Praise the Lord!

“Surely the righteous will praise your name…” Psalm 140:13. Why is it we have such a hard time praising God? I mean really…privately…publicly…on the mountaintop…in the valley…every breath that comes out of our mouth ought to be praise for all that we have and do not have. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not being critical of you…I’m being critical of me (actually all of us). There are times when I fail to praise God for something…and it simply tells me that I am not righteous, even though I long to be righteous…I long to praise God with every breath. So why don’t I (we)? Know that I think we ought to resist the tendency to cry out like Paul, “O wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:21-25)…I don’t want to make excuses, I do enough of that. I want to move my life toward righteousness. So, what’s going on? Is it that I am too worldly? Is it that I am too easily distracted by sin? Do I long to claim the praise for myself? The answer to all of these questions is probably a resounding yes, but during this season of Advent my hope is to more fully realize the amazing love of God for me and return that love in praise. Praise for the blessings and the trials. Praise for the excess and the scarcity. Praise for the promise and the fulfillment found in the birth of a Savior so long ago. Won’t you join me? It’s as easy as saying “thank you Jesus!”

Promise-Keeping God!

This is from “God is in the Small Stuff at Christmas” by Bruce & Stan…good stuff!

Christmas hope is thousands of years old, rooted in the history of the Jews. God had promised them a Messiah who would be their deliverer. They relied upon this hope when enslaved by Pharaoh in Egypt. Sustained by this hope when taken captive by Assyria and again when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews were exiled to Babylon. Then during the earthly lifetime of Jesus, with the Jews suffering under the tyranny of the Roman Empire they anxiously waited for the Messiah to lead a political revolt. The birth of Christ was God’s promise to send a Messiah, but few people recognized it as that. They waited for the arrival of a conquering hero, someone tall, holding a sword in his outstretched hand. They weren’t expecting an infant squirming in a hay-strewn feeding trough. Now two thousand years later, God is still in the promise keeping business. The Bible contains promises that God has made and not forgotten: You can turn to Him in times of crisis; He will provide for you in times of need; He loves you as His own child.
Skeptics might say that these are empty promises—nothing more than wishful thinking. But the hope of Christmas proves skeptics wrong. These are promises of the same God who made good on His pledge to send a Messiah. The God who invaded earth with His presence on that first Christmas night to fulfill His promise is the same God who can fulfill His promises to you. God has proved Himself to be reliable. He can be trusted. Thought the difficulties of life might make you question God’s faithfulness, He is a worthy recipient of your hope. Maybe that is one reason He’s given us the hope of Christmas. It is a perennial reminder that God keeps His promises…and you can hang your hope on that.

Thankful...for the Sales!

As we celebrated what some see as one of the greatest holidays in America today, Black Friday, I must quote a friend of mine from a posting he made on Facebook…the Rev. Dr. Ray Long wrote, “The day after we celebrate being thankful to God for all our blessings we push, shove, and race to spend money that we don't have! Only in America!” Well, it looks to me as if it's not only in America, but it certainly is the American way! Unfortunately, he hit the nail on the head…and it’s sad. We (yes, all of us) are so possession oriented that should scare us. Oh, I know God wants us be good stewards of what he has given us, and who shouldn’t want to save money. But more important, I believe, than stewardship is our witness. This is not to say that stewardship is not important, but our witness consists of how we treat others and how we use what God has given us…two elements integral to godly Black Friday shopping…and doesn’t that phrase (godly Black Friday shopping) seem like a contradiction! I guess the news reporters might be following only the antics of heathens…after all, at best our nation is 60% Christian (that is my joke for the 2010 Christmas season!). Yet, my observation today (yes, I went shopping today…though out of necessity, not searching for bargains) was not particularly positive. Regardless, with the holiday behind me (Thanksgiving that is, not Black Friday) I can start my annual Christmas ritual. Tonight, the 1984 version of “A Christmas Carol” with George C. Scott (yeah!).

