5:4-6). While we may not see the execution of God's justice in this life all the time, the Lord's justice is nevertheless sure. In other words, it may seem at times in this world that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, but we must always remember that this world will not last forever (see Psalm 37).

Of course, in the story of Esther, though, we see an actual example of how God's justice was executed in this life - Haman hung from the literal gallows he built for Mordecai. Again, we see here an example of God's providential fingerprints.

9. The markings of a signet ring (Esther 8)

It's fascinating to read that the king's signet ring was removed from Haman and put it on Mordecai's finger (see Esther 8:2)! Now the transition of authority is complete. In other words, whoever had the king's signet ring literally had the imprint of the king's authority to do what they wanted to do.

Talk about God's providential fingerprints! In this example, we're actually seeing how the "imprint" of a king is illustrating the imprint of THE KING - the Lord God Almighty. I'm not trying to spiritualize the Text here in anyway by suggesting that the image of the king's imprint had some type of reference to God or something - I don't even know what image was on the king's signet ring. I'm simply saying that in God's providence and sovereignty, He used the imprint of a king's signet ring to show how He was working to accomplish His will to save His people from genocide.

10. Turned tables (Esther 9)

I find the words of Esther 9:1 to be very interesting: "On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them" (NIV).

Interesting, don't you think? Through much of the story, it appears that the Jews are hopelessly doomed, but when everything is said and done, the opposite occurs.

So here's the obvious question: Who turned the tables? You guessed it, God's providential fingerprints! Just as God fought Israel's battles before (see Joshua 10:11), He did it again here. The Lord delivered His people - not only in the actual battles that were waged but also in all the events leading up to the battles. For example, the favor of Hegai and the king, the promotion of Esther, the spoiled assination plot, the sinister pride of Haman, the risking of a life, the building of a set of gallows, the reading of the royal records on a night when the king couldn't sleep, the honoring of Mordecai, etc., God's sovereignty is seen over all these things, and He accomplished His will.

There's no doubt that God worked according to His absolute power in the book of Esther - we can see His providential fingerprints everwhere in the story. And He's the same God today, sovereignly working in our lives as well.

So be encouraged. It's been well-said that even when you may not be able to trace God's hand, you can always trust His heart. He's in control, and He's accomplishing His perfect purposes for the glory of His name through times of both pleasure and pain.

Blessings!

God's Providential Fingerprints - Part 2

2010-10-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

As we continue reading the story of Esther, we find more of God’s providential fingerprints in chapters 4-6 as we did in the first three chapters of the book. Again, the Lord is working in His sovereign and providential power to fulfill His will through both ideal and imperfect circumstances.

4. Timing and positioning (Esther 4)

Fasting is mentioned twice in Esther 4 (see verses 3 and 16). This is probably the closest we come to seeing a mention of God in the book of Esther. The reasoning goes something like this: When Jewish people like Mordecai and Esther are fasting, we can be sure prayers are also involved, and if they’re praying, we can be certain they’re praying to the One, True God!

Nevertheless, we still don’t see an explicit mention of God’s name here. Yet, we do see His providential fingerprints. Mordecai relays a classic question to Esther as he tries to convince her to go before the king to plead for the safety of the Jewish people. He asks her in Esther 4:14b, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this” (NIV)?

We can answer this question, can’t we? We know why Esther’s in her royal position, and furthermore, we know who put her there – God did! His providential fingerprints are all over the place. God positioned Esther in her position by His providential power in order to fulfill His purposes. It's true that Esther needed a little time to see God’s plan, but she eventually got it (see Esther 4:15-16).

And here’s an interesting point about God’s providence and sovereignty: Many times we don’t know what God is doing, but God always knows what He’s doing! In other words, we may not “see” things immediately just as it took Esther a little time to “see” the ways God was working. But we can always be sure that God is working even if we can’t “see” it. His providential fingerprints are all over our lives as well.

5. Approval and the heart of a king (Esther 5)

One of the reasons Esther hesitated to approach the king was because she had not been summoned before his presence for 30 days (see Esther 4:11). This point of information is important since Persian law allowed the king to execute anyone who came into his presence uninvited. Esther was basically risking her life now in order to try to save Jewish lives later.

But here’s where we catch a glimpse of God’s providential fingerprints even on the heart of the king! Esther 5:2 says, “When [the king] saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter” (NIV).

Again, we see God’s fingerprints in the fact that Esther gained “approval” before the king. God was granting her favor in the eyes of the king in order to accomplish His purposes. Also, we see God’s fingerprints in the fact the king extended his scepter to her instead of executing her!

Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised at all to find God’s fingerprints on the heart of the king. We can see how God can moved the heart of a pagan king to accomplish His plans (see 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4), and Proverbs 21:1 also says, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases” (NIV).

So, we need to always remember who’s really in control. We might see different people in positions of power with our physical eyes, but God alone is sovereign, exercising ultimate power over all people and things.

6. Sleepless nights and just the right readings in royal records (Esther 6)

Esther 6:1-5 is nothing short of amazing when we thing specifically about God’s providential fingerprints! First, we have a king who can’t sleep (see Esther 6:1). Who do you think is keeping him awake? Obviously God is because Haman is hatching a sinister plot to have Mordecai hung the next day (see Esther 5:14).

Second, we have someone (we’re not even sure of the person’s name) find a place to read the royal record to the king in order to help him sleep. And it “just so happens” that they read the account of how Mordecai spoiled an assassination plot against the king, right? Wrong! God’s providential fingerprints are all over this story (see Esther 6:2).

Third, we have the king asking what honor has been bestowed on Mordecai for his loyalty and service. And when he learns that no honor has been given to Mordecai, Haman “happens” to be showing up to ask the king for permission to execute Mordecai (see Esther 6:3-4)! Hmmm. Who do you think is overseeing the perfect timing of all these events? Surely, God’s providential fingerprints are everywhere.

7. Exaltation and humility (Esther 6)

The way Esther 6 closes is a powerful depiction of the Biblical truth that God alone exalts and humbles. Proverbs 3:34 is plain: “[God] mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble” (NIV). Jesus also says in Luke 18:14 that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (NIV).

So, here we see Mordecai honored by the command of the king through the hand of Haman, but obviously, God is sovereign over all of it. He alone is the One who exalts and humbles. It’s His providential fingerprints that appear on the details of this story.

Of course, we’re not finished with the book of Esther, yet. There’s still more of God’s providential fingerprints to see!

Blessings…

Life Is Like a Maze!

2010-10-22T17:06:00.001-07:00

Today, my family and other homeschool families went to a cornfield maze. And it was so much fun! We watched a show of singing chickens, fed some animals, cheered for a pig race, got lost several times in a cornfield maze, and had an absolute blast riding a crazy cow ride.

Whew!

I thought I would share just a little bit about what I "learned" today. It can be summed up with this statement: Life is like a maze! Now, here are a few thoughts along this line. Enjoy...

1. Try new things!

You know, sometimes you just have to try some new things in life. If you don't, you'll feel like you simply move around in life's maze without really getting anywhere.

Take my youngest son, for example. Here he is feeding a pony. It's not every day that you get to feed a pony. Well, maybe for some people who live on a farm it is. But we don't live on a farm. So this is a cool "new thing" for us.

This is the point. I think I read in Drew Brees' book that if you want a different result, you have to alter your routine sometimes. I believe he's on to something here.

If you've never launched out into some new things, there's no better time like the present! If the Lord's leading you to do something you've never done before, trust Him and go for it by faith! Just spend a little time reading Hebrews 11, the great "Hall of Faith" chapter in the Bible, and think about how God called all kinds of people to do all kinds of "new" things by faith.

2. Everybody's got a race to run!

I've never seen a pig race before, but you can take a look at one right here. Just watch the video below, and enjoy a good laugh, too!

It's kind of interesting when you watch one of the little pigs run his race. Did you notice how in the hustle and bustle, the little guy got turned around?

I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I get "turned around" as well. Then, when I get my direction straight, I'm ready to go again. And one day, I'll finish the race!

So run your race. I'm not sure all God has in store for you, but I'm sure we all have a race to run. I'm also sure we'll all get "turned around" at times. Yet, we must never give up. We've got to keep on running until we finish the race one day (see Philippians 3:10-14).

Of course, the "finish line" isn't anywhere on this side of heaven. We'll be finished with our race only when we see Jesus face to face. (Hey, that rhymes!)

3. Without a map, you're shot!

I can't tell you how long we walked around in that maze today. But it was quite a while! Of course, once we asked someone for help, we were able to make some real progress.

Now, the cool thing about the person who helped us was that he was way up in the air on a scissor lift. There were some people walking through the maze with us, but they couldn't really help us because they were only seeing what we were seeing. The person on the lift, however, had a totally different vantage point. He could see the whole maze from where he was. So he knew exactly what we needed to do and gave us clear directions.

Surely, you see where I'm going (no pun intended), right? When we follow others who only see the things of this world, we're not really getting help and direction. But when we seek the Lord, He reigns from heaven over all things, and His instructions are perfect and clear! This is why we always need to follow Him (see Proverbs 3:5-7).

Also, once we got to a certain point in the maze with the help of our "guide in the sky," we knew how to better use our map. Of course, we first needed to know what path we were on. When we began our trek through the maze, I wasn't sure if we were supposed to follow the black spaces or the white lines. Take a look at our map, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

(Okay, I just have to pause right here and say something: Who Dat!?! Alright, thanks for letting me get that out. Let's pick-up where we left off...)

But after we figured out we were on the white lines, we were good to go. In fact, after we knew where we were and how to use our map, we finished the maze without a single problem!

Our "map" for life's maze is God's Word, of course. When we know how to use our "map" as we walk through the maze of life, we can follow Christ's directions and finish strong (see Psalm 119:105).

4. The journey is rough and fast, so have some fun!

Towards the end of our day at the cornfield maze, we rode in a little "cow" ride. Boy, was it a blast! Our guide for the ride was having a lot of fun with us.

Now, it was pretty rough and fast for an old guy like me, but it was tons of fun. Just take a look at this video and have a good laugh with (or at) me!

You know, Jesus never said that following Him would be easy and just loads of fun (see John 16:33), but we do need to realize that "joy" is mentioned in Paul's list of the fruit of the Spirit (see Galaltians 5:22-23). In other words, I think if anybody should have a smile on their faces, it should be Christians. After all, we're forgiven and going to heaven! We're more than conquerors (see Romans 8:31-39)!

Some Believers say they have "joy" in their hearts, but apparently their faces don't know about it because they always look like they've been baptized in 500 gallons of pickle juice!

The Scripture says on one occassion that Jesus was full of joy in the Holy Spirit (see Luke 10:21a). No surprises here in light of the fact that we just mentioned how joy is listed as a part of the fruit of the Spirit.

So here we have it. Life is a maze, but as we move through it, we need to try some new things, run our race, use our map, and have some fun along the way. Don't ever give up when you feel like your going in circles because God is going to finish the good work He started in you (see Philippians 1:6).

Blessings!

God's Providential Fingerprints - Part 1

2010-10-22T03:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but the book of Esther possesses at least one unique characteristic when compared with all the other books of the Bible.

What is it? Esther is the only book of the Bible which doesn't explicitly mention God one single time. However, it's been well-said that even though God's name isn't mentioned once in the entire book of Esther, His fingerprints are on every page!

If the book of Esther illustrates anything about God, it definitely shows His providential power and sovereignty over and over. What do the words "providence" and "sovereignty" mean? These words refer to God's power to accomplish His will through any and all circumstances. In times of pleasure and pain, God is at work. He's fulfilling His perfect purposes through both ideal and imperfect life situations.

This is precisely what we find in Esther 1-3. In these three opening chapters, we see God's providential fingerprints etched in the twists and turns of this story although we don't read an explicit mention of God's name once. Here are just some His fingerprint markings...

1. Violating a king's command and unleashing his fury (Esther 1)

As king Ahasuerus and his subjects (both great and small) are engaging in an elaborate and lengthy celebration, queen Vashti is summoned to appear before the king so that he can parade her beauty before his people and officials. But Vashti resists the king's order, and he is infuriated.

Of course, we might not view this whole situation as "ideal" at all. From the king's party to his desire in his drunken state to parade Vashti's beauty to others to Esther's violation of the king's order, we might generally conclude that all of this is a recipe for trouble.

But God is at work. Through these events, we can see His providential fingerprints. He's working even through these circumstances to place a new Persian queen in position in order to save His people from an approaching attempt of genocide.

2. Showing favor to a young girl and being in a royal position (Esther 2)

As a search begins and moves throughout all of Persia to find a new queen, a different tone surfaces in the book of Esther. There's anticipation and excitment in the air! Everyone (including us the readers) are asking, "Who's she going to be?" And three times in Esther 2, we encounter the statement that Esther found favor in the eyes of others. For instance, Esther gained favor in the eyes of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the king's harem, who then saw to it that Esther received the best possible treatment and preparation (see Esther 2:8-9). Also, Esther gained favor in the eyes of "everyone who saw her" (Esther 2:15b, NIV). Lastly, Esther gained favor in the eyes of the king which resulted in her receiving the royal crown and taking Vashti's place as queen of Persia (see Esther 2:17).

Of course, we might view this series of circumstances in a much more positive light in general from the events of chapter 1. Here we basically see a "rags to riches" story unfold right before our eyes!

And God is at work. Through these events, we can see His providential fingerprints. All we need to do is ask ourselves: Who is giving Esther all this favor in these progressive steps? She first receives favor from a single official, then everyone who sees her, and ultimately from the king who places a crown on her head and names her his queen. Just as God worked through the troubling times of chapter 1, He's also working through the seemingly "better" times of chapter 2.

3. Allegiance, assassination attempts, and annals (Esther 2-3)

As life in the kingdom of Persia continued on its course, we learn about two "assassination" attempts. One is against the king, but Mordecai learns of the plot and tells Esther who then reports it to the king. Murder is avoided, and all this is recorded in the royal records. Another "assassination" attempt is against an entire ethnic group - the Jews. But we have to wait to see how this one unfolds. In the meantime, the king honors a man named Haman who then has a problem with Mordecai because he refuses to bow down to him. So Haman decides to annihilate not only Mordecai but all Jews throughout Persia. Yet, he doesn't act out according to his murderous intentions immediately. Rather, he casts a lot to determine the day of the attack.

Obviously, we're back to a "not-so-good-sounding" course of events. "Assassination attempts" on either individuals or entire ethnic groups are never signals that things are moving along in an "ideal" fashion, to say the least.

But you guessed it! God is at work. Through these events, we can see His providential fingerprints. He's working through even the evil attempts of assassination and the boring details of a royal record. And He's going to work through the casting of a lot because He alone is the One who's in control throughout all the events of every day on the calendar.

Just think about it: Life is in God's hands. He's the Creator and Sustainer. No one lives and dies without God's knowledge. Also, while the casting of the lot appears completely haphazard, we know better. Proverbs 16:33 plainly says, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (NIV).

Once again, God's providential fingerprints are all over the book of Esther (and also the entire Bible)! So be encouraged today. I'm not sure what you're going through. Things may appear "ideal" or "imperfect" before your eyes, but rest assured that God is sovereign. He's accomplishing His perfect purposes in and through all circumstances.

Paul wraps this truth up for us nicely in Romans 8:28 when he writes that "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (NIV). Also, the writer of Proverbs sums things up nicely for us in Proverbs 16:4, "The Lord works out everything for his own ends--even the wicked for a day of disaster" (NIV) and in Proverbs 19:21, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" (NIV).

We may not see it now, but when the light of eternity bursts forth over the tapestry of our lives, we'll see God's providential fingerprints everywhere on the tattered threads of all our days. He is sovereignly weaving together His perfect purposes in and through all things!

Blessings...

God's Word - It "Comforts" and "Afflicts"

2010-10-20T03:59:00.001-07:00

Have you ever heard the saying, "God's Word comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable"? I have, and I beleive it's true.

For instance, notice the words Paul uses to describe the benefits of the Bible in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (NIV).

Did you catch that? God's Word is "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." The main point to understand here is that God's Word is profitable for every season of our lives. Sometimes we're afflicted, and the promises of Scriptures soothe our wounded souls; at other times we grow too "comfortable" (meaning, we're complacent, apathethic, lax, etc.), and the message of God's Word stirs us to repentance. For example, Isaiah proclaimed words of comfort (see Isaiah 40:1ff) and challenge (see Isaiah 1:1ff); Jesus preached words of reassurance (see Matthew 11:28-30) and rebuke (Matthew 23:1ff).

We actually see God's Word fulfilling both of these roles in Nehemiah 8-9. One of the main features of the book of Nehemiah is its description of Ezra reading and interpreting God's Word publicly while the people stood and listened to the Scriptures for hours (see Nehemiah 8:2-8). What a powerful picture!

Now as the Word of God was read and explained, we see different responses to its message. First, the people were told not to mourn because they "had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law" (Nehemiah 8:9b, NIV). Here we can see how the Scriptures comforted the people (see also Nehemiah 2:9-12).

Second, the people also confessed and repented when they heard God's Word. Nehemiah 9:3 says, "[The people] stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of a day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God" (NIV). Here we can see how God's Word flashed light on His people's sin and "afflicted" them in their disobedience (see also Nehemiah 9).

It's important for us to understand this two-pronged benefit of God's Word - "comfort" and "affliction". Why? Simple: The Bible, as a true lamp to our feet and light to our path (see Psalm 119:105), does give us rays of hope in the darkness ("comfort") and does reveal areas for repentance because of our disobedience ("afflict the comfortable").

So, again, I beleive it - God's Word truly "comforts the afflicted" and "afflicts the comfortable!"

Let's always have open hearts to the powerful truth of the Scripture which sets us free, indeed (see Psalm 119:9-11; John 8:31-32; Hebrews 4:12-13).

Blessings...

Reaching the Next Level Is Now Available for Pre-Order!

2010-10-19T14:50:00.001-07:00

It's now available! You can pre-order your copy of Reaching the Next Level today from the publisher at a reduced price - $10.46 plus shipping and handling (retails at $14.95 plus shipping and handling). Simply copy and paste the following link in your web browser.

http://www.crosslink.org/products.php?category=growth

Next, choose a version(s) of the book (Student Guide and/or Leader Guide) by clicking on the word "Buy" and then click on the "Buy Now" box. Finally, complete the simple and secure online pre-order form to reserve your copy today!

The book should release to other distrubtion channels (www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.) by mid-November!

Please help me spread the word and blessings!

If You Build It, Opposition Will Come!

2010-10-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched the movie Field of Dreams? One of its famous scenes is when the main character hears a voice from "another world" say to him: If you build it, he will come. Of course, this statement in the movie describes how if the main character builds a baseball diamond in the middle of his field, his deceased father will come to this Field of Dreams.

Well, I think we can tweak this statement a little to make another point we see in Scripture: If you build it, opposition will come! And we don't have to look far to see this truth surface in God's Word - it's everywhere!

For example, Jesus confirms this truth when He says in Matthew 16:18b, "[O]n this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (NIV). Paul confirms this message when he says in 2 Timothy 3:12b, "[E]veryone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (NIV). We can also see this truth in the Old Testament. All we have to do is reflect on the lives of Moses, Joshua, David, and Jeremiah just to name a few!

