Driven

As we prepare to begin a month of prayer and fasting on July, I wanted to share this portion of a devotion with you from “The Promise of Answered Prayer” by Jim Cymbala.

Prayer cannot truly be taught by principles and seminars and symposiums. It has to be born out of a whole environment of felt need. If I say, “I ought to pray,” I will soon run out of motivation and quit; the flesh is too strong. I have to be driven to pray.
Yes, the roughness of inner city life has pressed us to pray. We you have alcoholics trying to sleep in the back of your building, when your teenagers are getting assaulted and knifed on the way to youth meetings, when you bump into transvestites in the lobby after church, you can’t escape your need for God. According to a recent Columbia University study, twenty-one cents of every dollar New Yorkers pay in city taxes is spent trying to cope with the effects of smoking, drinking, and drug abuse.

Cymbala hits on a major factor in the development of each of our prayer lives: the more we sense a need to pray, the more we want to pray. In the midst of adversity, when facing situations beyond our control, we are driven to our knees. Conversely, when we feel in control, our senses tell us there is no need to seek God’s face, and unfortunately we live in a time/place that we feel in control. It would be nice if we never faced hardships, but this July, I hope you feel the need to pray like never before.

Counterfeit Revival?

Here I sit, frustrated again. You may have heard recently about the revival at Lakeland, Florida. At first it sounds like a wonderful work of God, but upon closer examination, it seems there are things going on there that are not of God. Just as I am convinced that God could use someone like Todd Bentley to lead a revival, I am also convinced God does not tell people to kick people in the face, punch them in the stomach, or body slam someone to produce healing…but that’s just me. I would invite you to go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K8XjObzfXM and decide for yourself. I will also say that God can, and I am convinced is, using this counterfeit revival to spark genuine revival fires in the lives of many around the world…but is this what God wants? For me, all measures of revival (or any work of God) must be measured against God’s word to determine its authenticity. Yeah, we continually try to put God in our nice little boxes, and yes, God is continually breaking out in ways that surprise and astound us…but would God use such violence? Is that the example Jesus gave us? Is that what scripture teaches? My mind keeps going to verses like Ephesians 2:10, “…created in Christ Jesus to do good works…” Never mind 2 Timothy 3:1-5! Let’s pray for revival, genuine revival, and let’s include Todd Bentley in our prayers.

Prayer and Promises

Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, writes, “I am absolutely convinced that the number one reason that Christians today don’t pray more is because we do not grasp the connection between prayer and the promises of God. We are trying as individuals and churches to pray “because we are supposed to” without a living faith in the promises of God concerning prayer. No prayer life of any significance can be maintained by this “ought-to” approach. There must be faith in God at the bottom.” Cymbala hit the nail on the head! First, I have seen many who claim the promises of God and when the promises fail to appear, their faith is weakened, never thinking of asking for those promises. Some seem to take the approach that God owes us the promises made in his word. Secondly, any time we do something because we “ought to” and our heart is not in it, we will fail. Also, legalism is not far behind. Soon we will “have to” do it, and then we will have to do it a certain way. One of the great and difficult attributes of God is that he wants us to engage him and will not force us to engage him. Do you believe God wants to keep any of the numerous promises made to believers? Then we ought to be on our knees seeking the fulfillment of that promise with prayer.

The Power of Prayer

As we pray for God’s hand to move in our church and community, here is a prime example of the power of prayer. Revivals have never been dominated by eloquent or clever preaching. If you could have timed the meetings with a stopwatch, you would have found far more minutes given to prayer, weeping, and repentance than to sermons. At the “Prayer Meeting Revival” of 1857-59 there was virtually no preaching at all! Yet it apparently produced the greatest harvest of any spiritual awakening in American history. Estimates of converts in the United States alone climb to 1,000,000. Of that one million converts, one of the most notable was a 21-year-old shoe salesman in Chicago who attended a gathering at the Metropolitan Theater to pray. It was there that Dwight L. Moody received his call to Christian work. The rest, as they say, is history. Do you really think that we lack preachers, books, Bible translations, or doctrines today? What we are missing is the passion to fall upon our faces and call upon the Lord until he opens the heavens and shows himself faithful. Won't you join me in July as I pray and fast seeking the fires of revival to fall upon us?

