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Oct 16

Desperation

Posted on October 16, 2013 by admin

Our nation is diving headlong into the murky waters of uncertainty.  There is no doubt that we are a nation divided.  In all honesty, Washington looks more like a giant sandbox with both political parties playing the part of a two year old throwing a temper tantrum because the other won’t share the shovel or has knocked down their sand castle.  The truth of the matter is if they don’t soon get on the same page our country will find itself in a place it has never been.

The church in this country is also in desperate times.  Thom Rainer, President of Lifeway, notes that the largest generation in our country, the millennials (those born from 1978-200), are the most lost in our country when it comes to a relationship with Christ.  In fact Rainer states that only 1 out of 10 millennials claim to be Christian.  Countless numbers of articles come into my inbox almost every day speaking to this issue of how do we reclaim America for Christ and reach this generation.  Both the political and ecclesiastical challenges have many worried, many pointing fingers and assigning blame, and people acting like “Chicken Little” screaming  “the sky is falling, the sky is falling.”  It has us in desperation mode, which I will submit to you is actually a good thing.

Israel had a similar experience in their history.  They had a king by the name of Jehoshaphat.  He was in charge of the southern kingdom, Judah.  There were three groups of people who were coming against Judah.  2 Chronicles 20 records that “Jehoshaphat was afraid.”  Now it is one thing for the people to be afraid, but it is another for the king to be afraid as well as admit that he is afraid.  That would tell me the situation was pretty bad.  In his desperation Jehoshaphat prayed and during that prayer he said something that I believe many in Washington and in the church would say today (or at least should).  It is recorded in the end of 2 Chronicles 20:12, “neither know we what to do.”  Here is a king that has the whole nation looking to him for answers, expecting him to have a great plan to save the nation, and all he can do is say “I don’t know what to do.”  I imagine if Gallup polling on job approval rating was around in Jehoshaphat’s day his rating would be lower than our current President’s and Congress’.  But in reality that was the best thing he could have admitted.  Proverbs 14:12 tells us “there is a way that seems right to man, but the end is destruction.”  Our greatest problem as a country and even the church is that we have looked to people to solve our problems.  The problem is, it is the people that created these problems in the first place.  Ronnie Floyd writes in his book, “The Power of Praying and Fasting,” “He wants to do something mighty in our lives, and that’s why He provides us with moments of desperation–to push us toward Him” (p. 17).

I believe with all my heart that God has let the United States as well as the church in the United States get to these points, not as an act of judgment (though it is a form of judgment), but rather to get our attention and to draw us back to Him.  Many people have this picture of a mean, vindictive God sitting up in heaven just waiting to punish us.  Is God a God of judgment?  Yes He is!  But He is also a God of mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  He allows things in our lives to show us that He is all we need.  I love the quote by A.W. Tozer, “we will not realize that God is all we need, until He is all that we have.”  What if the country goes through worse political and economical times, but it sparks a true national revival.  Would it be worth it?  What if the church got back to biblical principles and as a result suffered persecution, but in the end many people came to a saving relationship with Christ, would that be worth it?  I believe in God’s mind it absolutely would be worth it, because He cares more about eternal things than temporary things.  So yes our country and our churches are in a desperate situation, but I think this is exactly where God wants us and exactly where we need to be in order to gain a proper perspective on life, His perspective.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Oct 15