But perhaps one of the clearest Biblical illustrations of this principle is found in Nehemiah 4-6. As Nehemiah was literally building a wall, opposition came. And it just goes to show us that when we obey God's call to be a part of what He's building, all types of opposition will come.

Let's glance through Nehemiah 4-6, and identify some of the types of opposition that will come...

1. Mocking will come (Nehemiah 4:1-3).

When we take a stand for Christ, others will mock our lives and work in God's Kingdom. They will consider us to be insignificant and our work to be of no-consequence.

2. Confusion will come (Nehemiah 4:7-8).

When we obey God's call to labor in His Kingdom, others will try to confuse us in our work. They will seek to distract us from focusing on fulfilling God's call in our lives.

3. Danger will come (Nehemiah 4:11-13).

When we follow the Spirit's lead, others will try to harm us. Sometimes this harm will be physical in nature; sometimes this harm may center more on our reputation, for example, than our bodies.

4. Relentless distractions will come (Nehemiah 6:1-4).

When we walk in obedience, others will constantly try to frustrate our concentration on God's call. Opposition will not vanish if we resist it once; rather, it will surface repeatedly over the course of our lives as we labor in God's Kingdom.

5. Assignment-of-motive will come (Nehemiah 6:5-9).

When we remain faithful to God's work, others will spread rumors about our motives, seek to cast suspicion on our character, and question our integrity. If they can't destroy us, they will seek to tear down our reputation in the eyes of others which will in turn eliminate our effectiveness in God's Kingdom work.

Now it's abundantly clear throughout the entire message of the Bible in general and in the book of Nehemiah in particular that God is victorious over any and all opposition! No amount nor kind of opposition derails God's Kingdom work. When the dust of opposition settles, God is glorified, and all opposition is silenced. This is what we see in Nehemiah's life. After he finished building the wall, Nehemiah 6:16 says, "When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God" (NIV).

There we have it: God is victorious; all opposition is defeated.

So be encouraged today! Anytime we stand for Christ and follow Him, all kinds of opposition will come. This isn't anything new. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 5:8-11, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen" (NIV).

Let's hear the words of Jesus in John 16:33b give us assurance of His victory over every kind of opposition we'll ever face in our lives: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (NIV).

Blessings...

The Believer's "DSL"

2010-10-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

Paul challenges us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray continually" (NIV). The classic King James Version reads, "Pray without ceasing."

Have you ever thought about what this might look like in real life? I mean, I think we all realize that it doesn't mean we need to pray with our eyes closed and perhaps on our knees 24/7.

But if it doesn't mean this, then what does it mean? What does this look like?

I believe we see a picture of it in Nehemiah 2:4b-5a. Of course, if we read Nehemiah 1, we understand that Nehemiah has received a troubling report about conditions in Jerusalem - its wall is broken down, and its gates are burned down (see Nehemiah 1:3). Upon hearing this news, Nehemiah cries out to the Lord and asks God to give him favor so that he could do something about the disturbing situation in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 1:11b).

Now the scene shifts. In the next chapter we find Nehemiah in the presence of king Artaxerxes who is asking why he is sad (see Nehemiah 2:1-2). It's at this point that Nehemiah shares with the king about the disaster back in Jerusalem. So the king asks Nehemiah what he wants him to do (see Nehemiah 2:4a).

And here's where a portrait of "continual prayer" comes into sharp focus. Nehemiah 2:4b-5a says, "Then [Nehemiah] prayed to the God of heaven, and [he] answered the king..." (NIV).

Can we see it? I'm sure Nehemiah didn't hold up his hand after the king asked Nehemiah what he wanted him to do, get on his knees, bow his head, close his eyes, and recite a lengthy prayer! No. It actually appears things moved along seamlessly from the king's question, Nehemiah's prayer to God, and his response to Artaxerxes.

And this is the point: Nehemiah was living in a constant attitude of prayer when he talked with the king. So Nehemiah never had to "start" praying because he never really "stopped" praying!

It seems clear from these verses that when our hearts are truly and fully engaged with God, prayer is not something we do from time to time. Rather, it's how we live all the time. We live in a constant attitude of prayer.

It's like we live with what I call: D.S.L. or "Daily Spiritual Link!" We're continually sensitive to God's work so prayer is always permeating our hearts and minds. When we live with this "Daily Spiritual Link," prayer isn't our last-ditch effort after we've exhausted all other options. No, it's actually our first response to any and every situation.

Paul says in Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (NIV). This is how we live in continual prayer! This is the Believer's "DSL".

Blessings...

Reaching the Next Level Final Cover Designs

2010-10-16T18:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, here they are! The final cover designs are in for Reaching the Next Level.

The images for the front and back covers of the Leader Guide are followed by the images for the front and back covers of the Student Guide. I beleive the Lord blessed with a design which really captures the central ideas of both the main title (Reaching the Next Level) and the subtitle (Partnering with Others for Spiritual Growth).

The Leader Guide Front Cover...

The Leader Guide Back Cover...

The Student Guide Front Cover...

The Student Guide Back Cover...

As you can see, the differences focus on the color schemes for each. The Leader Guide centers on a blue design, and the Student Guide uses an orange design. Also, the second paragraph on the back cover is different for each version of the book because it highlights the unique aspects of the Leader Guide and the Student Guide, respectively.

As usual, I would love your feedback! You can post your comments to this blog if you like. Thanks for all your input.

Blessings!

P.S. If things proceed as planned, the publisher is aiming for November 12, 2010 as a possible release date on www.amazon.com. Of course, this date is subject to change so I'll keep everyone posted on the latest details as they unfold. Thanks for all your on-going prayers and support!

Be a Person of God's Word

2010-10-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

My wife and I love to read epitaphs. We don't get to do this often, but it has been something we've found interesting.

I know you might find this strange, but think about it: What words will sum-up your life? Wendy and I have read all kinds of epitaphs. Some were very serious, and others were actually humorous.

For example, I'll never forget one epitaph we read. My eyes still moisten when I think about it. It was a very small tombstone at the head of a grave which looked less than twenty-four inches long. The message simply read something like: "Budded on earth to bloom in heaven."

Of course, I've heard of other epitaphs that were actually humorous. I guess the funniest one was this message on a headstone: "I told you I was sick!"

Why am I mentioning epitaphs in this blog? Well, it's because I just love Ezra 7:10. What a powerful thumbnail sketch of a person's life! I think it would be an honor to have these words summarize the life of any Beleiver. Just think about it...

There were three things about Ezra's life that stand out, and all of them centered around the Word of God. First, Ezra learned God's Word. Many people say that they wish they had a better understanding of the Bible, but they don't want to invest the time and work it takes to dig deep into the Scriptures. The reality is that we're blessed with so many tools for Bible study which are available right at our fingertips. All we have to do is take advantage of them, and the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to the truth of God's Word.

Second, Ezra lived God's Word. Knowledge isn't the main goal of Bible study. Rather, a life transformed by the power of God's truth for His glory is the ultimate goal! If we merely "listen" to God's Word without putting it into practice, we're like foolish people who build their houses on shifting sand according to Jesus (see Matthew 7:26-27). But if we "practice" what we hear, we're like wise people who build their houses on solid rock which can sustain any storm that comes our way (see Matthew 7:24-25). Of course, the key distinction here isn't "hearing" Christ's teachings - both the foolish and the wise person do this. Rather, the key is "practicing" Christ's teachings - this is the difference between standing or falling in life.

Third, Ezra led others to learn and live God's Word. Our study of God's Word isn't for our consumption alone. We're called to share what we learn with others so their lives may be impacted by the truth of God's Word, too. I love what Paul told young Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-2, "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (NIV). This sort of sounds like Jesus' Great Commission, doesn't it (see Matthew 28:18-20)? Sure it does! This is the point: We're not saved soak in isolation; we're saved to serve for impact to the glory of God!

Again, what a powerful summary statement for a life! May we take God's challenge to heart in 2 Timothy 2:15, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (NIV). And may we approach each day with a focus on learning, living, and leading others to learn and live God's Word!

Blessings!

God's Chastening Hand

2010-10-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Once we read through 1 and 2 Kings and then through 1 and 2 Chronicles, our heads can be spinning! A few kings did right, but the majority did evil.

Yet, when we get to the end of 2 Chronicles, we find a summary statement of how God dealt with His people. The words of 2 Chronicles 36:15-23 provide a sort of "bottom-line" description of God's chastening hand. It mixes correction and compassion because any discussion of of God's chastisement must mention both His motive (love) and His method (training).

Let's take a general look at 2 Chronicles 36:15-23 in light of these points above...

1. 2 Chronicles 36:15, "The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place" (NIV).

Surely, we can see God's compassion in these words. In fact, we can see God's compassion bleed through all the words spoken by every prophet God sent to His people. While some of their messages were hard to hear, God was calling His people back to Himself through the prophets because of His great love for them.

Now look at what happened: The people did not listen to God's message through the prophets, and they went into captivity. So we can ask ourselves: Was God being "heartless" through the sometimes hard messages of the prophets? Or, was God lovingly calling them to repentance so that they could avoid the devastating consequences of their disobedience? It's clear: God's love was the motivation for His discipline.

2. 2 Chronicles 36:16, "But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy" (NIV).

Of course, the people, for the most part, did not heed God's call to repentance through the prophets. So there should be no surprise on our part that God's people faced His chastisement. Why? Simple: God is holy, and His Word is true. When we stubbornly violate His Word and run pass warning sign after warning sign, the consequences for our sin will catch-up with us.

3. 2 Chronicles 36:17-19, "He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there" (NIV).

Wow, the consequences of sin are steep, aren't they? And the consequences of sin are also wide-spread. Many people suffered during this time of discipline. As long as God's people obeyed Him, no enemy could stand against them (see Joshua 1:1-9), but when His people disobeyed Him, they couldn't stand against any enemy (see Joshua 7:1-15)!

4. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21, "He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah" (NIV).

But there's hope! As long as God is factored into the equation, there's always a solution - even for the most complex problem. Did you notice the subtle clues and irony of hope that surface in these words? For example, the mention of a "remnant" means God isn't through with His people. The word "until" signals that this isn't the end of the story. The words "desolation" and "rest" appear almost side-by-side which let us know that God has a plan even in the midst of our pain; He's sovereign even when we experience the suffering of our sin. The words "until the seventy years were completed" indicate that sin's devastation won't last forever. And the mention of "Jeremiah" reminds us how God's Word, even though "despised" and "scoffed" (see verse 16 above), will be fulfilled. In other words, no one scripts the end of the story but God. Regardless of how bleak life may look, God still reigns over all.

5. 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: 23 'This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you-- may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up"'" (NIV).

Again, we see another mention of "Jeremiah" here, reminding us that God will fulfill His Words even in the midst of what we consider to be "hopeless" circumstances. Why? Simple: God works to accomplish His will. If He can use even pagan kings to accomplish His plan, then surely He can use His people - even with all of their imperfections.

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 12:7-11 says, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (NIV).

God does chasten His children, but always remember that His motivation is love and His method is to train us through our sufferings so that He might produce a harvest of righteousness and peace for His glory!

Blessings...

Greater Power!

2010-10-12T04:25:00.000-07:00

We don't need to fear because God's power is greater than any and every enemy we'll ever face.

This truth is powerfully illustrated for us in 2 Chronicles 32:7-8a. Here's the context for these words before we read them. King Hezekiah was seeking to be faithful to God (see 2 Chronicles 32:1a). He wasn't perfect, but he had a sensitive heart (see 2 Chronicles 32:24-26). Yet, even though Hezekiah was seeking to be faithful to the Lord, he still faced enemies. In fact, right on the heels of a statement about his faithfulness, we find Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invading Judah (see 2 Chronicles 32:1b).

So this is the context of 2 Chronciles 32:7-8a. Hezekiah is seeking to be faithful, but he still has battles to fight. And he encourages his people with this message: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of the flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles" (2 Chronicles 32:7-8a, NIV).

The point is clear, isn't it? God's power is greater than any and every enemy!

Now what happened in the rest of this story between Hezekiah and Sennacherib? Well, after the pagan king blasphemed God in his pride, Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah prayed (see 2 Chronicles 32:9-20). Then "the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword" (2 Chronicles 32:21, NIV).

Have you ever heard the little saying: One person plus God is a majority? Well, it's not true. God ALONE is a majority! He doesn't need anyone else to supplement His power.

Be encouraged today; don't be discouraged. Why? Simple: God's power is greater than any and every enemy you'll ever face. Sure, as you seek to live in faithfulness to the Lord, there will be fights that surface. But you don't have to live in fear because God's power is greater than every other power.

Just reflect on the following truths from God's Word...

1 John 4:4, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (NIV).

Romans 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (NIV).

John 16:33b, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (NIV).

2 Peter 1:3, "[God's] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness" (NIV).

All of these promises in God's Word and many more ARE true. We're not crossing our fingers and holding our breath in hopes that they're true - they ARE true because God's Word is truth (see John 17:17). This is why we march into battle with "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17b, NIV). "For the word of God is living and active" (Hebrews 4:12a, NIV), and "[we don't] live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4b, NIV).

Remember: God's power is greater than any enemy you'll face today or on any other day!

Blessings...

Focus on Faithfulness

2010-10-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

Over the last month or so, I've shared the following thought in three different settings. And today (10/11/10), the principle surfaced again in my daily Scripture reading.

Here's the thought: God calls us to focus on faithfulness. Sometimes we're tempted to do or not do certain things in light of how people will respond to us. For example, we might do such and such if we think people will respond favorably to us, and at other times, we might not do such and such if we thing people will forsake us. But we shouldn't live with a focus either on being favored or forsaken by people. Rather, God calls us to live focused on faithfulness to Him. HE ALONE is our focus.

As I mentioned above, I encountered this truth in my daily reading today which was 2 Chronicles 28-30. In 2 Chronicles 28, we read about king Ahaz. Like many other kings, Ahaz "did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 28:1b, NIV). But after Ahaz died, his son, Hezekiah, reigned in his father's place. Now, Hezekiah sought to do "what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done" (2 Chronicles 29:2b, NIV). He cleansed the Temple and renewed its worship (see 2 Chronicles 29:12-36). Hezekiah also led the people to celebrate the Passover (see 2 Chronicles 30).

It's at this point that we encounter the principle of living with a focus on faithfulness. As Hezekiah sent out people to deliver an invitation to celebrate Passover, the invitation was favored by some and forsaken by others. Second Chronicles 30:10-11 describes the situation in these words: "The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and ridiculed them. Nevertheless, some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem" (NIV).

Isn't the point obvious? Hezekiah focused on faithfulness to God even though his invitation was favored by some and forsaken by others. Why? Simple: Faithfulness to the Lord was his focus. He didn't decide to do or not do things based on people's responses to his actions. Rather, he acted out of faithfulness to God alone because this was his sole focus.

So, how about us? Are we living with a focus on faithfulness? I hope we are every day. When we take a stand for Jesus Christ and Biblical truth, some people will favor us and some people will forsake us, but we're not living for their responses, either good or bad. We're living for an audience of One: Jesus Christ.

By the power of God's Spirit and according to the truth of His Word, let's live with a focus on faithfulness!

Blessings...

The Pit of Pride

2010-10-09T06:21:00.000-07:00

The ole axiom is very familiar: Pride comes before a fall.

The Biblical basis for this general principle is clear. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" (NIV).

Of course, we can see this truth unfold in the trenches of life repeatedly. Just take the national sports media and the New Orleans Saints, for example. It seems everyone started talking about a Super Bowl "hangover" for the Saints when the NFL season rolled around this year. Why? Simple: After a huge victory, a team usually suffers a great let-down because they drop their guard, lose their hunger, etc. We might say that our farthest fall naturally comes after our highest climb. Or, the deepest valley follows the tallest peak.

But we don't see this illustrated only in the sports world. We can see it plainly illustrated in the Scriptures as well. In fact, Paul says in Romans 15:4, "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (NIV).

It's been well-said that the best commentary on the Bible is the the Bible! So where can we find something in the Scriptures to illustrate The Pit of Pride? We have to look no further than 2 Chronicles 26 and the story of king Uzziah of Judah.

Second Chronicles 26:1-15a recounts Uzziah's success. Of course, all of his success came from God (see 2 Chronicles 26:5b). But Uzziah fell into The Pit of Pride. He allowed his acheivements to go to his head instead of acknowledging that they all came from God.

This is precisely where we find a stretch of some of the saddest words in all of Scripture. Second Chronicles 26:15b-16a tells us, "[Uzziah's] fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful. But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall" (NIV).

So what happened to Uzziah? Well, he simply "got too big for his pants." According to 2 Chronicles 26:16b-23, Uzziah entered the Temple and tried to offer incense - a function reserved for the priests alone. When we was rebuked for his sin, he became enraged, and God struck him with a vile skin disease.

This is where the story gets even more sad because Uzziah fell from being on top of the world to being diseased and alone. Second Chronicles 26:21a says, "King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house -- leprous, and excluded from the temple of the Lord" (NIV).

Here's a grim glimpse of a man in The Pit of Pride - diseased, dying, and alone. The Pit of Pride isn't a place anyone wants to be.

So how can we avoid The Pit of Pride? Let's consider a few action-steps we can take in our daily lives to avoid The Pit of Pride...

1. Give God all glory. First Corinthians 10:31 teaches us to glorify God in everything we do. Proverbs 3:5-7 instructs us to acknowledge God in all our ways, and James 1:17 reminds us that every good and perfect gift comes from our heavenly Father.

2. Acknowledge God's Power. Psalm 127:1 says that unless God builds the house, all our labor is in vain. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:7 that those who plant and water the seed are nothing; rather, only God who makes things grow is Something, and Jesus isn't being modest but realistic when He says in John 15:5b that we can do nothing without Him.

3. Follow God's Word. God told Joshua in Joshua 1:7 to obey carefully everything in His Word and not to turn to the left nor to the right. David advised his son Solomon in 1 Chronicles 22:13 to observe all God's instructions which He gave to Moses, and Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 that we live on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Of course, living in obedience to God's Word doesn't guarantee that we'll never experience pain in this life. Actually, Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:15, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (NIV). But we can be assured that if we live according to the compass of the truth of God's Word, we'll avoid The Pit of Pride.

So let's take to heart Peter's words in 1 Peter 5:5b-6 when he says, "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time" (NIV).

Peter knows first-hand about the dangers of The Pit of Pride. Do you remember how Jesus told Peter that Satan wanted to sift him like wheat? And do you recall how Peter said he would be willing to go to prison for Christ or to be put to death for Him (see Luke 22:31-33)?

Of course, we know the story: Peter did deny Jesus, and he wept bitterly because of it (see Luke 22:61-62). But we also know from Peter's story that there's life on the other side of The Pit of Pride! Jesus restored Peter (see John 21:15-22). And among other things, God used him to preach the inaugural sermon of the Church on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:14-41).

If you're in The Pit of Pride today, you can get out of it by doing the opposite of the way you got into the pit. Just think about it: You entered the pit through pride; you exit the pit through humility. Look back at Peter's words above from 1 Peter 5:6. His point is simple and clear: Humble yourself, and God will lift you up!

