It All Points To Jesus!

What’s your passion? No, this is not a trick question, I am just wondering what it is that drives you. What is it that you live for? Sports…family & friends…music…prayer…games…learning (how weird is that!). There is no wrong answer…I’m not taking names so I can condemn you for not saying Jesus…unless of course Jesus is your passion! God created all these things, yeah, even those things that satan corrupts…God created them. In fact, I believe God created them for our good…so what is your passion? Movies…guns…fishing…let’s be honest. I think God wants us to have a passion (perhaps even one other than Jesus). The reason I ask is because, as a follower of Jesus Christ, all we are, all we do, is supposed to point toward Jesus. He does not want, nor intend to be a two-hour topic on Sunday mornings. He wants to be your Lord…24/7/365. If that is true (and I confidently believe it is) then our passions should also point to Jesus. They may take the long route to arrive there, but he is the final destination…the focus of our lives. I believe Christians have a responsibility to witness to their faith (Acts 1:8…“you will tell others” (emphasis added). I also believe God wants us to enjoy life…as he defines it…but whether we do or not, we will be his witnesses. So, what’s your passion…food…reading…jewelry…Harley’s? Does it point to Jesus?

Forgotten God

I rarely do this, but I have found a book that every believer should be reading. Forgotten God by Francis Chan, sub titled, Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, published by David C Cook. Francis is a pastor in Southern California and yes, out of the charismatic movement, but you still should read this book! In fact every charismatic, every evangelical, every conservative, every liberal needs to read his book (no, I am not getting royalties from it). He simply, reasonably, and biblically supports the reasoning for, and activity of, the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, and how, in our enlightened day and age, we have strayed from the interaction that God intended for us from the beginning. It is an easy read; it’s one of those that I couldn’t put down. Get it (or ask to borrow my copy)…you will be blessed!

Surrendering the Future...Moment by Moment!

Let me continue thoughts from my last blog, because it has provoked several conversations between myself and others. When I speak of surrendering our lives or our will to God, that does not necessarily mean to give God our perfectly planned future…that is to say, it means exactly that, however God may not make it perfectly known to you that he wants you to be a missionary to Africa or a waitress in Lawrence County (whatever your future). While God does sometimes work in that way, more often his Spirit wants us to surrender the moment and begin a journey. Remember Abraham? God told him to pack up and go to a strange land…no indication of the final destination…no route to follow…no hint of how long the journey would take. God called Abraham to trust him that moment and to take a step. The Spirit often calls us to trust him in the moment. Has he ever called you to help someone? Did you? Has he ever called you to witness to someone? Did you? Has he ever called you to love someone or pray for someone? Did you? Has he ever called you to an altar? Did you go? These are moments of surrender that we must experience before the Holy Spirit can, or at least begins to, work thru us. Too many people in the church today have invited Jesus into their lives…they intend to maintain control, but Jesus can come along. The problem with inviting Jesus into your life is that he has promised us the Holy Spirit to guide, counsel, and strengthen us. The Spirit can get in the way big-time! And without the Spirit controlling us, we will never live the life God intended us to live.

Go Ahead-Surrender!

As I read my devotion this morning it reminded me of a song. I’m not a gambling man, but I’ll bet you’ve heard it, “Somewhere in the Middle.” Casting Crowns sings it and it’s from the immensely popular “The Altar and the Door” cd. There is a line in it that I was reminded of this morning (there are actually several good lines; if you’re not familiar with it you should listen). “Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control?” Doesn’t that sound just like us? We all know that Christ calls us to surrender…surrender our lives…surrender our will…to surrender to him and to the perfect plan of the Father. If we read Scripture at all we’ve heard that…but our goal is to inch to the point of surrender…to feel surrender…to look as if we’ve surrendered…without losing our control. We want to control everything. We want to control our lives and the lives of others…we want to control our present and our future…and unfortunately some think we can control eternity. However, salvation comes at a price…we are to trust Jesus Christ and that means turning control over to him. Seems to me if we spent the same energy on surrender that we spend on controlling, our world would look very different. Just feeling content would change many people…we might even call it heaven on earth!

Blessed Again!

Another great weekend…first, on Saturday I was blessed to lead a class on preaching for certified lay speakers. The blessing was to meet so many more gifted laity involved in our churches and their dedication. I said it to them and I will say it again…there has never been a major revival that was not laity-led. The clergy have a part to play, but it was the laity who sparked and carried the fires of revival. I believe that will also be the case for the next great revival we are to experience…the laity will be the driving force leading it. Then on Sunday we had "Trunk or Treat" here at Beulah UMC. What a joy to have so many children (of all ages) participate and for so many adults who want to see the light of Jesus Christ shine at a time that is darkened by evil in our world today. With communities sponsoring ‘haunted’ events, it is a blessing to have a safe place to show children the love of Christ. As individuals and as the church we ought to be taking every opportunity and exploring every avenue to shine our light for Jesus Christ. We know others are constantly watching us and we never know when something we do will resonate with them, winning a soul for the Kingdom. I experienced the presence of the Spirit this past weekend, and I pray you did too.

For The Beauty of the Earth

Busy, busy, busy…I know that is a phrase most everyone understands. I’ve almost caught up from being sick and out of commission for two & a half days last week and I realized this morning I almost missed something. This weekend, whatever you’re doing…STOP. Take a drive somewhere and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation! I went up to Petty School this morning for parent-teacher conferences (don’t ask) and between raindrops I noticed the glorious colors of the trees. I don’t know how it looks where you are, but here in the Wabash Valley today the colors are surely at their peak. So inspiring is the foliage at the Red Hills State Park I very nearly burst into song! “For the beauty of the earth, for the glories of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies: Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.” Pierpoint must have been looking at the fall fiolage when he penned those words. Okay, I did burst into song, but I forgot the third phrase and that caused me to come back to the church and look it up. God’s creation is gorgeous…too bad it takes the changing of the season to remind us of its beauty…but praise God, I didn’t miss it! Don’t you.

"Forgotten God"

As many of you know, I believe that unless the Holy Spirit is working thru us as believers, we are absolutely impotent. Don’t believe me just look at the Church in America today. Scripture tells us we will receive power when the Spirit comes upon us (and I conclude that indicates we will lack any resemblance of supernatural power in our lives without the Holy Spirit). ALL power comes from the Spirit and ALL power is for the glory of God. In his book “Forgotten God” published by David C. Cook (which I cannot recommend to you strongly enough), Francis Chan states the obvious. The sole purpose of our lives is to glorify God. Everyone would love to be filled with supernatural power from the Holy Spirit…but why? Why do people pray for healing? Why do people pray for traveling mercies and prosperity? Why do people pray for anything…too often with selfish motives…and why are these prayers at times not answered? James 4:3 tells us, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Chan writes, “Our desire to live should be for the sake and glory of the God who put us on this earth in the first place” (pp84). I am sorry to tell you this (not really!), but God is not concerned with our selfish desires and petty whims. Until we purpose our lives to glorify the Almighty alone we will not realize answered prayer, we will not experience healing, and we will not know the power of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within us…working thru us. Figured it out yet…it’s not about you…it’s about God.