Unexpected Blessings

Posted on October 15, 2013 by admin

When my family and I woke up yesterday morning something was different.  Something had changed literally overnight.  There were no more babies in our home.  Our beautiful, sweet daughter was now a toddler.  Yesterday was her birthday.  Up until this time last year, my wife and I had been out of the babies at home stage.  Our boys were growing up, dressing themselves, potty trained, and two of them going to school.  However, on October 14th an unexpected blessing was born, and she came to live with us four days later.  Diana and I talked on October 14th, 2012 about the new baby that was born and at that time there were some other issues going on, so we weren’t able to go see Cataleyah.  Truthfully we weren’t sure how much we would be able to see her as she grew up, but God had a plan.  Even though we weren’t aware of what God was up to, God had arranged it that this beautiful , sweet little girl would come live with us.  Yet we still didn’t know how long she would be with us.  There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the entire situation.  Even to this day there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding us with her.  I will admit that it is very easy to get drug down into the pits thinking about all the possibilities that go along with our situation with Cataleyah.  I admit that sometimes at night or during the day I will wonder, what if she isn’t with us this time next year, what if she is taken from our family, will we get to see her, when is the next time we will be in court concerning custody, and many other questions.  But it is during these times that I have to remind myself, I’m not in control and all of this worrying, and trying to figure out, and concern is pointless.  So many times we worry about tomorrow that we rob today of its joy.  On October 18th, 2012 when I laid my eyes on Cataleyah for the first time is a day I will never forget.  I got a call from Diana around 1:30 and she said that she was going to pick up the boys from school and go down to the hospital to get her.  I wanted to go, but I couldn’t because it was a Wednesday and I had a meeting before service, and we weren’t sure how long it would take to get paperwork and everything done at the hospital.  I can remember Diana coming into the church parking lot literally minutes before service was to start, and me going out there and just looking at this new little bundle of joy that God had entrusted us with.  On that day, I never gave a second thought about how long she would be with us, I just opened my heart up and began to love her.  And every day since I have grown to love that little girl a little more.  I’m sure those of you who are parents can understand this, all of this. From the joy to the concerns and worries and even to the unconditional love.

What if we approached our relationship with Christ like this?  What if we approached every day of our life in this manner?  Jesus taught us in Matthew 6 about worry.  He said that the birds of the air don’t worry about their food, because God provides for them.  The grass doesn’t worry about the rain, but yet it is green when it is suppose to be.  He ultimately told us that the key to being happy is to seek Him first.  When we surrender ourselves to Him and we seek to love Him and to know Him, the things of this world don’t matter as much.  Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  James 4 tells us, “For what is your life?  It is a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”  God has a blessing for us each day that we are alive.  The key to finding it is to seek and find Him today.  Focus on your relationship with God, knowing Him, loving Him, pleasing Him, and let Him worry about the details of your tomorrows.  Our family still doesn’t know how long Cataleyah will be with us, but I don’t want to miss the blessing of being with her today, because I am worried about her being gone tomorrow.  Don’t miss what God is doing in your life today, because you are worried about tomorrow.  God has already taken care of tomorrow and the many tomorrows that follow that so that we an enjoy time with Him today.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Oct 10

Fake It ‘Till You Make It?

Posted on October 10, 2013 by admin

Have you ever had to do something that you really just didn’t want to do?  Have you ever faked anything or pretended to be someone you are not?  Most if not all of us have at least at some point done either one of those things.  For most guys when meeting a young lady we want to date we are guilty of this.  How many of us are guilty of this with church or our relationship with Christ?  I was reading an article this morning that talked about this very thing.  The title of the article was, “How long can you succeed in ministry WITHOUT God?”  My first thought when I saw the title was “not very long.”  However, as I read the article my opinion changed.  The premised of the article was this, we have created a church culture in which we can pull off a pretty good worship service without expending a lot of energy.  We have memorized the songs we sing, pastors who have been in ministry for a long time have a lot of sermons to pull from, and many times we judge how well a church is doing by the number of people who come to worship instead of by the number of souls being saved and changed by God.  Israel created this culture for themselves in the Old Testament.  As long as people were becoming more like the Pharisees, the Pharisees thought everything was ok.  Going back to the article for a moment, there was a question in there.  “How many weekends do we leave worship and think it was good because we liked the music, we enjoyed the sermon, we noticed that attendance was up, but we never ask was God pleased with our worship today?”  There is a word for that statement, OUCH!

During Jesus’ earthly ministry He challenged and confronted the worship of His day.  The people were satisfied, but Jesus constantly challenged them on where they really worshipping the one, true God or were they worshipping the God they had created in their heart and mind?  In one confrontation with the Pharisees Jesus quoted from Isaiah 29 when He said, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men” (Mt. 15:8-9).  Wow is that ever challenging!  How many times have we faked worship knowingly in church?  The saddest truth is this one, we have become so good at it that others around us don’t even know we are doing it.  Of course if they were honest, many times they are just as guilty of doing the same thing.  So many times we manufacture things in church to make it look like we or the church is something that it isn’t, and we think that we are getting away with it because no one has caught on to it.  Yet the whole time God is up there in heaven looking down on us, with His heart breaking for us and at the same time being righteously indignant because we have turned His house into a place where we are worshipped instead of Him.