Help is Near

Another thing to remember about prayer is that it (prayer) is the catalyst for moving God. It is not that we force God’s hand, but it is that God does not move until we ask. Max Lucado writes in He Still Moves Stones, “Healing begins when we do something. Healing begins when we reach out. Healing starts when we take a step. God’s help is near and always available, but it is only given to those who ask for it. Nothing results from apathy. God honors radical, risk-taking faith. When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, walls tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still part. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when a garment is touched—whether by the anemic woman in Galilee or by the prayers of a beggar in Bangladesh—Jesus stops. He stops and responds.” God responds when we pray, but never until we pray. Perhaps it’s not the response we had prayed for…often God answers my prayers in ways that I had never asked or imagined. Often times I am disappointed…for a brief moment…then I once again see God’s plan. Only God has the wisdom to know what is best for us…only we can cause God to act by praying.

Lord, Can You Hear Me Now?

We live in a loud world…if you don’t believe me just spend a week at church camp! Worship is loud…dining is loud…riding a bus is loud…and playing, playing is very loud. And while the decibels at Beulah may be a bit higher than most other places we find ourselves, it is no easy task to get someone’s attention anywhere. He/she must be willing to turn down the radio or television, to turn away from the monitor, to set down a book, to turn their focus to us. It is indeed a privilege when someone is willing to silence everything else so they can hear us clearly. And while it is a struggle to get that focus at times, hear this: our prayers immediately garner God’s attention. As we prepare for a month of prayer and fasting in July, there are a few things we need to remember about prayer. One of the most powerful things about our prayers is that when we cry out, God instantly focuses on us: at once we move to the center of his attention. This doesn’t mean we will receive the answer we want immediately, it means that we have access to God at that instant…we don’t have to wait, wondering when God will hear us…it’s done.

Thank God for the Week at Beulah!

We're baaaaaack! It was a tremendous week at Beulah. Even with a rainy Friday, the weather was exceptionally nice for June in southern Illinois. The music was worshipful and Spirit-led (thanks 1000 Generations for being sensitive to the Spirit rather than your own schedule). The games and recreation time was mostly fun...sometimes gross, and the preaching was relevant and direct. I want to share what I thought were two of the most profound messages shared within the sermons. OB, that is Older Bob (Bob Phillips), examined the account of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 on Friday morning. In that sermon he stated that we (both individually and as a church) are never more in God’s will or closer to Jesus than when we share the message of Christ with someone who is lost. He based this statement on Luke 19: 10 where Jesus says, “The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” If that was Jesus’ purpose, surely it should be ours! Another profound word came from YB, which is Younger Bob (Bob Swickard), who explained the difference between preferences we have and convictions we hold. Simply put, preferences are things we want to do, while convictions are things we must do. Unfortunately for many people, preferences seem to win out over convictions. Looking back at the week, it’s too bad more folks don’t have the conviction to share the Good News with the lost…Jesus did.

Stifled Spirit

There is something disturbing about our world, or perhaps it’s just my world. I recently read about vacation spots that specialize in self-indulgence…at the same time I hear about the growing numbers of homeless in our great country. I hear people complain about gas prices as they fill up their 4wd SUV’s and pickups and drive off into the sunset. I read and hear of the flooding here in Illinois, some of which is said to surpass the ’93 flood, while many live as if it the suffering is half-way around the world. The list goes on and on, but perhaps the most glaring discrepancy I see is the way the Spirit freely moves here at Beulah (and other camps as well) and the way the Spirit is stifled in many churches today. I want to believe that church camp is a microcosm of the larger church and that these young adults are the “faithful remnant” that will return to and equip the local churches for another generation. Athough I sometimes fear the local church has for the most part “lost its first love” and I pray that it doesn’t drain these young adults of their enthusiastic faith as has happened to so many in the past. The good news is God is not scared or surprised by "disturbing"…in fact; the Spirit uses “disturbing” daily to convict, correct, and sanctify us as we bless others.

Trying or Training?