Thank You Jesus!

Psalm 100 (from The Message) A Thanksgiving Psalm
On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep. Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.

Give Thanks and Worship!

Recently I have been contemplating Thanksgiving and our observance of this uniquely American holiday. First of all I was reminded of the truth that the Pilgrims came to this nation, not to accumulate wealth, nor for more resources or opportunities, but for freedom to worship God. We often give thanks for our freedoms around national holidays, but we rarely understand the freedom to worship as the most important freedom we possess. I wonder how many in America would leave this nation to pursue freedom to worship elsewhere should we lose that freedom. Then I read a quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a Reformed Baptist preacher from Britain who about 1870 said, "You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled." It saddens me to hear people thank God for what they have and turn around and wish they had more. Spurgeon was right; having more will not make us content, that will only feed our greediness. Putting our faith and trust in God is what will make us content…realizing that He will provide our every need as He has promised. As you celebrate Thanksgiving this week, I pray you will be truly thankful and worship the One who not only provides, but who blesses with abundance.

Run to Him!

I received this and know that someone needs to hear it.

Sunday's Coming!

I have been in dialogue with some on how we are to keep the Sabbath. This is not a discussion on the Saturday/Sunday debate, but rather, how do we keep the day holy. What does that look like in the 21st Century? First, let me share with you some history. From the time of Christ to the present day there have been folks called Sabbatarians, known for their elaborate rules for keeping the Sabbath. According to the rules spelled out at the Synod of Elvira in Spain (306 AD), if you missed three consecutive Sundays you could be excommunicated. By the 16th century an elaborate system of rules for church attendance had emerged to the point where it was determined how late you could come to church and still be credited with being present. In the mid-1600s, the English Puritans developed a rule book governing Sabbath activities. Addressed were issues such as how far you could travel on a Sabbath, how to dress, and which homemaking activities were acceptable. By 1656 these rules took up about 13 pages of fine print! So, how should we observe the Sabbath…what’s the rule? Scripture tells us to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8), but what is it to keep the day holy? I am sure every person who reads this has an opinion, but it literally means set apart, or worthy of reverence. I will not suggest what we should do to keep our Sunday’s holy, but rather might suggest that we review our practices…are they taken from a rule book on how to act on Sunday? Do we even consider whether our actions honor God? Have we kept the day holy?

Communication

Interesting concept...listening!

Obsessed with God?

As we concluded chapter 8 (Profile of the Obsessed) in the book Crazy Love, in our Sunday school class last Sunday, Bryan challenged us to consider giving away some of our possessions that distract us, or hinders our relationship with God…a practice worthy of our consideration, but on the surface difficult to do or even start (after all, can’t we use everything?). Here’s my suggestion of how to rid oneself of those unnecessary things and it starts with an attitude of praise. First, think of those possessions that you praise God for…those things that you are truly grateful for and blessed by…I believe God wants you have those (careful, this is not prosperity theology!). It’s been my experience that when we operate in abundance we tend to lose our attitude of praise and the things we have become possessions instead of blessings. Now those things you take for granted, that you do not praise God for, the item you haven’t used for years, or the thing you have several of, why aren’t you praising God for them? It’s one thing to have warm gloves for winter use and to have 4 pair of warm gloves for possible winter use. Have they caused you not to trust God for provision? Are they from God or of your own doings? I offer this guideline, if you cannot praise God for something you have, every time you use it, it is probably removing or at least hindering your reliance upon God…and that is an element of our relationship with Him that we all desperately need.