I wonder how many times Jesus would have quoted Isaiah 29:13 (Mt. 15:8-9 from above) to us during our worship services?  May this convict us and challenge us to be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, that our worship would not be in vain but that we would truly worship Jesus as He deserves to be worshipped.  We can make all the excuses we want, I had a long week, I’m tired, everyone else is doing it, etc. and keep on going the same way we have been.  Or we can realize that Jesus Christ and Him alone is worthy to be worshipped, we can remember the miserable, wretched sinner that we were before Christ showed us grace and saved us, and we can worship Him and thank Him for saving a wretch like me.  May God be glorified as the body of Christ lift up His holy name this weekend.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Oct 01

Begin with the end

Posted on October 1, 2013 by admin

I am not a very fast reader, in fact if the story of the tortoise and the hare were about a reading race, the tortoise would be the hare and I would be the tortoise.  In fact my wife can read five books in the time it takes me to read one, and that maybe a generous ratio.  Because I know it is going to take me a while to read a book, I generally go to the back and read the summation of the book or possibly the last 10 pages to see if the book is going to get my attention.  The other way I decide whether I want to read a book or not is by reading the first 50 pages.  If it hasn’t captured my attention in 50 pages it is hopeless and so I put the book down and many times never pick it up again.  I can hear my English teachers moaning now, because unfortunately this is nothing new for me.  However, if it is a book I like I generally finish it within a week’s time (again I’m a really slow reader).  In my defense, most of the books that I read I am reading for learning to help me in my God-given call as a pastor.  And so they are a little more laborious than say the Calvin and Hobbs, which I would read quickly and repeatedly.  I choose my reading material very carefully.  If I am looking at our church’s discipleship strategy or wanting to develop another strategy for the church, I will read books specific to those areas.  In other words, I begin with the end in mind.  The question that goes through my mind is, what do I want to learn or apply when I am done with this book.  And so as I read through the book, I am looking for only those things which answer that question.  Which gets me to thinking, what if we as Christians and we as churches approached discipleship this way?

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”  Do you see Paul talking about beginning with the end in mind in these verses?  What is it that at the end of his life he wanted to accomplish?  He wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t be disqualified.  One side note, this is not talking about the loss of salvation, he is referencing that he wants to make sure that he practices what he preaches.  So if Paul didn’t want to be disqualified at the end of life, how was he going to make sure he wasn’t?  First, he decided to get into the race.  Then he spent his life training in such a way that would guarantee him not to be disqualified.  Paul had an objective, and then he worked backwards from the end of life to the beginning of his Christian life (getting in the race).  This provided him with a clear path that was focused, simple, and concise on how to live the life that would accomplish his objective.  I think too many pastors (myself included) preach and teach about discipleship, but we never show our people what it means to be a disciple.  This leads to frustration and confusion.  Pastor, it’s not that your people don’t want to live out a life of faith, it is because we are not giving them a simple, focused path on which to do it.

My advice for pastors, churches, and individual Christians is to sit down and ask yourself, what is my goal or my objective that I want to obtain by the end of my life?  What does a disciple of _________ (insert your church name) look like?  Then work your way back to where you are now.  Not only will this give you a path to follow, but it will also give you a mold or a form to measure and judge things with.  What I mean is if you have something come up in life and you are not sure if you should do it, you can ask yourself, how will this help me accomplish my stated goal or objective?  If it does, then follow through with it.  If it doesn’t, then it is not for you.  This can help you people pleasers and those who struggle with saying “no” to be able to say “no.”  Now hear this, it is very easy to write this down, it is entirely different actually doing it.  This is where prayer, Bible study, and utter dependence on God has to take over.  I truly believe if we would do this, our lives would be a little less stressful, we would gain a sense of accomplishment, and most of all we would grow in our faith.  I shared this quote Sunday and I want to share it again.  James Merritt said, “spiritual success is setting the right goal and building your life around reaching that goal.”  What is God’s goal for your life, your ministry, your church?  Once the God-given goal has been identified, spend the rest of your life pursuing the fulfillment of that goal.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Sep 30

