Live by Faith

Life has a way of slipping by into tomorrow.  Maybe time creeps along for the very young who mark time by the passing of Christmas, but for those who have flipped one December into January more times than can be counted, life races more than creeps.  The Word of God tell us to "...make the most of the time..." (Ephesians 5:16), but few of the gray haired ones comb their hair each morning without some wish for a "do-over" or two.  If only life would provide us a body filled with thirty year old energy and seventy year old wisdom, but alas, such is the wistful thinking of which dreams are made.  

There is an adage drifting around which reminds us that we cannot do anything about our beginning, but that we can do something about where we are.   Life is full of changing seasons and once again a trip to the Word of God reminds us that there are more seasons than four.  Ecclesiastes 3 has a list, but it is just a partial list. Most of us have experienced some seasons not listed in those sacred eight verses.  Of course, what is important to always keep before us is that God is the creator of time.  Another truth to stand alongside the first one is that God gives time as a gift to each of us.  

Why some have more time than others is part of the mystery of of the creation of which we are a part.  I know many a glib and trite answer to the indiscriminate way time is dispersed and given, but none of them really hold water.  No matter how much we might want to make sense of it, we cannot.  Once again, the Word calls us to live this life and the time which is given to us not by what we know, but by faith in the One who holds the key to it.  The great roll call of saints in Hebrews 11 speaks of the saints living according to faith.  Such is how each one of us are called to live.  To say we live by faith is not to bury our heads in the sand, but to acknowledge who we are and who holds yesterday, today, and tomorrow.    

Morning Musings

When I wrote the first blog post back in 2017, I had no idea the way God had plans for it to grow in my life.  It was something written five or six times a month as a way of staying in touch with my congregation at the Richmond Hill Church.  I knew retirement was out there ahead of a me but I figured on continuing to preach somewhere part time until I went to glory wearing my preaching boots.  I did preach for another four and half years at a small church up the road from here and enjoyed it greatly, but there came a moment when circumstances of life brought it to an end.  I often have wondered if I gave up preaching, or if God took it from me.  I have decided it was the latter.    

At that point the blog writing had increased, but it was still not a daily discipline.  At that point I could not imagine writing over 300 posts a year and now I cannot imagine not doing it.  I am learning that it is not that I have so much to say, although there are some who listen to me and surely must think such a thing, but that the writing has become the way God has determined to continue using my life as one called to ministry sixty years ago.  At the very beginning of my ministry and throughout it, I have dabbled in writing and considered preaching the heart of my ministry.  In these days the heart of my ministry centers around writing.  

I wish I could say I do as one writer has written that he does.  When he sits down to write, he prays for guidance before the first word is written; however, I do write as I preached.  I know that whatever shows up on the white space that has merit and power to bless comes from Him.  I know words, but He is the One who nurtures my spirit and gives the words whatever speaking in His name power they might have.  I have learned that God is always the same but that He often changes what He would have us do in His name.

Serving for Love

Anyone who seeks to be a servant of Christ must make sure their eyes stay on Jesus.  When someone speaks of serving Christ because the need is so great, they are at the edge of succumbing to a very subtle temptation.  The real motive for serving a suffering humanity can never be the needs of humanity, but it always must be the love we have for Christ.  If the need fills our vision and becomes our motive, we will surely run out of energy to serve, we are opening ourselves up to a frustration which is likely to lead to quitting and a bitterness that no one else is helping us in what is such a great need.   

Those who are motivated by the need have their eyes fixed on the wrong thing.  The servant of Jesus must always have their eyes fixed on Jesus.  What is done is done not to meet the needs of men and women, though this may happen, but to express our love for Jesus.  The question "Why am I serving?" is always an important question for the follower of Jesus.  If we do it because the need around is so great, we will become weary and walk away.  If we do it because of our love for Jesus, we will be able to serve without quitting exhaustion.  

To serve without keeping our eyes of Jesus and our love for Him is to open our hearts up to a service which is about obligation and duty instead of love. It is clear as we study the Sermon on the Mount that it is not enough to do the good thing.  What is in our heart is what really matters.  Our doing can be an empty act of service if we do not carry the love of Christ in our hearts.  Though our service may bring us many accolades from those around us, without it being done as an expression of our love for Christ, we can end up like the noisy gong and clanging symbol.  (I Corinthians 13:1)

The Serving Saints

I am amazed at saints like Francis and Father Damien who hugged and cared for lepers.  I am also amazed at a saint like Mother Teresa who spent a life time in the midst of some of the most destitute, broken, and suffering people of our world.  One of my childhood inspirations was Albert Schweitzer who served as a doctor in Africa decades ago and then later in my college years I was amazed at the story of a missionary named Burleigh Law who flew back into a hostile rebellion in Africa to lose his life.   I would like to think that I am of the same spirit, but then I know myself as the guy who finds it difficult to see people whose bodies have more tattoos than clothing.   