Last night in the evening worship service here at Beulah, Bob Swickard challenged us with the fact that there is a tremendous difference between trying something and training for something. Using the example of a marathon, he confessed, that should he attempt to run a marathon, he (like so many of us) would fail miserably. However, those who hope to win train for the event and it takes years of training to become competitive. To my delight, he then asked us to examine our prayer life; are we simply trying to pray, or are we training for prayer? Well, I don’t have to tell you the importance I see in prayer. We might experience salvation with a feeble prayer life, but it is thru training (lots of training) that we are able to live our life in constant communication with God. I think it is even possible for each of us to live as mystics: to become the Tiger Woods of prayer. However, it takes the same dedication and perseverance that it took Tiger to get to the top of his game. Unfortunately, in a world of constant distractions and desires for immediate gratification, few are able to maintain the focus, or willing to expend the energy…so we often settle for ‘trying’ and wonder why we don’t have a better connection to God.

The Real Deal!

I remembered today why I love to come to Beulah. It really is a lot of work and responsibility, it is usually hot and always storms, but the music is moving (not to mention loud!), the preaching is powerful, and the Spirit moves freely here. Bob Swickard, the preacher for the evening worship services, stated tonight that he had wished someone had told him when he was in high-school that Jesus was the real deal. He was a believer, but he didn’t take Jesus that serious and now he realizes what he missed. That’s why we are here…that’s why I love this place…it’s where we unashamedly tell young adults, some of who are facing struggles that no one should have to face, that Jesus is the real deal. He loves them regardless of what they have done in the past, he loves them regardless of what has been done to them in the past. This week for some will be a turning point in their lives; pray for them. It is unfortunate that we cannot, or will not, allow ourselves to be this open in our home churches or in our own communities, but praise God there are places we can get away to for a time with the guidance of others to sort out, seek out, and claim for ourselves the real deal!

Standing on Holy Ground

Well, here we are, back at Beulah. The place looks much the same…there have been a few improvements since last year and a couple of trees are missing from an ice storm last winter. I have seen some familiar faces since we arrived on Sunday: some are students, some are adults. I have been asked more than once if I remembered someone from previous years…mostly by campers that I have tried to forget! There are new faces here too. It is always a joy to meet new people at Beulah. They usually have a look of bewilderment on their faces as they try to figure out the appeal of this place. Beulah is both unusual and exceptional at the same time. Some campers come looking for the usual summer church camp stuff and much of it is not here. Other campers come just to get away from stuff at home. But it seems everyone comes back to Beulah because it is holy ground. There is something about this place that can only be described as sacred. The Tabernacle, the cinderblock cabins, the dining hall, the ball field…all of them are sacred. If you’ve never been to Beulah, it’s kind of hard to imagine. If you have, even if it was 40, 50, 60 years ago or longer, you know what I am speaking of. This place is saturated with the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, and the signs that greet us say it best, “We are standing on Holy Ground.”

Happy Father's Day!

As we celebrate Father’s Day tomorrow, I am reminded of all the men who played a part in forming me into the man I am. Of course my dad played an instrumental role, along with my grandfathers and uncles. But it took more men than that to make me who I am! There were men, who, in subtle ways helped form my faith, encouraged me, even discipline me at times…all those efforts result in the culmination of who I am today…but know I am still being formed…God has not perfected me yet! I praise God for all those men; many have gone on to their reward, others are still helping me. I hope you are truly thankful for the time and effort that others have invested in you. This Father’s Day, tell those who helped form you ‘thanks.’ It will be the greatest gift you could give them.
I also want to let everyone know that I will be leaving tomorrow for church camp for the week (pray for me!) and my postings will be sporadic at best. However, I will try to keep in touch, letting you know how the Spirit moves at Beulah this year.

A Miserable Christian?

Old habits die hard. I have a friend who called and shared he is struggling with his walk. He told me he is involved in several ministries, he is a part of a small group, he has personal devotional time, and he is even trying to start a Bible study where he works. In listening to him, he is doing all the right things, but he feels miserable…something is lacking. I shared with him that Jesus really doesn’t want us to do anything. We get so caught up in legalism and works righteousness that we think Christ wants us to do stuff. Truth is Jesus has done it all. What he wants from us is to be…to be in relationship with him. We didn’t save ourselves; no Jesus did that. We cannot accomplish anything in our own power (trust me it doesn't work); no we need his power. Jesus wants us to be in relationship with him so that he can live in us and work thru us. Let me be clear: we will do things for Christ...great things, but apart from relationship we will do nothing but wear ourselves out with the wrong motivations doing the wrong things at the wrong time. Fact is, the greatest thing you will ever do is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. Do that and watch the mighty, even miraculous, ways God can use you.