Family

Posted on September 30, 2013 by admin

Tonight will bring an end to the Major League Baseball regular season and with it the end to two brilliant careers.  Those who know me know I am not a New York Yankees fan by any means (nor am I a Red Sox fan).  However, the one player who I am genuinely sad to see retire is Yankees closer, Mariano Rivera.  I like Rivera just as much for what he didn’t do as what he did do.  One the field he was the best closer at least in my generation if not for all time.  He did it with class and humility and without fanfare and glam.  Off the field he stayed out of trouble and gave back to many.  There was a moment last week as Rivera was playing his last game in his home stadium (Yankee Stadium) in which three of the greatest players during my lifetime were assembled together on the pitching mound.  It was Mariano Rivera (retiring), Andy Pettitte (retiring), and Derek Jeter (most likely to retire next year).  I like how one sports writer put it, “Pettitte and Jeter did something that very few hitters since 1997 could do, they got to Mariano Rivera.”  I was not able to see it live, but I have been able to watch it since, and I will say that is a moment that will be etched in my mind for a very long time.  These three gentlemen have been together for years, they have won together, they have lost together, and late last week along with thousands in the stadium as well as at home, they cried together.  You normally don’t think of professional athletes as crying all that much, but last week was something that transcended sports.  This was the last time these three would be on the field at Yankee Stadium as players together.  Seeing them cry and embrace each other reminds me that we should all take time to enjoy not just the moments of life, but the people of our life.  As someone who has played on many different teams growing up I can say that your teammates become like family to you.  I can honestly say that although I was privileged to play on several championship teams, the memories I have are not tied directly to the game, they are tied to the guys I shared the field, locker room, and hotel rooms with.

1 Corinthians 12:26 says, “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.”  Yesterday (at least at 8:30) we started a new sermon series entitled, “What is a Church Member?”  One thing that we learned was that we are family.  Churches certainly remind me of families, because they fuss, the fight, sometimes they scream, they don’t always treat each other the right way, but then there are times in which it feels as though no one else is there for you other than your church family and they go out of their way to do something nice for you.  My family and I have experienced the latter part especially over the past year when a beautiful little girl was brought into our family in an extraordinary way.  Our church family welcomed her and loved her and the rest of our family in ways that I can’t even begin to describe, and we will forever be grateful.

My point is this, cherish those around you, especially your family whether they are your physical family or your spiritual family.  God has put them in your life for many reasons, one of the biggest reasons is to remind you that you don’t have to go through this life alone.  You may fight with your family a lot or maybe you are just fighting with them now, but just remember all too quick they are gone.  It is hard to believe that #42 for the Yankees is retiring.  Mariano Rivera was the Yankees closer for the past 16 years, but come the first of April 2014, the one affectionately called “Mo” will no longer put on the Yankee pinstripes.  You have your family today, but retirement from this life is closer than you think.  Enjoy the time, enjoy your family!

By His grace through His strength may we live for Him

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Sep 09

Handling Difficulties and Disappointments

Posted on September 9, 2013 by admin

Have you ever been disappointed in life?  Have you ever put your heart and soul into, worked really hard at, only to have it seemingly flop?  I have and I can say without hesitation or reservation that it is one of the most difficult times in life.  But my question is, who characterized or classified it as a failure?  I remember my senior season playing baseball.  I was coming off a very successful junior year campaign.  I trained harder in the off season than I had in previous years.  I thought I was poised for sure success in my senior season.  And then it didn’t happen.  I lost velocity on my fastball, I couldn’t throw a curveball for a strike, I was missing my location on pitches.  It was an absolute nightmare.  I actually led to me being pulled from the starting rotation, going to the bullpen, but honestly being nothing more than a pitching coach.  It honestly hurts thinking about it almost 16 years later.  My mind went and has gone to the “what ifs” so many times.  But as the old saying goes, “if a frog had wings he wouldn’t bump his backside.”  If you asked me at the conclusion of the season was I happy I would have told you it is a two-fold answer.  I was happy because our team had won the state title, but I wasn’t happy because I didn’t feel like I contributed to the team.  I classified my senior season as an utter failure for not accomplishing any of my stated objectives and goals.  But was it really a failure?