Extension Center Class Update

2010-10-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! This past Tuesday evening (10/5/10) was the final class session for the Extension Center course I taught for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

It was an awesome time to study God's Word and some of the major aspects of Early Church history. I had the privilege of gathering with nineteen of my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and we enjoyed an overview of the Book of Acts, the Johannine Epistles (1, 2, and 3 John), the New Testament canon and creeds, the conversion of Constantine and its impact on Christianity, and several points to ponder as we move forward as New Testament Believers today.

Everyone did excellent in the course, and some are gearing up to begin the next Extension Center class featuring a study on the Book of Romans. If you're interested in taking this class, you can post a comment to this blog, and I'll be happy to give you more information on how you can sign-up for the study!

Well, now that the class is completed, I'm looking forward to blogging a little more regularly. Things have been very busy since the summer - family vacation, full-time ministry, book editing, Extension Center teaching, etc! But I thank God for all the doors of opportunity He's opening to serve Him and others for His Kingdom purposes.

Okay, please "stay tuned" for more blog posts coming your way!

Blessings...

A Point to Ponder

2010-10-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a little morsel to chew on:

"It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God."

[This quote is from M'Cheyne as he wrote to a ministerial friend. It's taken from C. H. Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students, complete and unabridged (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1954), 8.]

While these words were written specifically to a minister, I believe they're relevant to all Christians. So I just wanted to apply Hebrews 10:25b today, "let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (NIV).

Blessings...

Book Cover Design Update

2010-09-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I heard back from the publisher late tonight (Friday, September 24th) with a proposed cover design for Reaching the Next Level, and...

It is AWESOME! I think the Lord truly led in the design the publisher proposed. It's everything I was envisioning and more. I've asked him when it will be okay for me to post it to my blog, and I'm waiting to hear back from him. I know there are a couple of tweaks I'll need to make to the cover in terms of wording so I may need to wait a little longer before it's released. But I'm so excited to share it!

Thanks again to all of you who took the time to share your thoughts with me. I think you're going to love it as well. As soon as I get permission to post it to my blog, I'll be sure to do it. Okay, praise be to the Lord for His direction in this journey! Blessings...

More Book Cover Ideas

2010-09-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, I received some great ideas and feedback about the book cover design for Reaching the Next Level. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to share your creative and insightful thoughts! Below are a few more images that I'm thinking of in light of your insights...

While I couldn't find any specific images of stairs with "feet" on them nor with climbers reaching towards one another, I did find these images below of stairs, people and stairs, climbers, reachers, etc. Of course, I'll be sending along images to the publisher with my thoughts, and a completely different cover may be designed from "scratch" along the lines of my thoughts. Any more comments? I would love to hear them! Blessings...

Anyone Got an Idea for a Book Cover Design?

2010-09-18T20:20:00.001-07:00

Hello everybody! I've got an update on my first book scheduled to release in the next couple of months, and I would love your helpful input. I'm working with the publisher now on the cover design. Obviously, the image on the cover of a book is the first "impression" of the resource, and it must convey its message in a clear and compelling way. (For my first blog on the book, see my post dated 6/18/10 entitled First Book to Release in September!) Below is a brief description of the book which may appear on the back cover and some ideas I'm working with:

"Do you want to take your spiritual life to the next level? Do you long to know God’s Word better but don’t know how to study or apply its truth? Do you struggle with receiving God’s forgiveness and moving past your failures? Do you desire to connect with others in the Body of Christ and to serve them effectively? Do you want to help others throughout the world become more faithful and fruitful in their walk with Christ?

"If these questions describe the passion of your heart, Reaching the Next Level is just for you! This practical resource answers all of these questions and more. Whether you’re a new Believer or a 'seasoned veteran' in Christ, Reaching the Next Level will guide you on an exciting journey of discovery. You’ll learn practical ways to partner with others for spiritual growth, to experience the power of God’s life-transforming grace, and to practice six spiritual disciplines in your daily life."

Clearly the cover design needs to communicate the idea(s) of surging forward, moving ahead, transformation, climbing upward, etc. Here are some of the types of images I'm thinking of:

The way this process will work is that I'll be forwarding my thoughts and ideas to the publisher over the next couple of days, and he'll work on putting together some cover design options from which I'll need to select and approve one.

Well, what do you think? I would love your "vote" on any of the above images/ideas or any other suggestions you have. You can register your "vote" and thoughts by posting a comment to this blog. I'm not promising which direction I'll go. In fact, I'm not even sure if any of these images above could work because of copyright issues (these images are from Microsoft online free clipart). But I do believe what Proverbs 15:22 says: "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed."

Okay, thanks in advance for your help and insights. I look forward to hearing from you for some excellent ideas and thoughts! Blessings...

Some Things Just Don't Mix!

2010-08-15T12:22:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone! It's been a while since I posted a blog. It's surely not because I've forgotten. But now that the Summer has come to a close, I'm looking forward to a little bit of a "routine" again. So here's a thought from the Word and an update on the new book entitled Reaching the Next Level: Partnering with Others for Spiritual Growth.

First things first: A thought from the Word. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and unrighteousness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?"

You know there are some things that just don't mix. Righteousness/unrighteousness and light/darkness are examples.

Of course, Paul isn't telling us to isolate ourselves from the world. For instance, he tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 that we're to impact others in the world while we're to hold ourselves and our fellow-Believers accountable for our walk with Christ.

Still, it's clear that some things just don't mix because if we put them together, we're going to make a mess of things. Check out the video below. It was shot with my family in our yard as an illustration of this point. What you're about to see is an experiment my wife and youngest son did involving some mentoes candy and diet coke. Just take a look at what happens when we mix these things together and enjoy. (NOTE: No one was hurt in the making of this video - not even my iPhone which came dangerously close to getting really sticky from spraying diet coke!)

So what's the take-away from this point? Simple: Let's be singular in focus - walking as children of the light. If we're double-minded (James 1:5-8), put our hand to plow and look back (Luke 9:62), or claim to love God who is Light and yet walk in darkness (1 John 1:5-6), we're going to make "mess" of our testimony and ultimately rob God of the glory that is rightly due to His great name from our lives.

Second, an update about the new book. I'm nearly complete with the editing on the Student Guide version of the book. I should be approving cover design fairly soon and then working to edit the Leader's Guide version. I think a date in September may still be a realistic release date. My prayer is that God will use this resource in any way He desires for His name's sake among all nations.

Thanks for your continued prayer, and remember: Be careful about what you "mix" into your life!

Blessings...

P.S. A very special "Thanks" to the world's greatest Student Pastor, Matt Jones, for giving this gift to my little budding scientist!

Celebrating Freedom in Another Land - Peru 2010

2010-07-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was July 4th, but we we're obviously in Peru not the United States! So on the way back through the Andes Mountains from Huancayo to Lima on July 3rd, I asked Dr. Tolbert what we were going to do for the Fourth of July. We immediately thought of trying to stay at the IMB Guest House in Lima so we could buy some hotdogs and hamburgers for a cookout. But the IMB House wasn't available. So we thought we just wouldn't be able to celebrate the Fourth like we normally would in the States.

But since our team went to two separate Churches on Sunday, July 4th, we learned one of the Churches was having a Fourth of July picnic after their services and kindly invited our mission team to attend.

When we arrived, it was awesome! There were red and blue stars hanging from the ceiling, red and white checkered tablecloths for a real picnic feel, and the Church leaders were dressed in various red, white, and blue clothing combinations. But the best part of all was the hamburgers, hotdogs, potatoe salad, baked beans, bags of chips, and soft drinks! It was a freedom feast, indeed!

Of course, this made me think. The Peruvian Independence Day is actually later in July, so we were celebrating freedom as a group of "dislocated" North Americans, but the general population in Peru wasn't celebrating anything at all.

Do you know what Paul says in Philippians 3:20-21? Listen to his words: "Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eargerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" (NIV).

You see, in Paul's day, Philippi was a colony of Roman. Therefore, even though the city of Philippi was geographically disconnected from the city of Rome itself, the culture, politics, laws, etc. of Rome were the authority in Philippi.

Do you realize that the Church is a "colony of Heaven"? Yes, we're not literally in heaven, yet; we're sojourners in this life. We're aliens on the earth. But we don't live by the rules of this world; we live by the rule of Heaven!

Of course, the world doesn't understand us. We're celebrating our freedom in Christ, but they're not because it's not their "Independence Day" since they've never experienced freedom in Jesus. This is why we must be on mission throughout the world. We're commissioned to make disciples of all nations so they can move their citizenship from their respective countries to Heaven. When this happens, they too can join in the celebration of freedom in Christ in another land!

Safely Back in Lima - Peru 2010

2010-07-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful, breath-taking trip back through the Andes Mountains! The sights were absolutely amazing. It seems that every mountain peak majestically and constantly points to the heavens in praise to the One who formed it with His hands.

Well, tomorrow's plans are a little "up-in-the-air." We're definitely planning to worship at one or two Churches. In other words, the mission team may divide into two groups and each attend a different English-speaking service. (Wow! It'll be cool to be edified with understanding without the need for an interpreter.) Or, we'll all attend one Church together.

I'm definitely planning to attend Flamingo Road which meets on the sixth floor of a movie theater here in Lima. This Church is actually a multi-site Church which means that it began in Florida but has spread to different areas, and now it has an international campus in Lima. It's still one and the same Church. It just meets every week in different places. We'll probably hear a previously recorded message from Father's Day or something a week or two ago, but the music worship will be live. I'm really looking forward to seeing this in action again (I attended it last year on the 2009 Peru Mission Trip).

Then we may go to a restaurant on the coast of the Pacific Ocean and/or the Indian Market. These are the plans that are still a bit uncertain just because of a few variables in the equation with tomorrow being a Sunday, what's open and not open, etc.

Okay, well, I'm actually exhausted! So I'm heading to bed, but I did want to post a blog to let you know we arrived safely in Lima and to thank God for His protection (Psalm 46) and for your prayers!

Blessings...

Praise Be to the Lord - Peru 2010

2010-07-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, the Peru 2010 teaching conference is now in the books! And the Lord did some absolutely amazing things today.

We saw about 110 people hit the streets of Huancayo with the Gospel. We were able to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with almost 200 people. And we received reports of over 45 decisions for Christ in the span of about 2 1/2 hours! Praise the Lord!

Also, Dr. Tolbert brought a challenging and encouraging message to everyone who attended the conference for one final session with the men and women together. We learned how to stand firm in the victory of our Lord Jesus. It was a wonderful time to reflect and rejoice in Christ´s finished work on our behalf.

And to top everything off, we were finished at the Church for about 10:00 PM. That´s nearly two hours earlier than I thought we would finish. So we´re heading to bed because we have to be in the hotel lobby at 8:30 AM and on the vans at 9:00 AM to begin our journey back through the Andes Mountains, and hopefully, we´ll miss rush hour traffic in Lima!

Again, we appreciate all your wonderful prayer support, and it´s great to know that you´ll be interceding for us as we travel most of the day tomorrow.

If I could, I would like for you to continue to pray for some of our missionaries in Peru: Jim Gilstrap (a retired school teacher from the States) and David and Cameron Olson.

You know, we´re absolutely exhausted, and we´ll be heading home soon to get some rest. But these dear servants of God have a group of about 100 World Changers coming in tomorrow to begin their mission trip here! Can you imagine how much prayer support they need constantly from us?

Please join me in lifting them up the Lord long after these blog posts on our mission trip to Peru are completed, but they remain on the field day after day serving the Lord Christ. I think all of these people should have their faces plastered on Wheaties boxes! But the reality is that their reward is coming one day when they stand before Christ and hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." A cereal box will disappear, but this commendation from Christ will echo throughout eternity.

To God be the glory!

To Be Content or Not to Be Content?

2010-07-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

(For those of you who´ve been following the blog since I´ve been in Peru, I need to give you a little explanation for this post. As my wife and I are reading through the Bible, I´m posting blogs from my readings. Recently, the Summer months have been so busy that these posts have been sporadic at best. But the following blog is another installment from my Scripture reading this morning in Numbers.)

I´m sure we´re all familiar with Paul´s words in Philippians 4:13, "I am able to do all things through (Christ) who strengthens me" (HCSB). Now, there´s a general principle here that Jesus gives us the strength we need for any and all challenges in life (see John 16:33). After all, Jesus says in John 15:5b that we can do nothing without Him, and Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:3 that God´s divine power gives us everything we need for life and godliness. Yet, the specific context for Philippians 4:13 is the issue of contentment. In fact, Philippians 4:12 says, "I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content - whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need" (HCSB, emphasis added).

Wow! I don´t know about you, but this truth hits me right between my proverbial eyes! Simply put: I struggle with being content. Sometimes I make this struggle sound real "spiritual", and I chalk it up to the fact that I´m an extremist by nature. In other words, I don´t operate with any middle gears in life - it´s always all or nothing! Other times, I try to make this struggle sound real "benign". For instance, I´ll tell myself that my strengths are similtaneously my weaknesses, and so along with my passion to always be on the move in life, I naturally struggle with discontentment. But it´s no big deal. It´s certainly not a sin, right?

But the reality is that my struggle with being discontent is really just another glaring example of one of my infinite number of flaws embedded in my sin nature. And this vile flaw is so embedded within me that I can even be discontent with some of the ways God leads me in life. This is precisely what brings me to my reading in the book of Numbers this morning.

However, before I tell you how God spoke to me today through His Word, I must tell you one other thing. One of the last things I did before I crawled into bed last night was to pray this simple prayer, Lord, teach me about contentment. Show me how to be content with where You´re leading me.

Well, God heard that prayer and answered quickly and clearly just hours later! Here´s how...

In Numbers 20-21, the people of Israel are wandering in the wilderness and grumbling and complaining as usual. Doesn´t sound like they´re very content, huh? Of course, they´re not in the Promised Land because they refused to trust God´s power to defeat their enemies when they scouted out the land (see Numbers 13-14).

So listen how they refer to God´s leading in their lives. In Numbers 20:5, the Israelites complain to Moses with these words, "Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It´s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink" (HCSB)!

Excuse me, but what did they just call the place where God was leading them? An "evil place". Now, some of you Bible scholars reading this blog might take issue with me and protest, "Wait a minute, Pete. They were in the wilderness not the Promised Land." I agree, and it´s my point exactly. They weren´t content to take the Promised Land because there were gaints in the land; they weren´t content in the wilderness because there were no buffet lines (okay, I paraphrased that just a little, but you get the point); and they weren´t content in Egypt for obvious slavery/manual-labor reasons! Do you see a pattern emerging here? They were simply not content. But let me show you this point from one other verse.

In Numbers 21:5 - the very next chapter - the Israelites take their discontentment to a whole new level. In the previous example, they had a problem with Moses (see Numbers 20:3a), but in this text they have a problem with God and Moses (see Numbers 21:5a).

(By the way, just a little word of encouragement here for pastors or leaders: When we´re leading God´s people to follow His will as outlined in His Word and they speak words of complaint and criticism, try not to take their comments personnally. The real issue is not with you; it´s with Christ who is the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of our souls - He is the Head of the Body.)

Okay, back to Numbers 21. Here´s how the Israelites voiced their discontentment in Numbers 21:5b, "Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food" (HCSB)!

Just think of a couple of points in light of this second complaint from the Israelites. First, who´s really to blame for the fact that they´re dying in the wilderness? It´s their fault. They refused to believe God. They listened to the ten scouts who brought a negative report out of fear instead of Joshua and Caleb who brought a positive report out of faith. Isn´t it interesting how quickly we forget our faults and blame others for why we feel discontent in life?

Second, the Israelites said they had no bread, but you´ll recall God was giving them manna from heaven (see Numbers 11). So, we can see here how discontentment has a horrible way of blurring reality. The reality was that God was giving them bread from heaven; they just didn´t want God´s bread. Now you know what I´m about to say, right? Another form of discontentment!

I think it´s clear: We all struggle with discontentment. We can even struggle with seeing God´s leadership and direction in our lives as good. Our attitude of discontentment can even lead us to speak evil of God´s direction in our lives because we think things are too hard.

But before I finish this blog, I want to leave you with a positive word of application from another book of the Bible. In Judges 11, we begin reading about the life of Jephthah. He´s an interesting character. Judges 11:1-3 gives us a thumbnail sketch of his background and a powerful word which can speak to us about the area of discontentment.

First, Jephthah´s bio. 1) He was a great warrior. 2) His mother was a prostitute. 3) His half-brothers rejected and disowned him. 4) He ran from home in shame and pain. 5) A band of rough characters joined together with him.

Does it sound to you like Jephthah is in a good place? I would think that most of us, if we were honest, would not want to be in Jephthah´s sandals for anything in the world! We would really be discontent in Jephthah´s position in life.

Second, a word of encouragement about discontentment. Did you notice what the name of the place was that Jephthah settled in when he ran from home? It was the land of Tob. Now, you might be thinking: Okay... And your point is? Well, do you know what the Hebrew word for "good" is? You guessed it: Tob.

The point is simply this: When God is leadning us, we must understand that all of His ways are good because He is good. Even when life is hard and painful and we are very discontent with our circumstances, we must know that God´s direction is good. The Psalmist really puts this truth into words for us in Psalm 119:67-68, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes" (HCSB).

Do we really belive this? Do we really believe that ALL of God´s ways are good even when we find ourselves in very difficult places although we´re seeking to obey and follow Him? I think every time we live with an attitude of discontentment, we betray the fact that in these moments we´re not exercising faith in the complete goodness of God - in the truth that He is good and all that He does is good.

Now, here´s a practical parting point. Whenever we´re tempted to be discontent, let this temptation trigger the truth in your life. This is what I mean. You might consider memorizing Psalm 119:67-68 or Philippians 4:12-13, for example. And ask the Holy Spirit to fire these verses in your memory when you´re tempted to live with discontentment. Remember: "I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you" (HCSB). This is how Jesus defeated all of Satan´s temptations - He quoted Scripture without exception every time He was tempted (see Matthew 4:1ff).

We can walk in victory over discontentment when we ask God to help us see our pain in light of His purpose. God eventually led Jephthah back to Israel to lead them in victory over their oppressors because the Lord used his difficulties to train him to be the mighty warrior Judges 11:1 describes him to be.

Listen, in the world, we will have trouble, but Christ calls us to take heart because He has overcome the world (see John 16:33). We pretty much started with this verse in this blog, and it´s a good point to come back to as we close.

Simply put: Since God is always in control, we can always be content! (I know some of you are thinking: Why didn´t he just say THAT? Come on: It´s not as fun! :-)

Tracking Along - Peru 2010

2010-07-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can tell, I still don´t have a stable wi-fi connection for my laptop. This means I can´t post pictures or videos, and this really breaks my heart because I can´t send my personal video message to my wife and sons! I know that they know I love them and miss them so much, but I still wanted to tell them "myself".

Nevertheless, let me give you an update from the field today and some prayer needs for tomorrow. The mission team members who went to the school today reported a wonderful day of ministry to the children. Also, the host pastor, Dr. Tolbert, and I all had the honor of delivering our teaching sessions today at the conference. It´s truly amazing how these dear servants of God sit literally for hours everyday at the confence attentively, taking notes, and then asking for copies of the PowerPoint presentations so they can take them home with them! How humbling to have the privilege to serve the Lord Christ and His people in this way.