Jesus certainly made it clear that being a disciple in to be committed to a life of putting self aside for the sake of others.  If we think it is hard to part with some of the money in our wallet when confronted by a homeless person, imagine the response we might make if we were asked to wash their feet.  And, if we think washing the feet of the homeless would be a problem, imagine dying for someone who has stuck a knife in our back, betrayed us, and is an antagonist responsible for an agonizing and painful death.  Most of us are probably a long way from making the kind of witness to the world some have willingly made.  

We want to dabble in safe service.  We want our service for Christ to be done in our convenient moments.  We are not even ready to turn lose of some of the extra coats we have in our closets during the bitter cold days of winter.  Perhaps, such sounds a bit too extreme, but then, we can always count the coats we have given away, the number of suffering people to whom we have personally offered some expression of compassion, and our record of laying aside the important things on our schedules to serve someone who shows up unexpectedly in need. 

Spiritual Exhaustion

Spiritual exhaustion comes not because the need before us has become greater or overwhelming, but because the servant has become spiritually empty.  The emptiness is not the result of some great or long lasting effort.  It is because of the spiritual principle that what is spilling out must not be greater than what is flowing in.  Too many times we become so busy doing what we perceive Christ wanting us to do that we forget about the need to be with Christ.  A servant of Christ who seeks to serve Him will run dry and become weary with exhaustion without frequent moments of standing or kneeling in the presence of the Christ being served.    

Many a person has become so exhausted and worn out that quitting is the only option without accepting the reality that what has changed is the level of dependency upon the Spirit.  If we depend on ourselves, and such is a subtle temptation for every servant, we will soon run dry of spiritual power.  The spiritual anointing which sent us out will seem like an illusion instead of a signal of God's commissioning us for mission.  There are times when our efforts have no energy because we have become like the marathon runner who races past the water stations confident that the enthusiasm of the beginning will be enough to reach the finish line.    

Isaiah understood this spiritual dynamic as he wrote those often quoted words, "...those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."  (Isaiah 40:31).  Many a mission has failed because the one sent by God came to the faulty conclusion that it could not succeed apart from his or her presence and effort.  Human effort alone is not enough to keep the servant of Christ in the race.  "Waiting on the Lord..." is the key to successful and faithful Kingdom work.  When we step out of the stream of the Spirit's power, we shall surely become too exhausted to finish.  Keeping our feet and spirit wet with that holy water and its power will always enable us to serve even after the enthusiasm of the beginning has cooled.

Salt of the Earth Churches

The Kingdom of God is not built with the ostentacious, the grandiose, and the extravagant.  Instead, in the eleventh chapter of Matthew, we hear Jesus saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed...like yeast..."  As we hear these parables of Jesus we are reminded that the building blocks of the Kingdom of God are more like the simple, the ordinary, and even what seems to be invisible.  On this Sunday many churches across the countryside will be opening the doors, turning on the lights, and its people will be gathering for worship.  

Small places.  Simple places.   Fifteen or twenty may come through its doors, or maybe only a half dozen.  In some of those places the gathered people will be looking back to better days and hoping somehow to hang on until the tide of people leaving changes to a tide of people returning.  To many people these small churches seem like people who are described as "the salt of the earth."  "Salt of the earth" people live with their feet on the ground.  They are rooted and connected to values that have lasting power.  They know about the "ups and downs" of life.  They live attached to their heritage and hopeful for the future.  They are not quitters.   

So many of the small churches that dot the rural landscape are "salt of the earth" churches and maybe since Jesus spoke of disciples as being "the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13), it is high praise to speak of them in such a manner.  What I know from personal experience is that so many of these small churches have enabled missionaries, raised up pastors, provided an environment where its young could know Jesus, and have helped enable more of Christ's Kingdom work than could ever be recorded.  No one should be eager to close those doors simply because they lack the quality of bigness.  They have been like mustard seed and yeast.  They have not lost their Kingdom identity.

On A Street Called Aldersgate

May 24 is a day of significance for those of the Methodist persuasion.  On this day in 1738 John Wesley, the father of Methodism went to a religious meeting on Aldersgate Street.  About that meeting he wrote in his journal, "In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street where one was reading Luther's preface to Romans.  About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.  I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation.  And an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."     