There are times in life in which things are going to occur and there is nothing you can do about it.  I had prepared to do what I was suppose to do as a pitcher, yet the breaks went against me.  I can remember a verse that I heard a pastor preach on during that season when I visited a church.  He preached on Galatians 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”  Now let me say this, I was at church, but I could have done a lot better of a job of listening in church.  But I heard this verse and I thought, I just have to try harder and keep trying , eventually things have to break my way.  So I did, I would do extra bullpen sessions, try to train a little more, but nothing changed.  I just didn’t understand it, I didn’t grow weary or faint, but all I was reaping was more and more frustration.  It was until much later that I actually looked at the previous verse to what I had heard.  Galatians 6:8 says, “For he that soweth to his flesh shall the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall o the Spirit reap life everlasting.”  In short, God wasn’t obligated to bless my plans as a baseball player.  God was more interested in my spiritual life (which unfortunately was not what it should have been).  Although I didn’t understand why things happened the way they did that year, I can look back now and see that God was actually preparing me for what His plan was for my life.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the thoughts (plans) that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  The phrase “expected end” is interesting to me.  Life surely didn’t go the way I thought it would, but it is happening exactly has God knew it would.

Difficulties and disappointments are inevitable in this life.  They are not always a sign that God is displeased with you (although if you are living in sin He is).  Rather, God is simply working out His plan, which is always the best plan and the right plan, for your life.  His plan includes drawing you to Himself in a relationship that gives you forgiveness and eternal life because of God’s plan for His Son to die on a cross for the sins of the world.  In the end all we can control is our obedience.  Have we done everything that we know to do?  Have we done it with a pure heart and with pure motives?  Maybe God is not punishing you, maybe He is just pruning you for what He has in store for you next.  All you can control is your obedience, the results are up to Him!

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Sep 02

Johnny Manziel and a Spiritual Truth

Posted on September 2, 2013 by admin

We all know that when we are young we do ignorant things.  Needless to say there are many things in my life looking back on it I really wish I hadn’t done.  The problem isn’t the mistakes that we make, it is when we don’t learn from them.  I unfortunately have also been a part of that as well.  I had the privilege of spending a nice weekend with my family, which meant I didn’t watch a lot of college football which just kicked off this week.  In fact, I didn’t even watch an entire half of football including my beloved Hokies (although I did listen to the game while traveling).  But I did manage to catch some highlights of the bigger games including some from the Texas A&M vs. LSU game.  This game was of particular interest to me because of a player in the game.  The quarterback for Texas A&M, Johnny Manziel.  Johnny is now a college sophomore who had an incredible freshman season and many things were expected of him this year.  However, over the summer he got into some trouble with college football’s governing body, the NCAA.  He supposedly signed autographs for money which is against the rules of the NCAA.  Regardless of your feelings on the rule, it is still a rule, and it was reportedly broken.  Manziel also was engaging in typical, but questionable behavior throughout the summer as well.  Late last week the NCAA handed down Manziel’s punishment for the alleged sign for pay deal.  He was suspended for one half of one football game (laughable I know).  Therefore, I wanted to see how he would handle himself in the second half.  Would he learn from this past summer and do what adults are suppose to do, grow up?  Unfortunately, he didn’t!  He made a couple of nice plays and when he threw for a touchdown he made a gesture like he had money in his hands.  He was also caught on camera taunting players from the other team and then air signing his signature.  I understand he did the money gesture last year.  However, in light of his reported conduct in the off season both gestures showed a college kid who simply doesn’t get it.  To Texas A&M coach’s credit, Manziel was pulled after getting a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting.  I don’t want to run the kid known as “Johnny Football” through the mud.  After all, he is still a young adult and there is plenty of time for him to grow up.  However, it points to a larger problem.