Well, please pray for us tomorrow in several ways. First, some of our team members will be going to one more school at 10:30 AM - a deaf school. Wow! So here´s the channels the Gospel will travel through to get to the kids. A team member will share in English, someone who knows English and Spanish will have to understand the message, and then they will have to sign it to the Peruvian children. Interesting, huh? This is what I think: There´s just no stopping the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Second, please intercede for Dr. Tolbert and I as we meet with one or more pastors tomorrow at 11:00 AM. We´re prayerfully looking into the possibility of having a conference in another city in Peru that´s about 40 kilometers from Huancayo. Obviously, we want to seek the Lord and carefully saturate every possible opportunity in prayer. So please ask God to give wisdom, insight, and a clear sensitivity to the Spirit´s leading in this way.

Third, please pray for the people at the conference as we divide into outreach teams and share the Gospel on the streets of Huancayo tomorrow. The Lord has worked in awesome ways in the past as He has brought to past a harvest of souls every year. But this is a new year! We´re trusting God to work in a great way tomorrow. Please pray for the Spirit´s ministry of conviction to be present and that we would witness Him draw many to the Father through salvation in Christ.

Fourth, please pray for the final session of the conference tomorrow night. After we have the opportunity to share the Gospel, report on the great things God did, and enjoy our last Peruvian meal with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we´ll hear a final session from Dr. Tolbert on our victory in Jesus Christ.

And this brings me to a fifth prayer item, we need Christ´s stength everyday, and tomorrow is certainly no exception. After we wrap-up the final session, we´ll have to pick-up tables and chairs, move pews, sweep, and pack. Of course, we won´t begin this until about 9:30 PM. So it´ll be a late night followed by an early morning because we wake up on Saturday and travel back through the Andes Mountains for Lima. Can you believe it? This trip seems to have flown by this year!

Now, sixth, please pray for our "So-longs" tomorrow. That´s right. As Believers, we don´t need to say "Good bye" to one another because we´ll meet again in Heaven someday. But it´s still difficult to leave our new friends and partners in the Gospel. New friends and partners like missionaries David and Cameron and our translators J. B. and Javier. Also, familiar friends like Tatiana and Suzie and Missionary Rolando. When we go through this moving departure, you get a better sense of what it must have been like for the apostle Paul as he labored with other Believers in the Gospel and then departed for other cities with more work to do. We need God´s grace to sustain us as we keep our eyes on Jesus because He promised that as we go and make disciples of all nations, He would never leave us nor forsake us (Matthew 28:18-20).

Thanks again for all your continued intercession, and may God bless you abundantly for your faithful prayer support. You´ve truly been our extended mission team, and we appreciate your partnership in the Gospel!

Flexibility Is Key - Peru 2010

2010-07-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! If you´ve been following the blogs on the Peru mission trip, you´ll notice I´m a little late on some posts since yesterday. This is because wi-fi has been very unstable at the hotel in Huancayo. So I decided to take the posts I´ve been writing and put them on the blog, but they will not have pictures or videos because I´m actually doing these posts from the hotel computer. The major draw-back is that I can´t connect my iPhone to this computer to access and download my pictures and videos.

But I want to thank you so much for your patience and prayers. Whenever I can get wi-fi and put my pictures and videos with their respective blogs, I will because I know that a picture is worth a thousand words!

By the way, pray for some of the mission team members who are currently sharing the Gospel at another school today (Thursday, July 1st). I´ve been commissoned to stay back at the hotel because a few of the other team members are feeling a little under the weather. Nothing major at all - we just live in bodies of clay! But while our outward man is perishing, our inward man is being renewed.

Blessings...

Let the Children Come to Me - Peru 2010

2010-07-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday, June 30th) was an amazing gift from God. Some of the mission team members and I were able to share the Gospel with High School students and younger students. It was awesome!

As the day began, Blanca, Corey, Marci, and Rob shared with High School students about moral purity. Here’s a picture of Rob and Marci talking through our interpreter. Marci showed the students two pieces of construction paper – pink and blue – which she cut out in the shape of a heart and glued together. As she talked with them about how we give a little piece of our heart away every time we become physically involved with another person, she began to tear the two pieces of construction paper apart. Of course, she couldn’t tear them apart completely – the paper ripped horribly. Some pieces of pink paper stayed attached to the blue sheet, and some pieces of blue paper stayed attached to the pink sheet. The point was crystal clear and powerful: When we have sex before marriage, we give a piece of our heart away, and our heart is torn and damaged.

Next, I was able to follow these testimonies with the Gospel message. And when it came time for a decision, I didn’t make it easy on the students. I asked all the girls who made decisions to stand up and walk to the back to talk with Blanca and Marci, and I asked all the guys who made decisions to stand up and walk to the back to talk with me and the guys. Not everyone responded but most did.

Then when the younger students came out, we had a little different way of speaking to them. We began with a song. Take a listen to this video clip, and I think you’ll recognize the tune without any problem.

Ah, good ole “Father Abraham”. Of course, God´s Word is true. He´s still using Abraham to bless all families of the earth as we share with them the message of salvation in Jesus Christ alone (Genesis 12:1ff)! Remember: The very first verse of the New Testament tells us Jesus is the son of David and the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1).

And these kids were so great. They sat on concrete outside and listened to the Gospel attentively. And when we asked them to respond in the same way the High School students did, it was an amazing sight to see. For example, just take a look at how Blanca is surrounded my young girls who are ready to hear more about Christ!

Of course, we all had a delightful surprise right before we left the school. A teacher with two little Peruvian girls walked up to us to give us gifts they made. Here’s some of the team with these precious children. They made us little foam neck ties with beautiful red stripes glued to them. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I don’t wear ties much at all, but I would “wear” these because these kids were so sweet and thoughtful to make them for us - I know, I´m a hopeless push-over!

Now, before I wrap-up this blog, I have to leave you with just a couple of things. The first is a brief video of our very multi-talented translator. Here he’s doing a cool trick with a Peruvian toy that looks like a yo-yo and top combination. Take a look and enjoy…

Second, as we were getting into the vans, I saw this Peruvian woman cradling a little baby wrapped in a blanket. The woman was making the sweetest faces and sounds, trying to make the infant laugh or smile.

This sight just reminded me of something. All people are people. Sure, we may dress differently, speak different languages, have different traditions and customs, etc. But every person needs to be loved, and there’s no greater love than God’s love for the whole world who gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so we might have eternal life in Him alone (John 3:16; John 14:6).

Let’s share this message through our words and our works beginning at home and throughout all nations until the whole world at least has the opportunity to know the one, true God and Jesus Christ He has sent because this is eternal life (Matthew 28:18-20; John 17:3). This was Jesus´ prayer, and may it be our passion!

(Pictures and videos mentioned in this blog will hopefully follow soon!)

Missing My Bae and My Boys - Peru 2010

2010-07-01T07:21:00.001-07:00

On June 21st , just a few days before I left for Peru, I got an “upgraded” cell phone. I got what everybody’s been telling me I just had to have – an iPhone.

Well, in many ways, it has been pretty awesome! In fact, all the pictures and videos on my blogs while I’ve been in Peru were taken with my iPhone. Pretty cool, huh?

But…there’s also one huge, gigantic down-side of cosmic proportions - I can’t call my wife! Woe is me! I have no service at all. I can get a fairly decent wi-fi connection most of the time at the hotel in Huancayo. This is how I’ve been able to blog every day. But even this isn’t 100% stable as you´ve noticed if you´ve been tracking with me on the blogs.

So one of the mission team members, Bro. Bobby, let me use his cell phone today to call my Sweetie! Ah, it was so awesome to hear her voice. Wendy, I really miss you. I can’t live without you. My life, simply put, just isn’t the same without you, and I can’t wait to see you again.

I miss my Boys so much, too! Joseph and Josh, I talked about both of you guys today in my presentation at the school, at the conference, and at the Church I was speaking in tonight. Can you tell that you guys are on my heart and mind? I know you’re both taking good care of Mom, and I appreciate it. I’m so proud of the young men that you are. Remember: I’m praying for God to use you in an awesome way for His glory.

I know a lot of people are keeping up with us on the blogs, but I wanted to take the liberty to post a peronal video to my Bae and my Boys! Words are never adequate to say all that I feel, but they´ll just have to do until we´re all together again soon if the Lord wills and I live. So here´s the clip, and the bottom-line is that I love and miss ya´ll so much that my heart´s about ready to explode!

(Video already produced and coming soon to a blog near you - just as soon as I can get a wi-fi connection for my laptop!)

Keep On Keeping On - Peru 2010

2010-06-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

Well, the Lord has another full day of ministry and outreach before our mission team today (Wednesday, June 30th). You'll remember from an earlier blog that I introduced you to the team members and listed the times and topics they'll be teaching on. You can use that blog as a daily "prayer-guide" as you lift up the conference to the Lord.

I would also ask you to remember me today. I'll be a part of the team going to share an evangelistic message at a High School today at 11:00 AM. Then I'm teaching a session at the conference this afternoon, and I finish the night speaking at another Church in Huancayo for their Wednesday night services. I actually had the privilege to speak at this Church last year on Wednesday night as well. The Lord used the leadership and people of this fellowship to bless, encourage, and challenge me in powerful ways. The is the Church where Missionary Rolando serves. However, as he and I talked last night over dinner, he shared with me that he is not paid by the Church. So I asked, "How do you make your living?"

He simply replied, "I trust the Lord. We're told in Scripture to trust God for our needs. I try to apply that to my life. This is why my favorite verse in the Bible is Psalm 23:1: 'The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.' The Bible doesn't say that the Lord, my Shepherd, will give me everything. It says I won't need anything."

I must say I sat speechless before this dear missionary. He gives his life to spreading the Gospel among the nations. I realized I was looking at a living example of Acts 20:24 right before my eyes.

I don't know about you, but many times I "hear" God's Word and don't "apply" it. May God help me and all of us who confess Christ as Lord to take His Word seriously, to heart, to life. I think Missionary Rolando is boldly living out Matthew 6:31-34, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (NIV).

Of course, the "all these things" Jesus mentions refers back to the context of what He was just teaching about. In other words, He's talking about our daily needs not wants. God will meet our needs as we make His Kingdom our priority in life. But perhaps this is the very reason why many of us aren't seeking His Kingdom "first" because we aren't content to live with just our "needs" met - we want our "wants" met, too. And because of this, we live hectic, complicated, and confused lives trying to follow and fulfill all our desires instead of simply forsaking everything to follow our Shepherd, the Lord Christ, who is faithful to met our needs.

So now that we've heard Christ's Word, let's ask Him for the grace and strength through the power of His indwelling Spirit to enable us to apply them to our lives today!

Holding Forth the Word of God - Peru 2010

2010-06-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome first day at the conference! It was packed for a first day. I think the women alone had over 100, and usually the conference begins a little “slow” and then builds because the word spreads. So we’re looking forward to another great day tomorrow.

I don’t have pictures of everyone who taught or shared today because the team is really encouraged to sit among the people for the sessions. This is great because it helps us to connect better with those we’re teaching, but it also means I’m not able to roam around a lot and take pictures of everything that’s going on throughout the course of the conference on any given day.

Nevertheless, here are a few pictures to take a look at. First, we have Dr. Tolbert leading an opening session on “Overcoming the Enemy.” J.B.’s standing close beside him as he translates the message. All of our interpreters are excellent at what they do. We truly couldn’t make it without them!

Next, we have a shot from above of the women’s conference. As you can see, there are a lot of women, and this picture doesn’t even capture all of them. This is a glimpse of Debbie teaching her session along with her faithful interpreter right by her side.

Now, here’s a shot of the kitchen crew. Of course, we have to include food, right? You may notice missionary Cameron on the far right faithfully serving behind the scenes. The food was delicious! They served us a meat soup with noodles, and I had a wheat roll. (Are you proud of me Wendy for taking the wheat roll instead of the white bread? :-) We also had a hot, creamy desert that tasted sort of like orange pudding to me. Both of these hot items really warmed you up for the chilly night air of Huancayo.

We also have another shot from above of Marci teaching her lesson and Blanca interpreting. Remember, I told you Blanca was carrying double-duty - so pray for her. Actually, she’s carrying more like triple duty tomorrow because she’s also part of the team who’ll be sharing at a High School tomorrow on moral purity. Just to let you know, I’m taking the pictures of the ladies conference whenever I can break away from upstairs because I want to try to minimize any interruptions as much as possible.

Next, we have a couple of pictures of Corey and Rob sharing. Corey shared a powerful testimony about how God saved him and eventually called him into full-time missions (left). Thank You, Lord, for another servant who’s being mobilized among the nations for Your glory! And Rob gave a very insightful presentation on “Truth and Faith” and how this is tied to the breastplate of righteousness in Ephesians 6 (right). In fact, I spoke after Rob and referred to his session about two or three times because the Lord used him in such a dynamic way. By the way, Rob and Marci are also planning to go to the mission field. Again, be glorified Lord Jesus in lives of Your chosen vessels.

And on this point, please remember to pray for Corey, Blanca, Rob, Marci, and myself as we go to the High School tomorrow to share about moral purity. We learned tonight that they changed our time from 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM. Did I mention something about being flexible on the mission field? Thanks for your intercession.

Well, I know you can’t be at the conference with us. So I thought I would try to do the next best thing – I would take a little of the conference to you. Take a quick listen to the men singing a song to begin the host pastor’s session today. You may not know Spanish, but I think you’ll recognize this with your heart.

Enjoy and blessings!

Sights and Sounds of "Quiet" Huancayo - Peru 2010

2010-06-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give you just a little glimpse of some of the sights and sounds of Huancayo from my fourth floor hotel room. Now, this video is a little misleading because the city seems so "quiet" in this clip, but trust me, it's usually noisy and bustling with activity until very late into the night or early morning hours.

But, nevertheless, I thought you might want to take just a peak. You'll see the some of the more tame, rolling Andes Mountains off in the distance, some buildings (mostly the roofs of businesses from this vantage point), and the top of a huge Catholic Church which is almost directly across the street from our hotel.

Okay, enjoy, and pray for the city of Huancayo!

Keep Praying - Peru 2010

2010-06-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

One of the key things I've learned when serving on missions is to be flexible. I think this is important because we have to depend on the Lord's plan and power constantly.

Here's a few prayer items you can lift up to the Lord for the mission team as we seek to move forward resting in Christ (Matthew 11:28-30; John 15:5) and His power to provide resources and wisdom.

1. Copies - We still need to have all our copies of handouts to make binders for the people attending the conference to be completed today. We have until 2:30 PM at the latest to see this come together. Please pray that the Lord would provide.
2. Dr. Tolbert - Dr. Tolbert will be speaking to the fraternity of pastors this morning at 9:30 AM on being a good father to their children and also about the conference. Pray for the Lord to use this time to equip His leaders for His glory.
3. Schools - We learned yesterday that our mission team will be able to be in a High School tomorrow morning at about 10:30 AM and in a Middle School on Thursday morning at about 10:30 AM. Please pray for the mission team members who'll be sharing on moral purity to the high school students: Rob, Marci, Corey, Blanca, and myself.
4. Other Opportunities - I also learned yesterday that a Church I preached in last year on Wednesday night has invited me to come back this year on Wednesday night. My teaching schedule for the conference allows for me to step into this opportunity; however, we're trying to see if a translator is available to go with me. Please pray that God would accomplish His will and encourage and challenge His people with His Word.
5. Conference - Well, the conference is scheduled to begin today (Tuesday, June 29th)! You'll remember from an earlier blog that I introduced the team members to you and also shared when they would be teaching. You can review that blog to see who's teaching today and at what time they're teaching so you can be praying for them. Pray that God would be glorified and that our dependence would rest completely on Him and Him alone.

Thanks again for all your prayer support. Also, please remember all the ways God working is working both at home and around the world. For example, I believe a VBS team from Woodland Park Baptist Church in Hammond, LA is beginning an outreach today - they're taking VBS to our community! Please pray for good weather, strength, resources, wisdom, etc. I'm definitely praying for them in Peru.

Isn't it great to know that God never drops a call and that His coverage map has no gaps? Praise the Lord for all the unsearchable ways He ways and works!

What a Day! Peru 2010

2010-06-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! It’s after 10:15 PM, and I’m just getting to my computer to punch out this blog before I go to sleep. I hope I don’t fall asleep as I’m writing it. I’m exhausted. I really understand the words – the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak – in a new light tonight.

There’s no way I can recap everything that the Lord did today, but I’ll try to hit some of the highlights. He blessed our mission team with a VERY productive day for His Kingdom purposes as we prepare for the teaching conference to begin tomorrow afternoon. So, without any further delay, here we go…

The day began with one of our very dear friends, Missionary Rolando, sporting his new Saints shirt Wendy and I brought him from the United States! Hey, I’m proud of the Black and Gold and trying to do my part to spread a little "Who Dat" fever. I'm also VERY ready for some football - anybody else?

Then it seemed like we were off to the races. As you can see from a picture I took when we got to the Church this morning, the busy streets of Huancayo outside were an accurate reflection of our busy activities on the inside of the Church.

What sorts of things did we do? It’s more like – what sorts of things did we NOT do! We first had to sweep and mop pretty much three levels of the Church. The Holy Spirit demonstrated an absolutely awesome servant’s spirit in the life of every mission team member.

Here’s Marci and Rob helping with some sweeping and bag-moving. And take a look a Bro. Bobby putting his back into a broom which he transformed into a mop as we cleaned the floors.
Of course, once the books were unloaded, we had to sort and count them. This is Juancho surrounded by Bibles and discipleship materials!

Then there were tons of things to wipe down. Corey has a bucket of water, and he’s getting to work. Actually, I don’t think they wiped down a “ton” of things; I think they pretty much wiped down everything – chairs, pews, tables, the plastic wrappings over mattresses, etc. Wait a minute – did you say “plastic wrappings over mattresses?” Yes, indeed.
Some of the people who come to the conference from the villages in the mountains definitely cannot travel back and forth because it would take too much time and money. So they sleep in the Church. Here’s Blanca taking some mattresses to a holding room. By the way, on this point, please pray for those who’ll be sleeping at the Church. It can get cold at night. Remember: It’s winter in Peru these days.

Now we also had a lot of other things to do.
For instance, we had to set up things for the conference like children’s rooms. Here’s Debbie in one of the kids’ rooms. Also, we had to move pews down about four or five flights of stairs to set up seating for the women attending the conference. Take a look at Juancho handling one of these pews all by himself! Is there any doubt now why we call him “Juancho El Hombre”?

We also had to carry over 100 chairs and several tables up about four flights of stairs to set up the dining area. Well, here’s no surprise – it’s Juancho El Hombre man-handling some chairs all by himself again!

You know, after watching Juancho do all this hard work, it’s no wonder that I found him sneaking a siesta at one point in the day. But all this effort paid off! Just take a look at this awesome dining area the team put together for those coming to the conference.

Of course, there were other things we did that were a little less strenuous. For example, we put together craft items for the children. We also had to make some items. Here’s the host pastor’s wife and others cutting cardboard for a kids’ activity. Take a look at Corey and J.B., one of our translators, setting up the video for the women’s meeting area. I think they might be having way too much fun for this to be called "work" - what do you think?