Hiding from God

At my prayer group earlier this morning, the facade of our community was mentioned. The façade is that fascia or pretense that we hid behind in order to portray to all who see us that we are okay. It seems our community is full of families who are facing great struggles, but they put up this façade so that no one knows. It would seem even the church has families/individuals who hid behind them. I am not sure of the exact correlation, but it seems direct; the people who put up a façade in order to hide their struggles from God. I am not sure why, whether fear or defiance, but there is a reluctance to bear our soul before the Almighty. For some there is layer after layer of deception that must be peeled away before the true self appears. Trouble is, until we can honestly come before the Almighty, bearing our every flaw and desire; we cannot grow in the faith (experience sanctification). You see, our hiding from God is effectively preventing us (both personally and corporately) from experiencing revival. We profess that the omniscient God knows even the very depths of our soul. Jeremiah said God knew him even before he was knit together in our mother’s womb…surely God is no less familiar with us...yet we hide.

Just Use It!

What is it you do when troubled? When facing danger or opposition? Satan has a knack of distracting and deceiving us, but let’s not play games with ourselves. In Acts 4, when the apostles were unjustly arrested, imprisoned, and threatened, they didn’t call for a protest; they didn’t reach for some political leverage. Instead they headed to a prayer meeting and soon the place was vibrating with the power of the Holy Spirit. The apostles had this instinct: When in trouble, pray. When intimidated, pray. When challenged, pray. When persecuted, pray. When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them, he birthed a new spirit of prayer and intercession. They began following a simple practice: The best thing to do whenever emergencies come is to gather and pray. So I ask you again, what is it you do when troubled, facing opposition, or even persecution? Don’t let Satan fool you into thinking you can handle whatever you’re facing on your own…get on your knees! Martin Luther offers us great advice, “You should get into the habit of falling on your knees and spreading out your needs in front of God the moment you have an emergency or become frightened. Prayer is the very best medicine there is. It always works and never fails—if you would just use it!”

Headlines vs. Hope

You know, some days it just doesn’t pay to get up! These are a few of the news items that made headlines yesterday morning: Gasoline hit a national average of $4.00 a gallon; People in 16 states have gotten salmonella food poisoning from uncooked tomatoes; Severe weather and flooding has plagued the Midwest for several days now; and although Big Brown was favored to win the Triple Crown at Belmont last Saturday, he finished the race dead last (that in itself a record!). Add to these any variety of personal tragedies, and one might understand why some folks hold out little hope for the future. I’ve never really understood why people cannot accept the idea of Intelligence beyond us, but I do see the hopelessness in life without a Savior. However, our hope doesn’t stop here. Paul said it well in I Corinthians 15:19, “If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else.” You see, Paul realized that even though we put our faith in Christ we will still face struggles, and some of those struggles will be massive. But that’s alright because our reward awaits us at the end of our race. We can rest assured that regardless of tomorrow’s headlines, Christ still sits on the throne and our true hope lies in our eternal future with him.

Adopted

As most of you know, our fourth daughter, Anna, is adopted. Now she is legally entitled to an equal share of any inheritance Jill and I might leave behind. But even more important, we claim her as our own…there is no difference in our eyes between Anna and any of our natural children. When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us. We go from condemned orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear. It’s really remarkable…we come before the throne of grace, rebellious and sinful. Because of God’s justice he cannot dismiss our sin, but because of God’s love he cannot dismiss us. Then, in an act that stunned all of creation, God punished himself on the cross for our sins. God’s justice and love are equally honored, and we are forgiven! Still, that is not the end; it would be enough had God simply cleansed us, but he does more. We have been adopted, given God’s name: because of Jesus, we are now children of God!

Shift Happens!