That problem is pride.  There is no doubt that Johnny Manziel is a very good if not great quarterback.  The problem is Johnny knows that Johnny is good.  My concern for Johnny and the “Johnny” in all of us (myself included) is that our pride will get in our way and it will be our downfall.  James and Peter both wrote “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  We need to have a proper perspective of who we are as well as who God is.  Everything we have, everything we are, and everything we ever accomplish is by the grace of God.  When we lose sight of that we are in for a hard fall.  It is possible to be good at what you do and still be humble.  I simply point to two of my favorite players of all time, Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison.  Neither of them is perfect, but they always stayed grounded and realized that playing football is a privilege, not a right.  The best cure for our pride is to look at Christ, because only He was perfect.  So the next time we think we are something special let’s remember, there is one who is better than us, and hopefully that will bring us back down to earth.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Aug 29

Sexual Sinners

Posted on August 29, 2013 by admin

The title of this blog will probably catch a lot of people’s attention.  They will most likely assume that because I am a pastor that I am about to rail against homosexuality.  They are right, but only half right!  Is homosexuality a sin?  Absolutely, both the Old and New Testaments teach that. However, we must come to understand something.  As David Platt pointed out at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s chapel this past Tuesday, heterosexuals, specifically men, are the ones who are the greatest sexual sinners by average in numbers.  That is because there are more heterosexuals then homosexuals.  As Christians we must realize that we cannot rationalize one sin while condemning another.  Now there will be many who respond to me saying that I am wrong about the majority of heterosexuals deal with sexual sin.  Therefore, let me ask a few questions.  Have you ever watched a commercial in which there are beautiful women in less than appropriate clothes?  Have you ever watched a sitcom or movie in which sex between unmarried partners occurred (or even the implication that there were sexually active)?  Have you ever “fooled” around with someone who wasn’t your spouse (before or after marriage)?  Have you had inappropriate sexual conversations, listened to them, or told jokes?  I could go on and on with this, but I believe and hope the point has been made.  We live in a highly sexualized society.  Did God create sex?  Yes He did.  He created for two purposes. First for procreation.  Secondly for enjoyment and fulfillment within His design of marriage.  Anytime we enjoy either of those benefits outside of God’s design which is marriage between a man and a woman, we are committing sexual sin.  Watching, listening, talking, and/or participating in anything other than heterosexual intimacy within the holy confines of marriage proves that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

Therefore is homosexuality outside of God’s holy confines, absolutely it is.  But then again so is the overwhelming majority of all sexual activity whether we do it or watch others do it on television.  This is where the conversation needs to begin both inside the church as well as outside of the church.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6 that we are to “flee sexual immorality.”  He didn’t just say homosexuality, he said flee sexual immorality.  That is by implication any form of sexual immorality whether it be committed by homosexuals or heterosexuals.  The message the church and indeed all Christians must take to everyone is that we are all (sexual and many other ways) sinners who are in need of a Savior.  Not just the gay couple down the street, but also the single guy in our church pews who is “messing” around with his girlfriend.  Not just the gay couple at the mall or in the restaurant, but also the couple that is living together that is not married.  Let us not be consumed with the speck in someone else’s eye while we have a plank in our own eye.  May we all flee, confess, and repent of any and all sexual immorality, and seek to point others to the Savior who can deliver us from all sin.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Aug 25

God Being God

Posted on August 25, 2013 by admin

Have you ever had one of those days or times in life when you have been praying and praying about something, but it seems as though God is not listening or at least not answering?  Then out of no-where something will happen, someone will say something to you, or maybe you read a passage in the Bible and you feel as though you have heard from God.  I refer to those as God sightings.  Those are special times in which God chooses to reveal Himself to you.  In those moments you know that the God of the universe is there, He does loves you, and you are reminded that He is working everything out in His time.  The key to this of course is the last two words of the previous line, “His time.”  That is a phrase that is really easy to say, but many times very hard to remember.  There was a time here recently that God reminded me of it.  I had been and continue to pray about a specific issue, and frankly was feeling frustrated because I felt so unclear about a direction that God would have me go in and how He would be glorified.  Then it happened, a God sighting.  I was reading a devotion and these lines jumped out, “Today’s reading is a great reminder that Jesus has a bigger plan and it’s on His timetable.  Whether He answers our prayer the way we want or not, we can trust God will do what is best.”  It was at that moment that God reminded me, “I am here with you, I have heard you, now just wait on the answer.”