I mean, if it looks like we had some fun throughout the day in addition to our work, you’re exactly right. Here’s Corey and Debbie going to get some water. I don’t know about you, but I think Debbie’s going to get a little more than Corey – what do you think? Also, take a look at J.B. with this soccer ball. Soccer’s really big in Peru; I guess it's just that the soccer balls are sometimes a little small!

You know, today we did a lot of things to serve the Church in Peru in a physical way. Tomorrow, we’ll begin serving them in another way – we’ll be teaching them more about God’s Word and His desires for their lives. I think this picture kind of sums this up well.

This is Cameron and David on the left. They are missionaries in Peru and work a lot in the villages. Then, if you look closely, you’ll see several broom handles – one of which is being held by the host pastor’s wife. Finally, by the pastor’s wife’s feet, you notice a couple of Bibles sitting on top of an envelope. This envelope contains copies of the sessions I’ll be teaching for the conference, my English Bible, and a Quechua Bible which Missionary Rolando gave me this morning as a gift.

The reason why I think this picture sums up mission work well is simple. We need to teach people God’s Word. Without the truth of the Scriptures, we have no message to share. But we also need people to go and make disciples of all nations. Thank God for faithful people like David and Cameron who labor tirelessly in Kingdom work in Peru and encourage and equip people like this pastor’s wife. And we need “brooms and dust-pans” in mission work. What do I mean? We need to serve the people, demonstrate God’s love to them, build a rapport with them as we reach out to them through service, and share the Gospel with them which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes!

What a day! What an awesome day! Thank You, God, for the absolute privilege to work in Your fields today, and may You be glorified in all things!

Busy Bees - Peru 2010

2010-06-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

Please pray for our mission team today (Monday, June 28th). We have an extremely busy day ahead of us as we prepare for the teaching conference to begin tomorrow.

After breakfast, we’ll gather in the hotel lobby at 8:00 AM for a team meeting and to break out into three groups. One group will finish shopping for additional craft supplies for the conference. Another group will work to purchase thousands of copies of the some of the conference materials. We purposefully wait to do this shopping and copying in Peru. The up-side is that we don’t have as much weight to pack and take with us from the U.S. The down-side is that we only have a day and a half to get these things done before the conference begins tomorrow at 2:30 PM.

The final group will be preparing the Church for the conference. This involves things like cleaning, sweeping, moving pews up and down flights of stairs, setting up tables and chairs, etc. Of course, all of this is done in the higher altitude of Huancayo which is a bit difficult, but the Lord is our strength! At some point later in the day, all the groups will come together at the Church to finish the final touches of preparation like putting together the conference binders and such.

So here’s how you can specifically pray for us today:

• Unity – Please pray for a spirit of unity and servanthood for each team member as we volunteer for groups and all work together to get the job done.
• Open Doors – Please pray that we’ll find the right supplies at the right prices and a place to make our copies at a good price with a quick turn-around.
• Strength – Please pray for God to give our bodies His energy as we labor in His Kingdom work (Colossians 1:28-29).

Of course, we realize that all of you at home are extremely busy as you also begin another week, and we want to lift you up to the Father as well. I know, for example, that some of the Believers at Woodland Park Baptist Church in Hammond, LA are beginning a VBS outreach in our community this week. So we’re praying for you, too!

May we all remember God's words of promise for whatever looms before us today and every day of our lives:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31, NIV).

God is faithful and sufficient for all our needs today and every day (Lamentations 3:22-26; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-25).

Finished or Unfinished? Peru 2010

2010-06-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

During our devotion time on Friday (June 25th), Dr. Tolbert shared an interesting and encouraging truth with our mission team. He told us to notice when we are in Huancayo how many of the buildings/houses have rods sticking out of the top of them. I took a couple of pictures so you can see what he’s talking about.

This picture is of a store right across the street from Iglesia Bautista de el Tambo (where I worshipped this morning, June 27th). Do you see all of the things sticking out of the top of the building? Those are rods.

This picture is of a couple of houses/buildings right next to Iglesia Bautista de el Tambo. You’ll have to look a little more closely, but I think you can still see some of the rods sticking out of the tops of these houses/buildings.

Now, you might obviously ask: Why do they do this? It’s really quite simple. I’m told that in Peru, as long as a structure is “under construction” or “unfinished,” the owners or occupants pay lower taxes on the property. So many Peruvians intentionally leave these long rods sticking out of the tops of their homes or businesses in order to take advantage of paying lower taxes. The structure is actually finished on the inside, but it looks unfinished on the outside.

Of course, all of this leads me to a question: Are Believers “finished” or “unfinished” pieces of work? The answer, ironically, is “Yes!” We’re “finished” in the sense that we’re complete in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10). We’re “new creations” on the “inside” as far as what God sees because we are the righteousness of God in Christ who took our sin and gave us a perfect standing before God in Himself (2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Romans 8:1-4).

Yet, we’re “unfinished” in the sense that God is still working to complete the good work He began in us (Philippians 1:6). On the “outside,” we clearly have many ugly “rods of construction” sticking out of our lives in many places! Rods called "prejudice," "disobedience," "gossip," "gluttony," "impatience," "lust," "pride" - do I really need to contiue?

In fact, all Believers have an invisible “Under Construction” label attached to their lives. This is why Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good pleasure” (NIV).

Now, please notice what Paul is NOT saying here and what he IS saying here. First, he’s NOT saying that Believers are to work for their salvation. This is impossible because we’re saved by grace through faith and not of works so that no one can boast before God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Second, he IS saying that Believers are to work out their salvation. In other words, we’re a complete package in our position in Christ (we’re finished) - this is the truth of justification, but throughout our lives, God is enabling us by His grace to unpack practically the riches of His great salvation (we’re being finished) - this is the process of sanctification. It’s like the materials list to build the house is complete at the very moment of salvation (we finished) - this is the truth of justification, but now God is putting us together on the outside (we’re being finished) - this is the process of sanctification. This is why when Paul calls us to work out our salvation, he also tells us that God is really the One who supplies all the power we need. In fact, Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:3 that “[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (NIV).

So, are Believers “finished” or “unfinished” works of God? Yes! We’re complete in Christ, but God is also finishing the good work He began! And by the way, isn’t it great to know that God finishes every project He starts? Praise His great name!

Focus on the Mission - Peru 2010

2010-06-27T14:27:00.003-07:00

The mission team went to worship in two different Churches this morning (June 27th). Dr. Tolbert led half the team to the Church where he was preaching, and I led the other half of the team to Iglesia Bautista de el Tambo (The Baptist Church of the Tambo). The “Tambo” is the neighborhood or area of town where the Church is located. This is the same as Woodland Park Baptist Church which got its name because of the old Woodland Park area of Hammond where the Church was originally located, if my understanding is correct. Or, you might think of something like First Baptist Church of New Orleans which shows that the Church is named after the city in which it is located.

Well, when we arrived at the Church, this is what we saw on the outside (see left). It’s a tall Church with about four or five stories! But when we entered the auditorium for worship, this is what we saw in huge colored letters centered on the wall behind the stage (see below).

You probably don’t need to know very much Spanish to translate this message. It simply says, “Go and make disciples.”

Wow! What a reminder for us to stay focused on our mission. This is Jesus’ Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. But please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting that this is a reminder for our mission team to stay focused on our mission in Peru this week. No, indeed. I’m saying that this is a reminder to every Believer to stay focused on Christ’s mission every single day of their lives regardless of what our geographical location happens to be!

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Life is a short-term mission trip. It’s “short-term” because our life is only a mist (James 4:14), and it’s all a “mission trip” because everything about our lives ought to be centered on advancing God’s Kingdom by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:24) through all of our works (Matthew 5:16) and words (1 Peter 3:15-16) to the glory of our heavenly Father (1 Corinthians 10:31). In fact, it's been well-noted the the verbal form Jesus uses to begin His Great Commission could or should be translated, "As you are going, make disciples."

So let’s stay focused on the mission today and every day whether we're at home or abroad (Philippians 1:21; Colossians 1:28-29)!

Journey through the Andes Mountains - Peru 2010

2010-06-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

There’s no way I could ever capture all of the beauty of our trip through the Andes Mountains to the city of Huancayo, but I thought I would give you just a few of the “sights” along with some Scripture for your meditation and reflection. Enjoy…

Here is a quick picture from one of our stops through the mountains. You’ll notice a little river along the bottom, and what you’re seeing at the top of the picture is a Peruvian cemetery. They bury their loved ones above the ground in these little buildings here. Each “black hole” is a place where a body is put to rest.

Think about the people of Peru and how many of these whose remains were placed here may have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” Romans 10:13-15, NIV

Here I am at the highest point in the Andes Mountains! Can you see the snow in the mountain peak behind me? It’s really cold, and the air is so thin that you can find it hard to keep your breath just walking from the van to this point where the picture was taken – it’s only about a 30 yard walk and a 10 foot hill I’m standing on!

But just think: The Lord God Almighty made all these mountains, and He reigns in sovereign power from His throne in heaven over all the earth which is His footstool! “This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ declares the Lord. ‘This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.’” Isaiah 66:1-2, NIV

There are so many sights like this one as we journeyed through the Andes. But I want you to take a close looks at this one. Do you see how calm the water is even though the skies look ominous? Do you see the little paths etched out on the ground in the forefront of the picture? But do these majestic mountains look threatened or intimidated at all? Certainly not!

I think we all feel as though this picture could represent our life’s journey at innumerable times, don’t we? But remember these promises: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his names sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:1-4, NIV

Do you know what I love about this picture? The light on the grass contrasts so sharply with the shadows casts by the clouds.

How many times this is true for the Believer! It’s seems that the deeper the shadow - the brighter the light. The deeper the valley - the higher the mountain peak. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you savor this familiar truth as though it’s the very first time you’ve ever heard it: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28, NIV

Only God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), and all of creation sings His praise!

May we join with all of creation now and give the Lord Jesus the glory that only He rightly deserves! “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.” Psalm 19:1-6, NIV

"Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and the lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." Psalm 150, NIV

Praying for the Mission - Peru 2010

2010-06-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! The Lord has brought us safely into the country of Peru, through the Andes Mountains, and to the city of Huancayo. Please pray for each member of our mission team as we ask the Lord to give us clarity (Colossians 4:2-6) and courage (Ephesians 6:18-20) to communicate the Gospel as we should.

Let me introduce you to the team you’re praying for…

Meet Corey! He’s a student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, working on his masters in missiology. He’ll be sharing his testimony at the teaching conference on Tuesday night (June 29th) from 6:30-6:45 PM.

Here’s Blanca! She’s a student a New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, working on her masters in missiology. Blanca is handling “double-duty” this week because she’s both a translator and speaker for the women at the conference. She’s translating everyday for all sessions, and she’s teaching on “Rely on God’s Word” on Wednesday (June 30th) 3:00-4:00 PM.

This is Bro. Bobby! He’s a retired car dealer from Decatur, AL. Bro. Bobby’s grandson just returned from a mission trip to Pennsylvania the day after Bro. Bobby left for his own mission trip to Peru! Bro. Bobby is a Gideon who’ll be handing out Spanish/English New Testaments, and he’ll be sharing his testimony in the teaching conference on Wednesday (June 30th) 6:30-6:45 PM.

This is Marci and Rob! Marci graduated from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently a school teacher. Rob is working on his masters in missiology. Marci is teaching three sessions for the women on “Truth and Faith” on Tuesday (June 29th) 5:30-6:30 PM, on “Teaching Children to Pray” on Wednesday (June 30th) 7:45-8:45 PM, and on “Look to Jesus” on Thursday (July 1st) 3:00-4:00 PM. Rob is teaching for the men of the conference on “Truth and Faith” on Tuesday (June 29th) 6:45-7:45 PM.

Meet Debbie! She is a student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, working on her masters in Christian education. She’s absolutely gifted by the Holy Spirit to lead in effective children’s ministry. In fact, Debbie is the master-mind for all the children’s ministry aspects of the conference, and she’ll also be teaching for the women three times on “Children Under Attack” on Tuesday (June 29th) 3:00-4:00 PM, on “Hiding God’s Word in My Heart” on Wednesday (June 30th) 4:00-5:00 PM, and on “Witnessing Training” on Thursday (July 1st) 4:00-5:00 PM.

Many of you know this guy as John. But in Peru, he is known as “Juancho El Hombre!” John is a city planner and consultant, and this is his second trip to Peru. He’ll be teaching on “Pray in Faith” on Wednesday (June 30th) 6:45-7:45 PM.

Meet Suzie (left) and Tatiana (right)! Suzie and Tatiana are both from Peru and are an extraordinary help to our mission team. They live in Lima. Tatiana recently finished Seminary in Lima and helps us with translating, and Suzie is currently studying in the Seminary in Lima.

Here’s Dr. Tolbert and Joy! Dr. Tolbert is the Director of the DMin Program at New Orleans Seminary, and he is the leader of our mission team. Mrs. Joy is the unparalleled organizer and encourager of our mission team! Dr. Tolbert will be speaking at least six times which includes four sessions for the conference. He’ll be preaching in a local Peruvian Church on Sunday (June 27th), and Dr. Tolbert will be speaking on “Pastors and Their Children” on Tuesday (June 29th) morning to a fraternity of Peruvian pastors. He’ll be speaking for the conference on “Overcoming the Enemy” on Tuesday (June 29th) 3:00-4:00 PM, on “Witnessing Training” on Wednesday (June 30th) 7:45-9:00 PM, on “Preparing Biblical Sermons” on Thursday (July 1st) 7:45-9:00 PM, and on “Stand Victorious” on Friday (July 2nd) 7:30-9:00 PM. Mrs. Joy takes the primary lead for the ladies of the conference, and she’ll be teaching three times on “Overcoming the Enemy” on Tuesday (June 29th) 3:00-4:00 PM, on “Pray in Faith” on Wednesday (June 30th) 5:30-6:30 PM, and on “Teaching Children Missions” on Thursday (July 1st) 5:30-6:30 PM.

Meet Pete! Don’t I look hilarious trying to take my own picture? I'm scheduled to teach three times for the men at the conference on “Spiritual Formation” (or a synopsis of my new book scheduled to release in September 2010 entitled Reaching the Next Level: Partnering with Others for Spiritual Growth; it's neat to see how God is already opening international doors to use this resource in making disciples of all nations - this is the whole goal!) on Tuesday (June 29th) 7:45-9:00 PM, on “Rely on God’s Word” on Wednesday (June 30th) 3:00-4:30 PM, and on “Look to Jesus” on Thursday (July 1st) 7:45-9:00 PM.

Well, this is the mission team God has sent. We're all humbled and honored to be a part of God's plan to advance His Kingdom throughout the earth, and I know I speak on behalf of everyone on the team that we really appreciate your intercession. May God's will be done by His power and for His glory (1 Colossians 1:28-29)!

Study to Show Yourself Approved

2010-06-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Lord has opened another amazing opportunity to continue equipping others for more effective usefulness in His Kingdom purposes.

I'm planning to teach one of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary extension center courses in Hammond. The course is open to all interested adults, and undergraduate Seminary credit is available. It will be on Tuesday evenings from 6 PM to 8 PM at the Northshore Missions Office in Hammond/Pumpkin Center, LA. The course is scheduled to begin on August 10th and finish on October 5th. We will not meet on the Tuesday evening following Labor Day weekend. There is a $100.00 cost for the course and an additional $25.00 registration fee.

The course is a New Testament survey class focusing on the main contours of the Book of Acts and the Epistles of John and major highlights in Early Church history leading to the conversion of Constantine. Anyone interested in registering for the course can simply attend the first class on August 10th at 6 PM. Please be aware only two absences are allowed becasue of the compressed nature of the course.

The textbook for the class can be purchased online at Amazon.com. Here is the book information:

Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testement: A Historical and Theological Survey, 2nd edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005). Of course, the Bible is your other textbook - it's the main one!

The format of the course will be straightfoward. We'll have lecture/discussion time for each session, and students will be graded on a mid-term and a final exam. The exams will be objective and developed from a study guide.

Please let me know if you have any questions and are interested in attending. Blessings...

First Book to Release in September!

2010-06-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord! Some of you may remember a post from May 14, 2010 entitled Perseverance Pays Off! where I talked about completing the editing process for my first book proposal. Well, the Lord has opened an incredible door in an extraordinary amount of time. I've been offered a contract to publish the book, I signed the contract about two weeks ago, and it's scheduled to release sometime in September (2010).

The title of the book is Reaching the Next Level: Partnering with Others for Spiritual Growth, and it will be published in two volumes: A Student Guide and a Leader Guide. Among other options, they will be available online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I'll plan to have links on my blog on how you can get the book, and I'll also plan to post an image of the book's cover design when it's approved probably sometime in late July or so. I'm also thinking of putting together a Facebook page just for the book so people can share stories/testimonies, ask questions, etc.

Please pray for a couple of items. First, the publisher and I are now in the editing phase. Of course, I do this in all my "free time" in the midst of my extremely busy summer schedule. But the Lord is my strength and fortress (see Psalm 46)! Second, pray that the Lord will use this resource in any way He desires for His glory. This book is all about continuing to do whatever we can to make disciples of all nations. I want to personally invest in others myself and help equip other Believers who have a heart to obey Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations.

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel, and may God bless you as you continue to love Him and love others!

God's Presence

2010-06-03T03:49:00.000-07:00

Exodus 33:7-23 is an interesting stretch of verses to me. They’re simultaneously encouraging and challenging. They give voice to a deep desire in my heart to experience God’s presence in more and more powerful ways everyday.

God’s presence – It’s a recurring promise in the Scripture. For example, God was with Abraham (see Genesis 21:22); God was with Isaac (see Genesis 26:3, 24, 28); God was with Jacob (see Genesis 28:15; 31:3, 42; 46:4); God was with Joseph (see Genesis 48:21); and God was with Moses (see Exodus 3:12; 33:14). Do you see a pattern?

Of course, God was also with Joshua who led Israel into the Promised Land after Moses died (see Joshua 1:1-5). But the promise of God’s presence wasn’t only for the great heroes of the past. It’s for us, too! In fact, Jesus’ name “Immanuel” means, “God with us” (see Matthew 1:23, NIV). And before Jesus is crucified, He gives His disciples a promise that applies to us as well when He says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (see John 14:16-17, NIV). Also, before Jesus ascends to the Father, He says in Matthew 28:20b, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (NIV). Lastly, as the final two chapters of the Bible begin, we see the new heaven and the new earth and the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, come from God, and we hear “a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God’” (Revelation 21:3, NIV).

We might be tempted to ask: Why is the promise of God’s presence so important to be reiterated over and over in Scripture? Simply put: There’s no greater promise than His presence. God couldn’t promise more than Himself because He’s the great I AM, remember? He’s all in all. When you have Him, you have everything you could ever possibly need.

This is why I think Moses responded the way he did in Exodus 3:15, “If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (NIV).

I don’t know about you, but I’ve launched out many times without the “presence” of God. And I regretted those decisions and ventures every time without exception. These independent excursions betray my sinful self-confidence, and the arm of my flesh has failed me every time. In fact, every time I lean on my flesh I find it be a rotten reed which snaps and impales me! But when I cast myself completely and joyfully on God’s all-sufficiency, I’ve never been disappointed.