Starting with Acts chapter 2, Bishop Ough urged the members of the IGRC Annual Conference to not only anticipate, but to invoke the leading of the Holy Spirit as together we “write the next chapter in the Book of Acts.” After watching the video, “Now What?” which explained many of the ways that we are living in an ever changing world and that “shift happens,” Bishop Ough charged us with transforming the church as we pen the 29th chapter of the Book of Acts. We ended the day celebrating the 12 years of leadership by Bishop Christopher in our conference. As we reflected on how far we have come together, I realized how she has impacted my own journey. Bishop Christopher baptized my daughter Anna and granddaughter Isabella. She comforted Jill and me as we grieved the tragic loss of our eldest daughter, Emily. And at conference last year, she presided over my ordination as an elder in full connection. I praise God that Bishop Christopher has been obedient to God’s calling and has shared part of her journey with us in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference and for her many influences upon my journey.

Good Morning Sesser!

Greetings from Annual Conference! In my devotion this morning Max Lucado spoke of power. One of his observations spoke to me here at Peoria. “When you stand at the top—if there is a top—the only way to go is down. And the descent is often painful…” As I witnessed the inevitable positioning and wrangling yesterday at Conference, I was blessed by the emphasis of making disciples for Jesus Christ. We were able to dismiss and get by some of the bickering that usually goes on, and instead start with communion and our examination of Wesley’s general rules: Do no harm; Do good; stay in love with God. Unfortunately we need people at the top…we too are like sheep without a shepherd…but more importantly we need people to be workers in the field. We need people willing to do no harm, to do good, and to love God. I am looking forward to the address from Bishop Ough today. Pray with me that he is anointed with the Holy Spirit as he speaks to us.

God Help Us

I am leaving this morning for our Annual Conference in Peoria. It is a time I look forward to, but it’s also a time when I see a tremendous amount of resources spent, not in the making of disciples for Jesus Christ, but in the maintenance of a monstrous machine. Some of our business is necessary, but some is asinine. We do not make disciples at Annual Conference; I am not even sure most of the business we conduct equips the churches to make disciples…but is it wasted time? No personal or church situation is too hopeless for the all-sufficient power of the Holy Spirit. God is no more eager to act in Sesser or Springfield than he will be to act in Peoria. God waits for us to take his promises seriously and go boldly before the throne of grace regardless of where we are and what we are about. Pray with me that the Holy Spirit will anoint Annual Conference…that each delegate, clergy and laity, will be infused with the Spirit…that God will take control of this conference and that his will be accomplished. If I have Wi-Fi access, I will be posting blogs from Peoria on Thursday and Friday morning, letting you know what has been going on…if not, I will be back on Monday.

Supernatural Assistance

I was visiting with someone recently who is fighting a tremendous battle which has gone on for several years and now they are battling discouragement. They shared that they no longer know what to pray for. My mind immediately went to Romans 8:26: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Most of us have been there, that place where we don’t know how to pray. It’s a place where the sentences we string together to sound like prayer make no sense at all. It’s a place where the effort to pray seems futile. It is there that we need prayer born of the Spirit. This is another dimension of calling upon God; it’s where the Holy Spirit supernaturally assists us. This is not a worked-up emotionalism, but a powerful promise of help from God himself! What we need to remember is that we have this tremendous power available to us. We can, even in a state of hopelessness, reach out to God with the promise his Holy Spirit will intervene on our behalf.

What You Waiting For?

There are several people praying for revival in this community and in this church. And while we are not able to ‘force’ God’s hand, it seems to me that God acts whenever and wherever his people slow down long enough to give him their total attention. Said another way, we’ve got to rid ourselves of those worldly distractions and focus solely on the Almighty. That’s really all it takes…easy huh?  No it’s not, but it becomes easier when we practice faith-filled prayer, praise, and worshipful waiting. God can and will transform our lives, invade and bless our churches, and use us to do things beyond “all we (could) ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). He can and will transform us, if we yield ourselves totally to the Spirit of the Living God…but not until. That’s the catch…God will not force us. This is scary, but on our own, we are able to delay the work that God wants to accomplish in us, our church, our community, even our world. That’s a sobering thought that causes me to remember we are accountable for our actions…all of them. Do you long for God to move? Are you an accomplice or an obstacle?