In the story of the raising of Lazarus we see a peculiar thing happen.  Jesus waited four days before He went to where Lazarus was.  By this time Lazarus has been dead for four days and seemingly all hope was lost.  It is in this context that Jesus tells His disciples, “This illness does not lead to death.  It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”  The disciples and Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, wanted Jesus to heal their brother.  However, God had bigger plans and even though no one seemed to understand why Jesus did what He did, they were going to have to trust Him.  There is also a story in the Old Testament about the prophet Elijah.  Elijah had predicted that no rain would fall until he prayed for it.  The great thing is that is exactly what happened, the bad news is it didn’t rain which means streams and brooks of water were drying up.  During a drought God sent Elijah to an unlikely source of blessing, a widow (1 Kings 17).  Many pastors call this time in Elijah’s life a “dry brook season” because the water had dried up where he was.  However, God was using this season in life to prepare Elijah for what He had for him to do next.  The thing about God not answering our prayers or our own “dry brook” seasons is this; those are times that God is preparing us to move in us and work through us the most.  These times are never useless as long as we allow God to strengthen our faith and deepen our trust in Him.  I heard a great preacher by the name of Bryan Bloye say this one time, “dry brook times in our life can be the catharsis for change.”  Change doesn’t come easy or readily for many of us.  But it is in those difficult times of life that God generally changes us the most.

Maybe you are praying about something and you feel as though God hasn’t heard you or that He isn’t answering.  I believe most if not all Christians understand that.  I want to encourage us all to use those times in life to be faithful in praying seeking God’s will, but also trust that God will reveal Himself and the right answer in His time.  Maybe you are in a “dry brook” season right now, allow God to use this time to change you, mold you, and shape you in the the man or woman He desires you to be.  Remember, these times are never useless, God is up to something, just trust Him!

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Aug 21

First Day of School

Posted on August 21, 2013 by admin

In a little over an hour from now I will do what millions of parents have already done, I will take my children to their first day of school for the year.  However, this year is a little different.  In many ways it is bittersweet.  This year I will be taking all three of our boys to school.  It is hard to believe that our youngest, natural-born born son is old enough to go to school.  In many ways it won’t hit me until Friday morning, which is a day off for me, because I am generally at work by the time the kids gets up.  And so I don’t see the all that often as I am working.  My wife on the other hand, I’m not sure how she is going to handle it because today will go from four children in the house to just one during the day. Again on Friday it will hit me because I won’t have one of my little buddies to play with (I wonder if this means my “honey-do” list is going to get longer).  It is natural for parents to feel anxiousness, anxiety, and even a little sadness as their children embark on another year of school.  I believe all parents worry about their children, and they worry a little bit more when the children are away from them.  However, it is natural for our children to grow up and become more and more independent.  I don’t want to be heartless of cruel here, but as a parent I see part of my job as raising three boys and Lord willing as long as she is with us, a little girl as giving them the tools they will need to succeed in life apart from Diana and I.  Does that mean I won’t be there when they need help later in life?  Absolutely not!  As long as the Lord gives me breath, I will be there for my family.  But I want to teach my children starting now (even before) that while they don’t have to depend on me as much, they do need to learn to depend on someone more important and more powerful than me, and that is God.  It is slightly out of context, but I hope you will see my point.  When Jesus was beginning His public ministry, John the Baptist made a specific statement that has always stayed with me.  It is found in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” I want my children to learn what Proverbs 3:5-6 means when it says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”  In order for me to teach that, I must not only talk about it, but more importantly I must live it out in front of them.

My children need to see their mother and father praying and asking God for guidance in decisions.  They need to understand that they can always count of God and lead them in the right path.  Part of that is daily prayer time with each other and having your children hear you pray, asking God for guidance on decisions.  We as parents need to teach them that you go to the Word of God and prayer for making decisions, not their gut instinct.  As a parent this is hard, because our natural tendency is to have our children lean on us, trust us, and depend on us for everything. We have the mentality that no one loves or cares for our children like we do.  No one has their best interest at heart like we do.  While that may be earthly true, that is not heavenly true.  The very God who created them in His image, who knows that number of hairs on their head, the very God who knows the direction of their life loves them and cares for them even more than we do as parents.  He knows that today’s heartache is going to lead to a stronger faith and a bigger blessing down the road.  So today as Diana and I drop our three boys off at school, we will be sad, but we will also be grateful that they have a Heavenly Father who is watching over them.  Are you trusting fully in God today?

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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