The Power of Prayer

Oh, how I agree with Edward Bounds’ words from Purpose in Prayer:

"There can be no substitute, no rival for prayer; it stands alone as the great spiritual force, and this force must be imminent and acting. It cannot be dispensed with during one generation, nor held in abeyance for the advance of any great movement—it must be continuous and particular, always, everywhere, and in everything. We cannot run our spiritual operations on the prayers of the past generation. Many persons believe in the efficacy of prayer, but not many pray. Prayer is the easiest and hardiest of all things; the simplest and the sublimest; the weakest and the most powerful; it’s results lie outside the range of human possibilities—they are limited only by the omnipotence of God."
"Few Christians have anything but a vague idea of the power of prayer; fewer still have any experience of that power. The Church seems almost wholly unaware of the power God puts into her hand; this spiritual carte blanche on the infinite resources of God’s wisdom and power if rarely, if ever, used—never used to the full measure of honoring God. It is astounding how poor the use, how little the benefits. Prayer is our most formidable weapon, but the one in which we are the least skilled, the most adverse to its use. We do everything else for the heathen save the thing God wants us to do; the only thing which does any good—makes all else we do efficient. "

Give Thanks...for All things!

I had meant to post this on Friday, but was distracted, so here it is. It’s from Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and seems really relevant as we enter this season of Thanksgiving (which in reality should be every day).

“In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life. Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?”

Veteran's Day 2010

Thank you to all who have and are serving...let's consider serving them.

How Can We Not Help?

On Monday Geraldine, Mark, and I spent the afternoon driving to Salem to get yellow fever and typhoid shots for our upcoming mission trip to Haiti. You can tell you are in God’s will when the world thinks you are crazy! A nurse and another lady who was a patient there both told us how they would never set foot in Haiti because of the cholera outbreak, in spite of my telling them of two mission work teams who returned within the last five days with no ill effects. And now there’s hurricane Tomas. My response was, “How can you not help?” I fully understand that not everyone can physically go to Haiti, but some can. Others can financially support efforts there; through whichever aid organization they feel does the best job. Still others can be prayer warriors (I understand from several articles that the morale of the Haitian people affected by the earthquake and now Tomas, is extremely low...they need our prayers), or by supporting efforts to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to people there whose lives are entwined in voodoo and other cultish practices. How can you not help do something? Jesus said in Matthew 25 that whatever you do to the least of these you do to Jesus, and perhaps more important, whatever you fail to help one of the least of these, you failed to do it for Jesus. Those are words that are incomprehensible to those caught up in worldly affairs. Keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our trip next February…and ask God what He would have you do to help the suffering of the people of Haiti.

Surrender

I was reading from Experiencing the Spirit, by Henry & Melvin Blackaby last night and thought someone might need to hear this.
“You may have given your life to Christ, but have you understood that you must yield your life to the work of the Holy Spirit? There is no such thing as a once for all decision in the Christian life; it’s a daily dying to self—daily seeking Him and bowing to His lordship. The key to a growing relationship with God is to release your life to all you know. Don’t worry about the unknown; simply respond to what God has revealed. If you’re faithful in a little, He’ll give you more. Don’t just look toward some future time when He’ll do great things in your life; each step along the journey is special. And each step will open up new opportunities. You’ll discover that the power of the Holy Spirit is profoundly simple. You’ll also find that your relationship with God is uniquely your own. He’ll take you from where you are to where He wants you to be. At the beginning of the journey, you won’t know all the details or where He’s taking you, but you can trust that His will is always best.”

The Sum of Religion

I read this passage from Edwards M Bounds work, The Possibilities of Prayer this morning. Thought you might need to hear it also.
“Prayer is not an indifferent or small thing. It is not a sweet little privilege. It is a great prerogative, far reaching in its effects. Failure to pray entails losses far beyond the person who neglects it. Prayer is not a mere episode of the Christian life. Rather the whole life is a preparation for and the result of prayer. In its condition, prayer is the sum of religion. Faith is but a channel of prayer. Faith gives it wings and swiftness. Prayer is the lungs through which holiness breathes. Prayer is not only the language of spiritual life, but makes its very essence and forms its real character.”
I wondered as I read this how my life might be different today had I realized the importance of prayer earlier in my life. What differences my prayer life might have made in the lives of others I have known or worked with. And while reflection is good, for me it prompts the prayer, “Lord, don’t let me waste today not praying.” I liked that analogy…”prayer is the lungs through which holiness breathes.” It would seem too many in our world have spiritual emphysema.