I long for what Moses describes here. I long for God’s presence. Let me just summarize three things I see in Exodus 33:7-23 I yearn for in my life that I might experience with greater intensity and consistency.

• Exodus 33:11a, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” (NIV). I don’t know what else to say except – Wow! Talk about spiritual depth and intimacy with God. This is what I long for.
• Exodus 33:16, “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth” (NIV)? What does “distinguish” our lives? Is it our personality? Our possessions? Our educational profiles? Our pet projects? Etc. I want God to demonstrate His presence in my life in such a powerful and distinct way that it’s unmistakable. Honestly, do we want people to be impressed with us or with the God who is with us?
• Exodus 33:18b, “Show me your glory” (NIV). I want God to give me the holy courage to ask to see His glory, knowing that the depth of this encounter will always involve a deeper death I must die. It’s interesting to me that when I live for myself, I do just that – live. But if I want to encounter God, it always requires me to die to myself. In fact, Jesus says in Matthew 16:24-25, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will find it” (NIV).

So, getting back to the title of this blog – God’s Presence – this isn’t a sensational request but a sober one. It costs my life. The reality is that one day I will see His face. In the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22:4a simply says, “They will see his face” (NIV). But of course, you understand, I will have shed this “earthy tent” by this time.

Let me close with this thought. I like to think of God’s presence like the ocean. It’s beautiful but incredibly powerful. It’s something everyone wants to see but everyone must respect. The human eye can scan it but never take in all of it. You can go into it, but you cannot remain in it indefinitely without dying. For instance, if you take a lion, the king of the jungle, and drop it in the middle of the ocean, it’ll die. Why? Because it doesn’t have a body conducive to a watery environment. It wasn’t made to live in the ocean. Likewise, if you take a huge, massive whale and drop it in the middle of the jungle, it’ll die. Why? Same reason – It’s doesn’t have a body conducive to the environment of the jungle.

Where am I going with this? Simple – If my eyes caught a glimpse of God’s glory in all of its fullness now and if my lungs took in a full breath of the unmitigated holiness of God, I would die. This is why I need a new body when I go to heaven (see 1 Corinthians 15), and this is why I will one day inherit a body like His glorious body. Paul says in Philippians 3:20-21, “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (NIV).

What a glorious thought that isn’t just a “thought” but a quickly approaching reality! Sure, God’s presence is everywhere; this is why we believe God is omnipresent (see my other blog entitled No Such Thing as “Secret Sin”). So when I mention "God's presence" in this blog, I'm not talking about His presence in general. The Scripture says there's no place we can go from His presence in general (see Psalm 139). Rather, I’m talking about encountering a deep level of spiritual intimacy with God’s presence that beckons me to a more intense surrender to His Lordship than I’ve ever known. Let’s long for God’s presence so He might receive all the glory and honor that He's worthy of from our lives now!

Little by Little

2010-05-31T05:02:00.000-07:00

I find God's following words to the Israelites in Exodus 23:29-30 to be very interesting: "I will not drive [the Canaanites] out ahead of you in a single year; otherwise, the land would become desolate, and wild animals would multiply against you. I will drive them out little by little ahead of you until you have become numerous and take possession of the land" (NIV).

Little by little. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

You know, it's amazing to me how growth works. Sometimes it comes in spurts, and other times it seems like nothing at all is happening! This is true with both physical and spiritual growth.

I remember when I was growing up (and I still am!). I shot up in about my junior year in high school. Now, those of you who know me, know that I'm not very tall (only 6' or so), but I wasn't even this tall for the longest time. Then "BOOM"! I don't know what happened. All I can say is that I hit a spurt!

Of course, this has been true of my spiritual life as well. It seems that there are seasons when everything I read in Scripture jumps off the page and transforms my life in measurable ways. Then there are other seasons when I find myself wondering if God and I are in the same galaxy. I don't "feel" His presence. In fact, all I feel is the weight of my failures, frailties, and fallen finitude!

But we live by faith not by "feelings" (see Hebrews 11). Feelings are fickle, but faith is firm. Why? Because faith rests on the facts of God's Word, and God's Worth never changes. Isaiah 40:8 declares, "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever" (NIV). In fact, I think one of the major lessons every Believer struggles to learn over the duration of their entire Christian life is simply how to trust the facts of God's Word rather than his or her feelings. I'm not saying feelings are worthless. I'm just saying they're oftentimes tricky, and while they're beneficial to help us process both the pleasures and pains of life, they should never been trusted when they contradict the truth of Scripture.

For example, take my words above. Should I trust my "feelings" when they scream at me that God is not with me? Absolutely not! Why? Because God says in His Word, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5b, NIV). We should always trust the facts of God's Word over our fickle feelings whenever the two contradict one another.

And listen, the pattern of growth in our lives is by God's perfect design. Remember: The Lord is the only One who makes things grow (see 1 Corinthians 3:6-7). He's the One who began the good work in you and will finish what He started (see Philippians 1:6). Isn't this great news? I mean, how many times have I started a project but haven't finished it yet? I just glanced over my shoulder and to my right as I'm typing this blog in my study to look at two pieces of wood beneath my windows that I've still not painted! But before you judge me too harshly, are there any "unfinished projects" around your house you haven't finished either? An unread book? An exercise DVD (you still haven't watched all the way through!)? A picture you haven't framed? Etc. We all start things and don't finish them sometimes. But one of the great things about God is: He ALWAYS finishes what He starts! And you can rest assured that the good work He began in you, He will complete.

Before we wrap this up - did you happen to notice God's reasons for why He brought Israel into the land little by little? He says that He did this so "wild animals" wouldn't multiply against them and so they would be "numerous" enough to take possession of the land. In other words, God knows what He's doing. No news flash here, right? Listen, God's plan is good. Be patient by the power of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). The reality is that God does a great work "in us" before He does a great work "through us". If Israel entered the land to quickly and easily, they would not be strong enough to sustain their occupation of the land. So God developed the nation with an infrastucture to fill the land before He brought them into the land. It's been well-said that God's not interested in sprints but marathons. He's working for eternity not just tomorrow!

This reminds me of a story I heard and I'm planning to include in the resource Reaching the Next Level. One day a man was walking along when he saw something curious. A cocoon was twitching on the ground. When the man got on his knees to take closer look, he noticed a butterfly struggling to break free from its cocoon. In an effort to help the little creature, the man carefully and meticulously tore the cocoon, but to his utter surprise, the butterfly didn't burst into graceful flight. Instead, it toppled to the ground where it remained in the dirt. Its wings were shriveled, and its body was bloated.

You see, the man didn't realize that God made butterflies to struggle before they could soar. As a butterfly presses against the sides of its cocoon in its struggle to break free, fluid from its body spreads into its wings. This causes the butterfly's wings to enlarge and strengthed. Only when the wings are large enough and strong enough to break the cocoon are they also large enough and strong enough to give it flight, too.

The point is clear: We must struggle before we soar. Isaiah 40:27-31 says, "Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God'? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will walk and not be faint" (NIV).

Little by little, my Friend. Sometimes we feel like Israel, don't we? We cry out, and God seems silent. But when God is silent, He's not still. He's still at work. He's knows what He's doing. Both His ways and His timing are perfect.

Let me close with this thought. Have you ever seen the cartoon An American Tail: Fievel Goes West? It's awesome. It's the story of a family of Russian mice who are trying to flourish here in America. They're leaving the slums of the city for the great, wide-spaces of the West. Fievel is a young, small, but adventurous little guy who can't grow-up fast enough or figure the complexities of life out soon enough. And at one point in the movie, Fievel's discouraged because his wise, aged father's trying to explain something to him, and Fievel just doesn't understand. In frustration, Fievel asks his Dad, "When will I understand, Papa? When?" Then Fievel's father compassionately and wisely responds, "Fievel, if growing up was easy, it wouldn't take so long."

I agree. Growing up takes time. God's not in a hurry. In our culture of fast food, instant grits, and sit-coms where everything falls completely apart and comes back together in about thirty minutes without any major, lingering consequences, it's hard for us to understand or appreciate God's timing many times. But again, His ways and His timing are perfect.

Little by little. He's conforming you to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. And that won't happen over night. But you can always trust Him.

Freedom Isn't Free

2010-05-31T03:17:00.000-07:00

On Sunday (5/30) of this Memorial Day weekend, we observed the Lord's Supper. Of course, communion is always a powerful time to reflect on the body of Christ that was broken and the blood of Christ that was spilled for sin. Yet, with the Lord's Supper taking place on Memorial Day weekend, I turned my thoughts more specifically to "freedom" on this Sunday than perhaps I have in the past.

Freedom isn't free. I mean, it's free to us. We gather with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ for worship publically and without any fear whatsoever. But we enjoy this freedom because others have and are paying a huge price. Countless members from all branches of the military have lost their lives in the fight for and defense of freedom over the years. Others have sacrificed limbs, and all have sacrificed time away from their families and endured untold pain so we could stand to worship in freedom. It's clear: Freedom isn't free! It is purchased at a very high price.

Likewise, our spiritual freedom in Christ isn't free. Again, it's free to us. We certainly could never earn it with our works (see Ephesians 2:8-9). But Christ paid the price for our freedom with His own blood. If you want to try to catch a glimpse of all Jesus suffered for us, watch The Passion of the Christ. This film tries to capture some of the physical torture Christ endured to pay the price for our freedom. But a camera lense simply cannot bring into focus the spiritual agony of Jesus' death. Even the sun refused to shine on the day Christ died. Listen as one theologian tries to capture something of the incomprehensible suffering of Jesus on our behalf - here's how he describes Christ's agony on the cross as He bore God's just wrath on our behalf when He took our sins upon Himself:

[T]o bear the guilt of millions of sins even for a moment would cause the greatest anguish of soul. To face the deep and furious wrath of an infinite God even for an instant would cause the most profound fear. But Jesus' suffering was not over in a minute - or two - or ten. When would it end? Could there be yet more weight of sin? Yet more wrath of God? Hour after hour it went on - the dark weight of sin and the deep wrath of God poured over Jesus in wave after wave. Jesus at last cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Then at last Jesus knew his suffering was nearing completion. He knew he had consciously borne all the wrath of the Father against our sins, for God's anger had abated and the awful heaviness of sin was being removed. He knew that all that remained was to yield up his spirit to his heavenly Father and die. With a shout of victory Jesus cried out, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). Then with a loud voice he once more cried out,"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46). And then he voluntarily gave up the life that no one could take from him (John 10:17-18), and he died. As Isaiah had predicted, "he poured out his soul to death" and "bore the sin of many" (Isa. 53:12). God the Father saw "the fruit of the travail of his soul" and was "satisfied" (Isa. 53:11). [Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 577.]

Shall I dare ask the question: Is freedom free? Yes, it's free to us because we could never pay the price, but Jesus - the sinless Lamb of God who ALONE could pay the price - paid the price!

And what is our response to this great salvation offered by God's grace? Paul tells us: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1, NIV). Of course, our complete surrender to the Lordship of Christ isn't a "pay-back" for His death. It doesn't "earn" His salvation. But it is our response, by the power of God's Spirit, to His salvation. Those who truly understand grace don't see it as a license to sin but as liberty from sin.

He paid a debt, He did not owe;
I owed a debt, I could not pay;
I needed Someone to wash my sins away.

And now I sing a brand new song,
"Amazing Grace," the whole day long!
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.

[The above images were copied from the following sites:
http://www.homeofheroes.com/gravesites/unknowns/0_unknowns_sentinels.html
http://hollywoodjesus.com/passion_photo.htm]

Relationship and Rules

2010-05-29T02:24:00.000-07:00

I noticed something in Exodus 19:3-6 I've never seen before. Isn't that how reading God's Word usually is? I like to tell people the Bible is like an ocean: You can dabble your toes in it, or you can wade out so far into the deep that you'll never touch the bottom! Let's keep going deeper!

So here's what the Lord showed me in Exodus 19:3-6. His relationship with us always preceeds His rules for us. You know, this is so important. If we're not careful, we can allow our relationship with Christ to deteriorate into a laundry list of "Thou shalt's" and "Thou shalt not's." But in in Exodus 19:4-6a - the chapter just before God outlines the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20) - God says this to His people: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to Me. Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation" (HCSB).

Did you pick-up on the order here? I think it's crucial. The Lord first tells Israel: "I carried you on eagle's wings." Wow! What a beautiful image, right? Next, God tells Israel: I "brought you to Me." It's clear that the Lord is emphasizing how His relationship with Israel began with HIM. He's the One who took the initiative to form a relationship with His people.

Now, in light of this relationship God created, He calls them to obey Him. So Israel's obedience to God's rules don't form their relationship with God. No. Rather, their obedience to God's rules give evidence of their relationship with God. I like the way Jesus put this same truth in the New Testament: "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15, NIV).

It's obvious: Love is the basis for obedience. A relationsihp is the basis for rules. Try thinking of it like this: I didn't walk outside one day, pick out a couple of kids, give them a list of rules, and after they obeyed them for set probation period say to them, "Okay, you guys have been on parol for a few months and now that you've obeyed me, I'm going to call you my sons, Joseph and Joshua!" No, indeed. God brought them into my life - He created our relationship. Now I'm seeking to teach them. Our relationship isn't created from a set of rules. Instead, the rules reveal the relationship already exists!

God loves us, Friends. This is why He gives us His rules. We don't obey to earn our relationship with the Lord. This would mean our works create our relationship with Him, but this isn't the case at all according to Scripture. The Biblical truth is that if we've repented and placed our faith in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection as provision for our salvation, then we're saved by grace through faith alone (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Of course, if we're truly saved, then our faith will bear fruit in the form of works which demonstrate we're God's children (see James 2:14-26).

So here's the bottom-line: Obedience doesn't create your relationship with God, but it does substantiate that your relationship with God is real. Thank God for His grace which creates our relationship with Him, and our response to His great mercy to is "offer [our] bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is [our] spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1b, NIV).

Faith, Doubt, and Growth

2010-05-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

Exodus 14-15 boggle my mind and sound eerily familiar all at the same time! Here's what I mean.

In Exodus 14, the Israelites see God's power demonstrated in an incredible way. He delivers them from Pharaoh's pursuing army by supernaturally parting the Red Sea. In fact, when Israel stands on the other side of the Red Sea after God closes the waters on Pharaoh and his army, Exodus 14:30-31 says, "That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant" (NIV). So here we see Israel believe in the Lord.

But in Exodus 15, we see Israel sing a song of praise to the Lord for His great deliverance in basically the first twenty-one verses of the chapter. Then they doubt God in the final six verses of the SAME chapter! Of course, through this time of struggle, God reveals His power again, demonstrates His love for His people, and teaches them to trust Him for every need. And, of course, if you've read the Old Testament before, you know that this pattern of faith, doubt, and growth constantly repeats in the life of Israel on their wilderness trek to the Promised Land.

Yet, this is what sounds eerily familiar, doesn't it? We might think to ourselves: How could Israel see God part the Red Sea and destroy an army in one chapter, and then doubt God's power to give them something to drink before the very next chapter is over? I mean, if God can control a "Sea" with His power, I would think He could handle getting me a drink of water when I need one, right?

Well, let me ask you a question or two: How can we trust God to save our soul, but we struggle with trusting Him to take care of the electric bill? How can we trust Him to hold the whole world in His hands, but we doubt He can handle our busy schedule this weekend? Etc. It's interesting to me how we can stand in a wroship service and sing about God's greatness, but we're worried sick over some thing before the leave the parking lot in our car! Is God only "God" in worship services? Or, is He "God" all the time? We know the answer to this - God is God all the time!

You get the idea, right? We all struggle with faith and doubt, and yet, this is what God often uses to cultivate deeper spiritual growth in our lives. If we were honest, many of us would say that we've prayed many times like the father in Mark 9:24b, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief" (NIV)!

Again, we all struggle with faith and doubt. This is how we grow (see James 1:2-8). So press on in faith by God's power (see 2 Peter 1:3)!

Christ in the Old Testament

2010-05-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

There are many times I read something in the Bible, and I think: Man, I wish was a fly on the wall when....

Nwo let me tell you one of those times - It's when Jesus talked to the two on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:27 and "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Christ] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (NIV).

Wow! Could you imagine sitting in on THAT Bible study led by Jesus Himself? Well, while we don't know the details of that particular message Christ shared, we obviously know that Jesus talked about how He is revealed in the Old Testment, and I want to share three things Jesus may have shared with these two as the walked along the road.

First, Christ is the Passover Lamb. We read in Exodus 12 how the last plague in Egypt took life of the firstborn unless the blood of an animal without defect was applied to the doorpost (Exodus 12:5). Of course, the Lord speaks these very powerful and memorable words in Exodus 12:13, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (NIV). Now we learn in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (NIV). You see, the reason Jesus is our "Passover Lamb" is because when His blood is applied to the "doorpost" of our lives, God's judgement passes over us. We live and don't die because Jesus died and shed His blood for us!

Second, in Exodus 16 we read about how God provided bread from heaven, manna, so the Israelites could eat and survive. Of course, as Jesus talks about the manna the Jewish forefathers ate in the wilderness He plainly says in John 6:48-51, "I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (NIV). So you can see again that Christ is the true Manna from heaven that gives eternal life to all whom come to Him in repentance and faith!

Third, Exodus 17 tells us how God provided water for the Israelites from a rock. Of course, Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 10:3-4 that "the spiritual rock that accompanied them . . . was Christ" (NIV). In John 7:36b-37, Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will from within him" (NIV). Christ alone is the Living Water who quenches our sin-parched souls with Himself who gives us eternal life!

Now, these aren't the only places where we can see Christ in the Old Testament. For example, Jesus also told Nicodemus in John 3:14-15, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up [on the cross in death], that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (NIV). We'll read about this story in Numbers 21. But these places in the Old Testament point to Christ and show us that He is the only source for eternal life.

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ! We need to hear and heed Paul's words to Timothy when he says, "As for you, continue in what you have learned and become convinced of, because you know those from whom you've learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures [the Old Testament], which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timohty 3:14-15, NIV). Christ is in the Old Testament, too. In fact, all of Scripture points to God's only plan of redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ!

Let Us Not Grow Weary in Doing Good

2010-05-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

On Monday (5/24) I had an interesting experience. I was sitting in a meeting with about 10-12 local pastors and Church leaders. They were taking turns sharing some of the exciting things the Lord's been doing in their respective fellowships. And then one of the pastors shared this story...

He talked about how the baptistry in his Church was in need of repair. According to him, it sounded like when they filled it with water, they had to hope it held the water long enough to actually let them have the baptism the next day. So they decked the inside of it with wood and hired someone to fiberglass it. Now, it's a nice looking piece of work! But the pastor said he prayed something like, Lord, we need You to send someone to us now so we can baptize them in the nice baptisry You've given us.

Then the pastor proceeded. He said that recently, like the last two weeks or so it seemed like, he had a conversation with a young man who said he trusted Christ, and He wanted to take a stand for Jesus. The pastor knew him as the boyfriend of a girl in his Church. He had attended services before so the pastor knew the young man had heard the Gospel several times. But in order to make sure he understood what a commitment to Christ was all about, the pastor talked with him about his decision to surrender to Jesus.

