Good Friday

As we observe and even celebrate this Good Friday, there is a reading I would like to share with you from The Cup of Our Life, by Joyce Rupp. “When Jesus was in his excruciating moment in the Garden of Gethsemane he needed his disciples to be with him while he prayed. He longed for the comfort of their presence and was pained by their inability to provide this for him. Jesus didn’t need Peter to slice off an ear of his enemy. He just needed Peter and the others to be there with him as he faced his enemies (Luke 22:39-46).”
My prayer is that Jesus might find us there with him today and everyday; that he would never be pained by our inability to focus on him. Yet I pray that realizing that many of us are more focused on our own desires than on his, many of us are easily distracted from his presence by the noise of our world, and that many of us would rather seek the company of others than his divine presence. May God help us as we look toward the empty tomb...to realize the real cost paid by our Savior. May God help us to surrender unconditionally to the longings of our Savior’s heart.

Even White Preachers Gotta Shout!

You’ll have to excuse me a moment…I must vent! I cannot help but want to scream ‘cause someone told me this morning that these Christian rock bands were leading people to hell. AGGGG!! I pray that I never become so engrossed with what I prefer that I want to refuse others what they like. Music traditionally has been a force of division within the church, which causes me to wonder why we cannot keep our focus on the Savior…but back to the subject at hand. I say if any type of music points people to Jesus, then praise God! I’ll confess, I am not a fan of Lawrence Welk or Mitch Miller, but if they sing about Jesus, then praise God (Are those two still alive?). Folks who like Big Band music need to hear about Jesus too! I dislike most Country Music, but if a Country artist sings about Jesus, then praise God! Bar-hopping, truck-driving, women-chasing cowboys need to hear about Jesus too! And kids, with all the peer pressure and stress they have to deal with these days, they need to hear about Jesus…and if Ozzy Osborn sang about Jesus, I would praise God for him. I’ll go one step further; I think we should take songs that are popular and use them for the glory of God…that’s what Charles Wesley did. He took the bar tunes of the day and wrote hymns to sing to the tunes…Praise God! We might even think of taking songs that are less than wholesome and giving them a makeover for the glory of God. Here’s an old, but good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTYr3JuueF4. Praise God!

Caution: Holy Spirit at Work!

It seems to me the greatest obstacle facing the believer today is not uncertainty in our world, the devil, or the many problems with organized religion. The greatest obstacle we face is our becoming helpless and more dependent upon God. We are taught almost from birth (at least in the western world) to strive for self-sufficiency. We are taught to take care of ourselves (even arrogantly calling ourselves #1); to not ask for help (or directions!); to do everything for ourself. That mindset is directly opposed to the mindset of our Savior and Lord. He came to "serve others, not to be served" (Matthew 20:28), to "seek the lost" rather than focus on himself (Luke 19:10), and with John the Baptizer as our example, we are told that we "must decrease and He must increase" (John 3:30). No wonder so many struggle with this religion thing! How do we accomplish this transformation from our human nature to the mind of Christ? For most of us it is not enough to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1), and all too often we stop there reading the text, but vs. 2 says, “…but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is…” We must surrender and allow ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit…daily! We cannot do it for ourselves; it is not a one-time event. The Holy Spirit is the force that is continually at work in the believer who is truly in relationship with Jesus Christ.

Did YOU Vote?

Well, it’s Election Day again. (Do you remember Green Acres? This is about the time when the fife and drum core begin playing in the background) And once again, I have grown tired of the rhetoric and mudslinging that inevitably takes place the days, weeks, and months leading up to this day (and this year it seems to have been amped up here in Sesser). I’ll be honest, I am afraid our election process has failed us. I am not sure any amount of praising or cursing a candidate will move someone to vote. It seems to me there’s a percentage of people who will engage in the process, believing voting is a God-given right and responsibility, while others will not be moved for any reason. Much like church or many other civic organizations: the few who connect do all the work. A sign of the times? Definitely. Might it be corrected? Hopefully, but I do not have the answers. What I do know is that complacency and apathy are tools of the devil that will destroy us if we allow it. That is the operative statement here…“if we allow it.” We have the choice to engage in the process, every process whether civic, educational, or religious, equipping those processes to work for our benefit and for the glory of God…or we can sit and complain.

Lord, Help Us!

With a dose of reality the past few days, I have come to realize once again the fallen world we live in. With senseless killings in both Binghamton and Pittsburg Pennsylvania; a distraught father killing himself and his five children in Washington State; North Korea launches a long range rocket although warned not to by several countries; and now I hear that there has been a deadly earthquake in central Italy. I am not sure we can attribute all of these tragedies to satan, but it is clear to me that he is extremely active in our world today. If not in the news stories I’ve just mentioned, he is active in how people deal with these stories. Rather than turning to God or praying that satan is bound, many will turn to MLB’s opening day games or to the NCAA tournament to distract them from the evils in our world. Others will focus on an up-week for the stock market or the President’s accomplishments during the first 100 days of his administration to find a sense of security. These might make us feel good for a time, but the high won’t last (especially if your team loses!). So where do we start? Perhaps we need to pray that our hardened hearts would turn to God.

How Big is Your God?

With an election drawing near, I have become so sick and tired of the mud slinging and name calling in our community. If only we would give as much attention to the presence and power of God as we give to self and to Satan. But then, that’s the problem isn’t it…we cater to self and before we know it, Satan is involved. We must learn the value and discipline of denying self…yeah, I said the d-word: deny. Jesus called us to pick up our cross and follow Him…not wander where we will, dragging along those things that satisfy our personal longings. Smith Wigglesworth (yeah, I know your getting tired of hearing of him, but there is much more to come) summed up well the end result of living a spiritual life or a worldly life: “If you have a great God, you will have a little Devil; and if you have a big Devil, you will have a little god.” Some of the things I’ve heard concerning this coming election cause me to wonder if some people even know there is a God. But that should be better a week from now, so let me ask you, how big is your God?

What's Your Expectation?

As I continue to read some of the works of Smith Wigglesworth he has struck another nerve. In “Only Believe” he writes, “The Holy Spirit wants to get you ready to stretch yourself out to God and to believe that “He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). You do not need to use vain repetitions when you pray (see Matthew 6:7). Simply ask and believe. Do more believing and less begging.”
How I agree! I must confess to you that I find it annoying when my children beg and whine for something. If I tell them I will do something, I will do it when I feel the time is right and their begging will not move that determined time one moment. Do you suppose God is the same? The case is made that we are created in the image of God so we surely have some of God’s characteristics (let’s not confuse that statement and give God some of our characteristics). So, what if God finds begging and whining annoying…what do your prayers sound like to the Almighty? Is your faith evident at the end of your prayer time? James tells us, “But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (1:6-8).