Revive Us Again...

What is it that is preventing revival from occurring? Right here and now? I know God wants to move…at least all I understand of Scripture indicates that. So what is it that hinders God’s hand? As I have read accounts of previous revivals and biographies of evangelists, it would seem the problem is us…the people of God. We are the ones who will not allow the Spirit to move, in spite of numerous revival services taking place at churches in our area! Here is what I mean to say. In most, if not all, of the great revivals, laity (even more than clergy) played a major part. Every move of the Spirit was preceded by fervent prayer for revival…not by preachers alone, but by the laity. Are you praying for revival…fervently? Visitation…that is visiting from house to house, witnessing to and inviting others to Christ. Have you witnessed to anyone lately, planting seeds of revival? Evangelistic preaching with conviction played a major role in revivals past. I guess this is directed toward the preachers first, but I also think every one of us needs to possess conviction in our words for the Lord. Finally, open-air preaching, or street preaching, was used to reach the lost in many revivals of the past. I know they may not have had the buildings we have today, but too often the church today hides behind their walls instead of making their presence known in the community. I realize there is no “one-size-fits-all” textbook plan for revival…the Spirit moves as the Spirit wills, though a "Revival For Dummies" would be a great book to have at times. I also know we cannot produce revival at will…it is solely the work of the Holy Spirit…but we sure can hinder revival.

Elections are Over...Now of Things Eternal

Aggg! I get so frustrated with people around election time. First, it’s the candidates with all their political babble and mudslinging…then you must wrestle the apathetic attitude of voters. Still in my frustration, my message is we need to engage in the process…we need to do our homework and cast our votes. It’s not a perfect system, but it is our system. It’s the system that so many have died for over the years and others still want to topple today. Don’t like it here? Move to North Korea and see how you like their process! I do not consider myself a patriot, but I do think the greatest threat to this great nation is from within: an apathetic populace guarding their own interests. Perhaps my greatest frustration is the lack of participation by voters in the process. With national voter turnout for presidential elections dropping from 63% in 1960 (isn’t that low enough for a presidential election?) to just under 54% in 2008, yesterday’s turnout in Lawrence County was under 50%. Can people be that disinterested in politics? Perhaps we’ve just become lazy. Regardless, my observation is that we treat God with the same (if not greater) apathy. We are not a Christian nation, but have religiously become a society who are concerned only with “me.” We have so twisted God's word that the “church of what’s best for me” has become a national institution with members sitting in nearly every home and church across the land. Unfortunately, that church lacks the one thing many are looking for and all need: a Savior! Acts 4:11-12 is very clear…me can’t save me!

Gotta Have Priorities!

It’s been a wild few weeks…charge conference meetings & forms…Fall Festival planning… working with youth…small groups…new assistant…not to mention I’ve been wrestling with the seven deadly sins for seven weeks…now I am trying to get immunization shots to go to Haiti on a work trip and well, enough excuses…I’m back at least till I get so busy again that I need to drop something. So during times like this (when one is very busy) we often think we are too busy to spend time with God, or at least we can make it without God easily for a time. I’ve made that mistake before…but over the years I’ve learned it’s then I’m actually too busy not to spend time with God. It’s when you are super busy that you need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to keep you on course, for it’s then you are ever more susceptible to the lies of satan. It’s when we find ourselves in the darkness of confusion and doubt that we need God’s word to provide light for our paths (Psalm 119:105)…and aren’t we commanded to live as children of the Light? So having said that, know that if I stop blogging for a time, I’m busy but I’ve decided I can do without this (blog) more than I can do without my personal time with God & family...until then, maybe I can post every day of November...maybe not.