And this is where the story got really interesting to me. By this time, I was simply sitting, listening, nodding, smiling, and rejoicing with all the other pastors and Church leaders as I listened to how God worked in this young man's life and drew him to Himself. But then the pastor telling the story shared specifically how and where the young man made his decision to trust Christ. The pastor said something like this: As I mentioned, the young man had attended Church before with his girlfriend so I knew he'd heard the Gospel several times before. But then [the pastor pointed his finger across the room towards where I was sitting as he continued] he and his girlfriend went Judgement House, and he said that's where the Lord brought everything together for him, and the Lord opened His heart to respond to the Gospel. And He's going to be the first one we baptize in our "new" baptistry!

Wow! I sat there a bit shocked and pleasantly surprised. I wish every person who was a part of Judgement House - and I know it was an army of folks - could have been sitting there with me because God used everyone who as a part of Judgement House in any and every way to be a part of the awesome work He did in that young man's life. I'm not even sure of the young man's name, but now his name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And God used everyone who was a part of Judgement House in any way to be His ambassadors in bringing this young man to repentance and faith in Christ.

Read carefully what Paul says in Galatians 6:9-10: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

You know, sometimes we "see" the fruit God grows from the seeds of the Gospel we sow, and other times we don't. Think of it this way: God has a garden - it's His Kingdom. Woodland Park is one "row" in God's garden. Sometimes the seed we scatter falls in our row, and God causes it to spring to life right before our eyes. But other times its springs up out of the ground in another row in God's garden. Yet, the key is the growth of God's Kingdom, not necessarily only the growth in our row. Remember: We're commissioned to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20), and we're empowered to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8).

We need to ask God to help us to always be "Kingdom" minded. We're interested in seeing God's Kingdom grow! While we constantly sow the seed and ask God to cause growth to spring up so we can be a part of discipling people directly, the reality is that God's Kingdom is advancing, and it's our privilege to a part of it whether we see it flourish in our row or not.

So let's rejoice in this great truth! Let's not grow weary in doing good because God is causing a harvest to grow. Remember: He's the Lord of the harvest (see Matthew 9:36-38)!

Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven...

Worse Before Better

2010-05-22T05:50:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard someone say, "Things are probably going to get worse before they get better?" It's not very encouraging, but it's oftentimes true. In fact, sometimes when God calls us to step out and obey Him, the bottom seems to drop out from under us. And whenever things go wrong, we're tempted to look to the heavens and wonder if we "missed God" completely.

This must have been how Moses felt in Exodus 5. I mean, he debates with God about going back to Egypt to begin with because he's sure the Lord needs to send someone else to confront Pharoah about letting the Israelites go free (see Exodus 4:13-17). Then when he gets to Egypt and actually delivers God's message to Pharoah, everything explodes in his face! The Hebrews aren't freed; their burden of slave labor actually becomes more intense. Now, instead of proclaiming Moses as their hero, they're really ticked-off at him for making their lives worse (see Exodus 5:19-23)!

But God has a plan. In reality, everything about the story of the plagues sort of makes this point in one way or another: God is positioning people in the right place for Him to display His power in the most remarkable and memorable ways possible. Just look at God's first words to Moses after he complains about the fact that everything seems to be getting worse as opposed to better: "Now you are going to to see what I will do to Pharoah: he will let [the Israelites] go because of My strong hand; he will drive them out of his land because of My strong hand" (Exodus 6:1b, HCSB).

So be encouraged today. Yes, sometimes things do appear to get worse before they get better, but if God's called you to do something, He has a plan. He's working out everything according to His power. Proverbs 16:4 says, "The Lord has prepared everything for His purpose - even the wicked for the day of disaster" (HCSB).

It's true: There's no sunrise without a night. There's no moutain peak without a valley. And there's no empty tomb without a cross.

God knows what He's doing. He isn't tyring to "figure things out;" He's accomplishing His purpose so all people may see and know that He alone is the one, true God!

Go, God! Wait a Minute, Me Too?

2010-05-21T04:37:00.000-07:00

You might find the title of this blog to be interesting or maybe just plain confusing. So let me try to explain it.

I find that many times I want God to act, especially in difficult situations. And in these moments, I shout, "Go, God!" It's almost like I'm a part of a screaming fan base, cheering God along as He works on the field.

But then, sometimes I think God stops on the field, turns on His heels, points at me in the stands, and says, "You go!" And this is when I say, "Wait a minute!" It's almost like I love to see God work, but I'm not sure I want to be a part of it myself.

You know, I find it interesting that when God works in difficult situations in Scripture, He uses His people. He mobilizes His servants to be a part of His mission. We're not called to remain in the safety of the stands; we're called to join Him on the field. And of course, this means we're going to get hit. Hence, our selfish hestitation.

Just think of some Biblical examples:

Moses. God says in Exodus 3:9-10, "The Israelites' cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharoah so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt" (HCSB). I can almost hear Moses as I paraphrase his response to this shocking news in Exodus 3:11 - Who, Me go? No! Wait a minute - I want You, God, to do something about the problem, but I don't necessarily want to be a part of it. I just wanted to sit back in the stands and watch You do something about the problem!

Jehoshaphat and Judah. In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah are in a difficult situation as they're being attacked by several enemies all at once. Of course, they're no match for this battle. So they call a prayer meeting! But when God responds to their prayer with an answer, check out His message: "Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. [Imagine a big sigh of relief as everyone smiles and starts to chant: Go, God! Go, God!] Tomorrow, go down against them.' [Dead silence. Everyone starts to cry and chant: No, God! No, God!]" (2 Chronicles 20:15b-16a, HCSB). You get the point, right? We're very happy to hear that the battle is God's, we just don't want Him to use us to fight it!

Esther. Do you remember when the Jews are in Persia and Haman hatches his sinister plot to annihilate all of them? Now God has already positioned Esther in the palace so she can be a part of God's plan to deliver His people, but this is going to mean she has to risk her own life for the life of her nation. And what are Mordecai's immortal words to this young Jewish woman as she weighs her personal safety in the balance against the collective life of God's people: "Who knows, perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14b, HCSB)? Have you ever thought that the reason God gave you to vision for how He wants to work is so that He can use you to be a part of it even if it means tremendous sacrifice? Many people want to have the vision but not the burden.

The Disciples. After Jesus saw the needs of the crowds in Matthew 9:35-38, He sent out His disciples in Matthew 10:1ff. Before Jesus ascended to the Father, He gathered His disciples and gave them His Great Commission (see Matthew 28:16-20). At the beginning of the book of Acts when the disciples were still wondering about the details for God's future plans for the nation of Israel, Jesus reminded them that He was going to mobilize them to be His witnesses in the power of the Spirit throughout the whole earth (see Acts 1:6-8). After Paul talks about how Christ makes us new creations in Himself, he tells us that God gives us the ministry of reconciliation and sends us forth as Christ's ambassadors so that He can urge the world through us to be reconciled with Himself (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

Isn't it obvious? God is on the go, and He wants to know if you'll join Him or just cheer for Him. His eyes are scanning the "stands" of the earth right now looking for someone who will be a part of His mission throughout the whole earth. Will it be hard? Sure. Will it require sacrifice? Absolutely. But is there any better place to be in life than laboring in the Father's vineyards? No!

Let God use your vocal chords to urge the world to be reconciled to Him. Let God use your hands to point others to Christ. Let God use your feet to lead the way to Jesus who is the only way. Remember: "To live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21b, NIV).

When God's Silent, He's Not Still...

2010-05-21T03:26:00.000-07:00

I love Exodus 2:23-25 because it proves the ole saying is true: When God is silent, He's not still. Just think about it, in these verses we read about Israel's agony and the Lord's action. We reflect on Israel's crisis and God's compassion. Let's take a closer look...

In Exodus 2:23 we come face to face with Israel's difficulties. In fact, we find them groaning and crying out to God because of their oppressive slavery. And I'm sure as the time passed by while "their cry for help ascended to God" (Exodus 2:23, HCSB), they wondered if the Lord was planning to do anything about their dire situation!

But this is precisely where we find out that when God is silent, He's not still. Exodus 2:24-25 gives us no less than four verbs describing the actions the Lord took against the background of Israel's sufferings. First, God "heard" their prayers. Second, God "remembered" His promises. Third, God "saw" His people, and fourth, God "took notice" of their pain.

Now try to apply this to whatever valley and struggle your facing today...

God hears your prayers. Aren't you glad this is true? First John 5:14-15 plainly says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him" (NIV). Of course, the key phrase in these verses above is "according to his will." In other words, God doesn't just do whatever we want; He does His will which is perfect in every way. Yet, the great confidence we have is that He hears our prayers, and we know He'll answer every prayer according to His will.

God remembers His promises. God always makes good on His promises. We see this point surface twice in the book of Joshua within the span of less than three chapters. For example, after Israel began to settle in the land of Canaan, Joshua 21:45 says, "Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled" (NIV). And then again in Joshua 23:14, some of Joshua's final words to the people of Israel in general were: "Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed" (NIV). It's clear: God remembers His promises.

God saw His people. Aren't you glad to know that God has His eye on you? I love all ways the Scripture talks about the "eyes" of the Lord. For instance, Noah found favor in God's eyes (see Genesis 6:8); "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" (2 Chronicles 16:9a, NIV); and Jesus saw Zacchaeus and saved him (see Luke 19:1-10). The simple truth of the Bible is that God "sees" you. In fact, there's not a single place you can go to escape His presence (see Psalm 139).

God took notice of their pain. Not only does God hear, remember, and see your pain, but He's touched with it! This is so obvious in the life of Jesus. For example, "when [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them" (Matthew 9:36a, NIV). The idea here is that Christ was moved with love for the crowds. Also, Hebrews 4:15-16 crystallizes this truth for us when it explains: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (NIV). Again, it's pretty clear here: Christ takes notice of our pain. And this truth brings us back full-circle to the first point we mentioned - Since He sees your pain, He's ready to hear your prayers.

So there's strong Biblical support for the ole saying: When God's silent, He's not still. Of course, in the very next chapter, Exodus 3, the Lord reveals His action by mobilizing Moses. Pretty interesting thought, don't you think? God invites us to be His hands extended to touch others in their suffering so they can know His powerful deliverance.

But this sounds like another blog...

Everything Means Everything

2010-05-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

You know, I don't pretend to understand all the ways God uses suffering in our lives for His purposes. But I do know God is weaving together the triumphant tapestry of His purposes even in the midst of our pain.

It's interesting to me that in the very last chapter of Genesis and basically just before Joseph takes his last breath, he catches a glimpse of how God used his pain for His purposes. Talk about "hind-sight-being-20/20!" Well, here's perhaps the best Biblical illustration of this truth.

Listen to Joseph's words from his own lips in Genesis 50:19b-21a, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result - the survival of many people. Therefore, don't be afraid. I will take care of you and your little ones" [HCSB].

I don't konw what else to say except, "WOW! God is awesome!" Let's try to unpack just a few practical insights from these powerful words:

Am I in the place of God: It seems that anytime we experience pain, we think we have a better plan than God, and our plan is always to eliminate pain! Then, if we're not careful, we commit blasphemy as we speak accusations against God's perfect goodness as we speak of ourselves as being more compassionate or benevolent than God. For example, when we are hurting or someone we love is hurting, we might say something like, "If I were God, I wouldn't do this or that." Or, "If I were God, I wouldn't have allowed this or that to happen." I think it's here we may cross the boundary Job didn't violate after experiencing his first onslaught of pain when the Scripture says in Job 1:22, "Throughout all this [suffering] Job did not sin or blame God for anything" [HCSB].
You planned evil against me: There's no doubt at all that you'll experience pain in this life. Jesus says in John 16:33b, "You will have suffering in this world" [HCSB]. But the great news is that while we'll suffer pain at the hands of others, we're not ultimately in their hands - we're in God's hands! Jesus finishes the quote above with these words of assurance about His sovereign triumph: "Be courageous! I have conquered the world" [HCSB].
God planned it for good to bring about the present result: God has a plan, and He uses both our pains and our pleasures for His purposes because His sovereignty is perfect. He's not one dimensional in His power - only able to use what we consider to be "good" things. His sovereignty is absolutely perfect - able to use what we consider to be both "good" and "bad" things for His purpose. This is why when we say, "God uses everything for His purposes," we emphasize that everything means everything. Proverbs 16:4a says, "The Lord has prepared everything for His purpose." See that? Everything means everything.

You know, I've gone through painful things in life that I would never want to experience again for a million dollars, but I would also never take a million dollars for them! Why? Because the things I learned about God during those times are priceless. So we're not being "sadistic" when we acknowledge that God uses our pain for His purposes because we're not looking for pain. Yet, we are being surrendered to God as we rejoice and acknowledge the liberating truth of His sovereignty - the fact that He uses all things, our pains and our pleasures, for His purposes.

Listen, no matter what you go through in life, always remember everything means everything.

No Such Thing as "Secret Sin" (Genesis 39)

2010-05-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

There's so many truths we can glean from Genesis 37-39, but I want to focus on one practical insight from Genesis 39:9. Here we find Joseph responding to Potiphar's wife as she pressures him to commit immorality with her. It's very interesting that Joseph views this wicked act as not only a sin against his master (see Genesis 39:8-9a) - this is what we would totally expect him to say because it's completely true, but Joseph also acknowledges that this act of immorality is ultimately a sin against God (see Genesis 39:9b).

So what's the point for us? Simple. When we truly understand God's presence, this takes our passion for purity to new levels. You see, God's presence may be described as "omnipresence" which is a long word bascially meaning that all of God is everywhere present simultaneously! Let's break this down piece-by-piece:

All of God - In other words, you're not experiencing a "piece" of God's presence wherever you are as you read this blog, and I'm experiencing another "piece" of God's presence as I type it where I am. No. All of God's presence is with you as you read, and all of God's presence is with me as I type.
Everywhere Present - Simply put: God is everywhere. Check out what the Psalmist says in Psalm 139:1-12. This reminds me of the story I heard of a little boy who was standing by an apple tree one day and looking longingly at the delicious red apples. Then an elderly man approached the little guy and asked him, "Son, I'll get an apple for you if you can tell me where God is." The little boy looked at the man and said, "Mister, I'll get you a whole basket full of those apples if you can tell me where God ain't!" Let me use a double-negative to make the point: God ain't nowhere which means that He's everywhere! And all those who know good English just gringed at this double-negative, but while this statement is "bad English", it's "good theology" because it's true - God is everywhere.
Simultaneously - Here's the final key word to describe God's omnipresence. All of God is everywhere present simultaneously. You don't have a "piece" of God's presnece with you and I don't have a "piece" of God's presence with me because all of God is everywhere present at the same time or simultaneously. While the idea of God's presence "everywhere" deals more with the idea of space - He's in every place, the idea of God's presence being everywhere "simultaneously" deals more with the idea of time - He's everywhere all the time.

Now, how does all this relate to what Josesph says to Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39:9 and the issue that there's no such thing as "secret sin"? Easy. Joseph knew that even if Potiphar never found out about his act of immorality with his wife, he knew he was always in God's presence. Of course, this is what David also said when he confessed his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and said to God in Psalm 51:4a, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" (NIV). While we may try to classify some sins as "public" and others as "private", all sins are "public" as far as God's concerned because He sees them all.

Of course, this truth of God's presence is a practical insight because it encourages us to pursue pruity in every area of life. It helps us focus on having true character and integrity. You know, it's been well-said that character is who you are when no one is looking. Well, we know God is always "looking" because He's omnipresent. So knowing that we're always within His sight urges us to live consistent lives of holy character regardless if other people see us or not. In fact, Hebrews 4:13 says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (NIV). It's pretty clear: There's no such thing as "secret sin" because there are no "secrets" as far as God's concerned - He sees everything!

So the next time you think you're "alone" and you're tempted to sin, just remember: Jesus is there because you're always in His presence. Let the fact that He sees and knows everything because He's everywhere fuel your passion for personal holiness. This is the "practical" aspect of this practical insight!

Perseverance Pays Off!

2010-05-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

On a personal note, I just finished an extensive editing process for my first book proposal, Reaching the Next Level: Partnering with Others for Spiritual Growth. This resources is basically a popular version of my doctoral project for New Orleans Seminary entitled Mentoring New Believers at Woodland Park Baptist Church, Hammond, Louisiana in the Basics of Spiritual Formation. At the encouragement of my wife, faculty mentor, and field mentor, I've worked over the last five months to edit the book into a publishable format. Also, while we've already used the book at Woodland Park for the second level of our personal disciple-making strategy, I'm hoping this more extensive version will make it better and more user-friendly.

So, if you're working on a project of any sort - high school graduation, college graduation, ministry goals, work projects, weight loss, personal Bible-reading (hint - hint for the blog!) - then, I don't mean to give you a canned word of encourage, but please keep on keepin' on! There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not a train - its the finish line!

Also, please pray for me. The Lord has given a few leads with publishers for the book, and I'm praying for His will to be done for His glory and honor. I plan to lead in a special teaching/equipping series throug Reaching the Next Level at Woodland Park on Sunday nights later this Fall so we can prepare more people to lead others through the resource. Remember: Christ's Great Commission is to go and make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:19-20).

By the way, I've already started my next book idea. It's focusing on sovereignty and suffering. Both from personal pain and pastoral ministry, I've faced suffering and found a wonderful shelter in the Biblical truth of God's sovereignty. Our Lord's sovereignty isn't one dimensional. In other words, He doesn't just use the pleasures of our life for His purposes; He also uses the pains of our life for His purposes! In fact, even our failures are fruitful in the hands of our soverign God who rules over all things and always. Again, I covet your prayers. If the Lord wills and I live, my goal is to have this manuscript completed (in all my free time) later this Fall. The ole saying is true: If you don't aim at something, you'll hit it everytime! Thanks for all your prayers, Friends.

Blessings...

Israel Takes Familiar Shape (Genesis 29-30, 35)

2010-05-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

As you’re reading through the beginning chapters of Genesis, you may recognize some familiar stories. For example, Adam and Eve (Genesis 1-3), Cain and Abel (Genesis 4), Noah and the Flood (Genesis 6-9), the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), and Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22) – just to name a few. Of course, there are other stories which may not be as familiar. For instance, the birth of Seth (Genesis 5), the rescue of Lot by Abram (Genesis 14), Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 16, 21), the process of selecting a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24), and Jacob’s labor for Laban (Genesis 30).

But in Genesis 29:31-30:24 and Genesis 35, we find ourselves entering very familiar territory. Basically, it’s here we see how “Israel takes familiar shape.”

Here’s what we mean. As you read along through Genesis 27-29, you can get so caught-up in the intriguing details of the story that you almost miss what’s developing right before your eyes. You’re reading about deception – Rebekah and Jacob conspiring to steal Esau’s birthright. You’re reading about revenge – Esau’s buying his time as he awaits his aging father’s passing before killing his brother. You’re reading about love – Jacob labors for seven years for Rachel’s hand in marriage, but this only seems like a moment because of his deep love for her. Your reading about jealousy and pain – Leah’s giving birth to sons while Rachel’s womb is barren.

Yet, this is precisely where some key details emerge from the story. Did you notice the names of Jacob’s sons in Genesis 29:31-30:24. As he fathers children through Leah, Rachel, and their respective servants, we find some familiar names enter the picture – his sons names are Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, and Joseph. Eleven sons.

If it still hasn’t registered, let me give you a hint: How many tribes make-up the people of Israel? Twelve, right? Correct. Now do you see it? The names of Jacob’s sons are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel!

Of course, the picture still isn’t complete because we only have eleven names not twelve. But everything wraps-up in Genesis 35. Here we see two key, finishing touches to God’s portrait of Israel. First, God changes Jacob’s name to Israel. That’s clear enough, isn’t it? And second, Rachel has a final son before her dying breath. His name? Benjamin.

Now the “family portrait” is complete! God reiterates the promise He made to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob/Israel - His promise to make Jacob/Israel into a great nation and give him the land of Canaan (see Genesis 35:9-12), and He summarizes the immediate branches of the family tree (see Genesis 35:21-26): God changes Jacob’s name to Israel and gives Him twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

So there you have it: Israel takes familiar shape right before our eyes. Now that His people have taken this form, God begins to work with them in order to be a blessing to the whole world. Remember: The Lord told Abraham that He would bless him so he could be a blessing (see Genesis 12:1-3). Well, the whole known world is about to face a severe famine, but God will work through Joseph to preserve both His people and the world. Talk about blessed to be a blessing! Let’s keep reading…

A Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick (Genesis 25-27)

2010-05-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

There's an old saying: God can hit a straight lick with a crooked stick! Yes, indeed, the Scripture shows this to be true over and over again. Here's what I mean: We're all imperfect human beings, and God still accomplishes His perfect plan through our imperfections.

Isn't this clear in Genesis 25-27? Just think of how dysfunctional Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob are. Yet, God still has a plan for them, and He's working it out even through their faults and failures.

What's God's plan? Well, the Lord says in Genesis 25:21-26 that the elder son in Rebekah's womb would serve the younger son. Now this is contrary to custom. Usually, the older or firstborn son received the blessing not the younger son. But God's plan here was to reverse human customs for His divine purpose.

And we can see how God accomplished His purpose even in through all the human flaws in this family. Let's just recap a few of their faults as we see them surface in this story:

1) Parental Partiality: Did you catch Genesis 25:28? Isaac was partial to Esau, and Rebekah was partial to Jacob. This isn't a good thing, and it's a recipe for disaster in this family, too.

2) Deception and Cowardice: Did you notice how Isaac followed right in his flawed father Abraham's footsteps in Genesis 26:1-11? Here's what we mean: Abraham lied not once but twice about Sarah being his wife (see Genesis 12:10-20; 20). It seems that the "apple doesn't fall too far from the tree" in this respect, unfortunately.

3) Deception and Scheming: Did you notice how Rebekah was "listening" (NIV) as Isaac told Esau to prepare him a meal and get ready to receive his blessing (see Genesis 27:1-10)? It appears Rebekah was hatching her own plan to hijack Isaac's blessing from their custom and the firstborn son he loved for the younger son she loved.

4) Deception (starting to see a pattern, yet?): While Jacob initially objects to his mother's plot, it's not because he's concerned about violating principles. He's just afraid of getting caught because he eventaully goes right along with things as planned (see Genesis 27:11-29). Talk about this family needing a good dose of integrity and the strength to let God work things out by His power and according to His timing instead of trying to manipulate people and circumstances for their selfish and sinful agendas.

5) Resentment and Violence: Although Esau refuses to shame his father with the murder of his younger brother while Isaac is alive, he decides he's going to "take care of business" after his father passes away (see Genesis 27:41).

So there's the family God is working through to accomplish His purposes! Definitely not a "picture-perfect" bunch, huh? Well, the point here isn't to suggest that since God can hit a straight lick with a crooked stick, you and I can simply cast away all restraint and responsibility to do whatever we please because God will clean-up our mess anyway. No, Romans 6:1-4 is God's definitive answer to that type of false thinking. We don't live in sin so grace can abound because God's grace isn't a license to sin; it's liberty from sin! Those who truly appreciate God's grace don't look for loopholes to abuse it but surrender their lives completely in appreciation for it!

The point here is to encourage you with this word: God not only can but does hit a straight lick with a crooked stick because He wants to use us to accomplish His purposes, and we're all imperfect human beings. But the repetitive message of Scripture is that God's purpose doesn't hinge on us but on Him. He's sovereign or in complete control, and He's forging His perfect plan even in the midst of all the failures of His imperfect people so that when everything's said and done, all things will be to the praise of His glorious grace (see Ephesians 1:4-6)!

The Power of Prayer (Genesis 22-24)

2010-05-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

You'll hardly find a more vivid story in the Bible on the power of prayer than Genesis 24. As Abraham buried Sarah (see Genesis 23) and approached the sunset of his life, he wanted assurance that Isaac would have a wife to continue to his line and to remain in the land God promised to give him and his family (see Genesis 13:12-17).

So he calls for his chief servant and sends him on a mission to find a wife for his son. And here's where the power of prayer takes center stage in Genesis 24. The servant travels back to where Abraham's relatives are from and asks God to direct him to the young lady He has chosen to marry Isaac (see Genesis 24:12-14). Then Genesis 24:15a says, "Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder" (NIV). Next, everything unfolds just the way the servant prayed, and God answers his prayer in a powerful way.

Wow! What a simple but amazing story that teaches us a key lesson about prayer, and here it is. God was obviously answering the servant's prayer even before he voiced it, but the Lord used the servant's prayer to direct him to His answer. You know, some people ask: Why should I pray if God already knows everything anyway? Well, God wants us to ask and depend upon Him for our daily needs, and as we lift up our prayers to Him, we learn how He's working to provide and guide us each step of life's journey.

So, while God knows what you need even before you ask Him, He still invites you to bring your requests before Him. In fact, Jesus used this very point to encourage us to pray, not to discourage us from praying (see Matthew 6:5-15). Through the way the Lord answers prayer, you'll discover more and more about His power and provision for your every need. Basically, we need to understand that we're not "informing God" of anything when we pray, He already knows everything! But He does teach us more about Himself as we ask and receive His answers and direction through prayer.

Run the Race!

2010-05-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of the Queen’s Baton Relay? This athletic tradition of the Commonwealth Games is amazing in terms of its symbolism and scope.

The ceremony commences at Buckingham Palace where the Queen gives a special baton containing her message to an honorary runner. The race concludes where it began as the last runner returns to the Queen who then receives the baton, removes her message, and reads it aloud to announce the start of the games.

The Queen’s Baton Relay has grown since it originated in 1958. For example, one source reports that “the Melbourne 2006 Queen’s Baton [traveled] an epic journey of more than 180,000 kilometres in a year and a day, and visited all 71 nations of the Commonwealth – home to almost one third of the world’s population.” (The above information and quote is taken from http://qbr.melbourne2006.com.au/?s=tradition.)

While we may be inspired by the symbolism and scope of this athletic tradition, every Believer throughout Church history has been a part of the King’s Relay. Jesus entrusted His message to us, His runners, and we’re racing towards the day when we’ll kneel before Him at the threshold of eternity.

While the Queen’s Baton Relay spans miles and months, the King’s relay has spanned the world over the past 2,000 years. Runners like Paul have finished the race and received their reward from the hands of Jesus (see 2 Timothy 4:7).

Of course, the Gospel baton has passed through many hands. For example, before Ignatius died for Christ in the teeth of lions, he said, “I am the wheat of Christ: I am going to be ground with the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread.” The baton passed through the hands of Polycarp. Before he died at the stake, the aged martyr declared, “Eighty-six years I have served [Jesus], and He never once wronged me. How can I blaspheme my King, who saved me?” (Foxe’s Christian Martyrs of the World. Westwood, NJ: Barbour Books, 1985, 11.)

The King’s baton passed through the hands of Believers like John Wycliffe who labored to translate God’s Word into English in the face of great opposition. It passed through the hands of Martin Luther who refused to deny his writings and ultimately confessed before his accusers, “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.” (Roland H. Bainton. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. Nashville: Abingdon, 1978, 144.)

Now, Christ’s baton is in our hands. We must run the race with perseverance. While we may glance at the faithful witnesses who’ve gone before us, we cast our gaze upon Jesus (see Hebrews 12:1-2). Then one day when the race ends at His feet, we’ll hand the baton back to King Jesus. And the message we long to hear read and echo throughout the corridors of eternity is: “Well done, good and faithful servant[s]” (see Matthew 25:21, 23).

Persistent Prayer (Genesis 16-18)

2010-05-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

Did you notice how Abraham was persistent in his praying in Genesis 18:23-33? This theme of persistent praying is emphasized in other places in Scripture as well. Just consider these passages:

1) When David prayed for his sick child, he never stopped until the Lord took the baby (see 2 Samuel 12:15-23).

2) When Daniel needed understanding for a vision, he prayed for twenty-one days before he received God's answer (see Daniel 10:1-14).

3) Jesus teaches us to "ask, seek, and knock" when we pray. The verbs Jesus uses here are present tense verbs in Greek which signify continuous action. In other words, some have said the best way to understand Christ's call is this way: Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, and knock and keep on knocking (see Matthew 7:7-8).

4) One time a Canaanite woman, a non-Jewish woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon, asked Jesus to help her demonized daughter, and through her persistent faith, she received Christ's provision for her request (see Matthew 15:21-28).

5) Jesus tells the story of a widow who never stopped bringing her case before a judge until he responded to her (see Luke 18:1-8), and Christ says this is an example of how we "should always pray and not give up" (NIV).

6) When Jesus faced the cross, He prayed three times for God to take the cup of sin and suffering away from Him, and in this way, He demonstrated persistence in His own prayer life (see Matthew 26:36-46).

7) When Paul struggled with a thorn in his flesh, he asked three times for it to be removed, but Jesus assured Paul that His grace was sufficient to sustain him in his weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

So, it's obvious: The Scriptures teach us both with exhortations and examples to be persistent in prayer!

But there are two things I want you to notice both in Genesis 18 and in the Biblical illustrations above. First, it's interesting to note that Abraham asks a rhetorical question in Genesis 18:25b about whether or not God, the Judge of all the earth, will do what's right. Of course, both Abraham and we know the answer to this rhetorical question: A resounding "Yes"! God is righteous, and He only and always does what is right even if this means that suffering is involved (see Psalm 119:67-68).

Second, in the Biblical examples above, God answered some of the prayers with a "Yes" and some of them with a "No" response. For example, God gives a "Yes" answer to Daniel, to the Canaanite Woman, and to the Widow, but He gives a "No" answer to David and to Paul.

Okay, let's draw two major conclusions here. One: God "answers" every prayer. It's been well-said that God's answer is either yes, no, or or wait, but He answers every prayer! Two: Prayer is not a way to "strong-arm" God into doing whatever we want Him to do. No. Prayer is about seeking God's will to be done. Jesus says that when we pray, we should begin with a focus on God's will being done on earth as it is in heaven (see Matthew 6:9-10), and John tells us that whatever we ask according to God's will, we will receive (see 1 John 5:14-15).

So we are called ask God as we pray persistently. Yet, we need to follow Christ's example and close our prayer with His perfect example of surrender: "Your will be done" (Matthew 26:42, NIV). Prayer is another opportunity we have to be conformed into the image of Christ as we deny ourselves and follow Him (see Matthew 16:24; Romans 8:28-30).

We all struggle with being persistent in prayer, but God's grace is sufficient for us in all of our weaknesses, and His will and ways are perfect. Keep praying...

Justified by Faith (Genesis 13-15)

2010-05-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you realize it or not, but you just read a little verse tucked into Genesis 15 that surfaces later in the Bible. Genesis 15:6 is only a few words long: "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (NIV), but it packs a powerful theological punch.

Here's why. Paul first makes the point Abraham is declared righteous by faith in Romans 4. In fact, Paul argues this declaration of righteousness came even before Abraham was circumcized (see Romans 4:10) to underscore the point that Abraham did nothing to earn righteousness before God. Of course, you and I already know Abraham wasn't perfect - he lied about his relationship with Sarah when he went into Egypt (see Genesis 12:10-20). Think about it for a second: In the same chapter God calls to Abraham (Genesis 12), we clearly see Abraham's NOT perfect.

Paul also makes this point in Galatians 3. He teaches us salvation is by faith and not by works, and this is obvious from Abraham's life. Look at it this way: You've been reading the Bible from the beginning, right? Okay. Have you read anything about God's Law (or the Ten Commandments), yet? No. Why? Because God hasn't given His Law, yet. In fact, He won't give His Law until the book of Exodus. So if a person is declared righteous by obeying God's Law, how could Abraham be declared righteous if he lived hundreds of years before the Law was even given (see Galatians 3:17)? It's because righteousness doesn't come from obeying God's Law but through faith, and Abraham is a powerful example of this!

So we can see here salvation is by God's grace through faith and not of works (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Of course, James stresses to us that true saving faith is alive and demonstrates itself in works (see James 2:14-26). There's not a contradiction here at all; rather, this point has been phrased this way: Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. In other words, works never lead to salvation, but they certainly flow from salvation. Clearly, we are justified before God by faith and not by works!

God's Choice (Genesis 10-12)

2010-05-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, we've seen God create, Adam and Eve sin, and now the Flood take place. Of course, now we're waiting to see who God will choose to work in and through for His purposes. And afer generations elapse after Noah, God calls to Abram (later, Abraham).

Let's make a brief comment about genealogies at this point. Some people wonder what's the point of all the lists of names in the Bible. In fact, if they're honest, they may even simply "skip-over" them. But don't do that. Every word in God's Word is inspired and crucial - the genealogies included! These lists of names serve different purposes (see earlier blog entitled Ohhh, So That's Why!). For example, Jesus' genealogy is given twice (in Matthew 1 and Luke 3), and some of the names we've just read are included in Jesus' genealogy in Luke 3 because it stretches all the way back to Adam (whereas Matthew's genealogy traces Jesus' lineage back to Abraham).

So God's not giving up on His creation. He chooses Abram, and He plans to work through him in order to bless all the earth. Here's another indication of God's promise to send the Messiah because Jesus is born as a descendant of Abraham (Remember: Matthew 1), and even Jesus Himself tells the Samaritan Woman "salvation is of the Jews" (see John 4:22), meaning, He's the promised Messiah, born supernaturally as a descendant of Abraham to save everyone who believes, both Jews and non-Jews.

God's plan is continuing to unfold, and we see Him working through generations to accomplish His great story of salvation for the world (see John 3:16)!

God's Promise in the Midst of Our Pain (Genesis 7-9)

2010-05-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! The Flood has happened, and it's impact was absolutely devastating (see Genesis 7:17-24). What a graphic depiction of sin's consequences.

You know, this reminds me of how painful sin is. It's total ramifications can't be quantified. Just think about it: Adam and Eve surely never realized how much pain their sin would bring into the world. They didn't realize their sin would lead to their son Abel being murdered, their son Cain being "marked," nor the world experiencing the Flood as countless people and creatures were literally swept away.

But this is how sin always works. Temptation always looks so "innocent" and "isolated". We think to ourselves: Well, "my sin" is "my business" because it won't hurt anyone else. But that's a lie. Sin always causes more harm than we can imagine and hurts more people we ever thought of.

One little saying about sin goes something like this:
Sin will always take you further than you want to go.
It will always cost you more than you want to pay.
And it will always keep you longer than you every wanted to stay!

Yet, the great promise in this painful passage is that God's gives us a glimpse of His hope in the midst of our hurt. That's right. A rainbow is the sign of God's promise that He'll never destroy the earth with a flood again. And a rainbow never shines as brilliantly as it does when God paints it against a dark sky! But don't take my word for it, just take a look yourself...

Of course, the rainbow as a sign of God's covenant, His promise/agreement, to never destroy the earth with a flood again (see Genesis 9:8-17) is a great foreshadowing of His covenant to take away our sin through Christ's blood shed on the cross (see Matthew 26:26-29; Hebrews 9).

Let's thank God for His promise even in the midst of our pain! Every time you see a rainbow in the sky, let it remind you of God's promise and the fact that He always keeps His Word. And let's always remember the blood Christ shed on the cross to give us the forgiveness of sins (see Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14).

And obviously, let's keep reading...

A Marred Image, A Rebellious Creation, and A Merciful God (Genesis 4-6)

2010-05-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

How are you doing so far? Are you hanging in there with your reading? Beginning something is usually easy - just think of all your New Year's resolutions! But finishing something - well, that takes God's power to sustain us. Yet, let's rejoice in the "small" victories because every major victory is just a combination of many small ones!

Okay, Genesis 4-6 - we're seeing a pattern, aren't we? Sin is taking hold, but God isn't letting go of His renegade creation. Here's what we mean. Did you notice what Genesis 5:1 says? God created Adam in HIS (i.e., God's) image. Of course, we already know this from Genesis 1:26-27. But then Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3, and now Genesis 5:3 tells us Adam's son, Seth, is born in HIS (i.e., fallen and sinful Adam's) image and likeness. So every natural-born person comes into the world as sinful with the marks of a fallen image all over their life (see Romans 6:12-14).

And we can see how every person lives in rebellion against God. In the very next chapter, we read one of the most comprehensive statements describing human depravity anywhere in the Bible - Genesis 6:5. All the thoughts of humanity were only evil continually! Wow! Talk about a "blanket-statement" if there ever was one!

But while you might be tempted to think: Okay, the world is sinful now because of Adam's sin. But isn't it "harsh" for God just to wipe everyone out in the Flood? Listen, this question needs a two-pronged response. First, this question doesn't really take into account the holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity. In other words, if we think of the Flood and scream, "This isn't fair!" Wait a minute. God said that if Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would die (see Genesis 2:16-17). They ate, and they died. They died an immediate spiritual death in that they were separated from God's presence (see Genesis 3:6-23), and Adam eventually died physically (see Genesis 5:5).

So, if we want to talk about "fairness," we should really wonder why anyone even lived long enough to fill the space of three chapters in the Bible after Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 4-6)! In other words, if God gave us what we deserved, the Bible would be a very short book. Basically, it would read: God created. We sinned. The END! You see, you would already be finished reading God's Word! In fact, we probably wouldn't even talk about reading "God's Word" - it would be more like reading God's "pamphlet". And then again, as my wife says, we wouldn't even be around to read it if God gave us what we deserved!

But the truth is God is merciful. This is God's mercy by definition. It's been well-said that God's mercy means He holds back from us what we really deserve. And this is the second part of our response to the question about God's "fairness". We can see a glimpse of God's mercy in the life of Noah. After the sweeping statement of human depravity in Genesis 6:5, we find this statement in Genesis 6:8, "Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (HSCB).

Now, we know Noah didn't find "favor" because he deserved it or he was perfect. No, indeed. Just read Genesis 9:18-23 - Noah and his family were far from perfect. The point is that in the same way God spoke of promised redemption in the middle of His judgment in Genesis 3:14-19 (Remember: Genesis 3:15 is the protoevangelium or the "first Gospel"), God also gives us an insight into His mercy in the midst of humanity's sinful rebellion.

This is the whole story of Scripture - God's working out His plan to save us in the midst of our sin through His Son, Jesus Christ (see John 3:16 and Romans 5:8)! Let's keep going...