Anyone who reads much about Methodism knows that scholars look at the event of that evening in different ways, but one thing is very clear about John Wesley's own testimony.  It was a moment when he experienced in a personal way the life changing power of Jesus Christ.  Before that moment, he seems confused and uncertain, but after Aldersgate he was a man full of confidence in Christ.  There was no looking back.  His vision was directed toward what God could do in the lives of those who trusted in Him.  It has been 287 years since that meeting.  The structure in which the Methodist movement has found itself over the years has changed many times, but its spirit in the hearts of those whose spiritual heritage goes back to Wesley is still strong.    

Wesley was a man who preached about grace, who opened the door to a religion of the heart, who proclaimed holiness as a doctrine for every believer, and who understood the call of Christ to live as a servant among those who were forgotten, lost, and in need.  At the heart of this man was a message to love God completely and to love one another.  His was a message rooted in love.  Today is a day for remembering and celebrating the roots of our heritage and praying that it will continue to bear fruit in the centuries still to come.

The Out of Sync

There are days when it seems that we travel the road leading to "know not where."  Things seem out of kilter and out of sync.  It is as if someone has come into our home and moved all the light switches.  It feels like we are walking into the walls instead of through the doors.  Nothing is right.  Rivers flow up the hill and balls thrown into the air keep going up instead of coming down.  Everything has the sensation of the odd and misplaced.   We wonder why we even got out of bed.  

While we cannot undo our beginnings, we can do something about where we are.  There are many things that pull us away from where want to be.  It could be a nagging broken relationship, or an argument we took to bed with us.  It might be some internal floating unrest about something going on in our workplace.  There are more possibilities than there is white space to list them.  Illness, movement from home or status, or the evening news are just a few of the endless possibilities.   Sometimes what seems the obvious reason has nothing to do with what is throwing our life out of sync.  There are times when sitting for a spell is required to gather the fragmented pieces of our life.  

What we often want to do when we do decide to sit in the silence for quiet moments of reflection is to turn loose our mind to go searching for what is wrong when what we really need to do is to sit quietly and see what it is that comes to us.  Often times what is hidden from us needs space to come from the invisible into the presence of our spirit.  Long centuries ago the Psalmist David wrote, "Be still and know that I am God."   It is a powerful word of invitation to empty our hearts of seeking and sit with the One who called us into being.  It is also the place where brokenness finds wholeness, the stumbling find steadiness, and the out of sync find pieces being fit back together again.

Light in the Valley

 The valley of the shadow

    arrives not as a surprise.

      Like a hovering dark cloud

         it comes up to fill the sky

           taking with it bright colors

             and any semblance of light.

Swirling, dark, sucking up life.

 

No one wants to walk that way,

     what we choose not chooses us.

         it stands in the way of all

           whether we go fearfully, 

             or grab hold and go bravely.

               Regardless of how, we go

down into the valley below.

 

Somewhere in the dark we see

   what we thought we would not see,

     a mirage we think at first, 

       then a dim wavering light,

         one not to be overcome.

           one seen first before our birth,

now the Light bringing us life.

Life in the Blackberry Bushes

I can still see that long straight sandy white road and the wild blackberry bushes along the fence row which took us to my Daddy's old home place.  My mother would often stop before we got where we were going so we could pick some blackberries.  When my sister and I got out of the car, she would inevitably say, "Ya'll watch out for snakes!"  Why she would send us into the bushes where their might be snakes was not something I thought much about then, but sometimes now as I remember, I shake my head in wonder.  

Maybe she was teaching one of life's lessons.  My mother was not a theologian, but maybe she was teaching a Jesus truth.   Jesus called those early disciples to follow Him.  On down the road a piece He teaches them to pray and as it does it, He has them praying, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  (Matthew 6:13).  Maybe Jesus was telling those disciples and folks like us as well to watch out for the snakes in the blackberry bushes.  Life with Jesus was risky even as it is now.  Did He not tell them one day as He was sending them out, "I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves...?" (Matthew 10:16).  When we start out with Jesus we mostly ignore the word about the possibilities of danger and risk.  

What we ignore is the place where the journey with Jesus is going to take us.  To follow Him is to walk with Him to the cross.  The cross is the place where everything from personal ambitions to some coveted status is going to be cast aside for the sake of being obedient to Jesus.  There have even been some whose willingness to sacrifice their very life for the Christ has been chronicled for us to see.  Life with Christ is indeed a wonderful life.  It is an abundant life.  It is a life of joy and peace, but let us never lose sight of the fact that it is risky and dangerous.  There are snakes in those blackberry bushes and to go after Jesus without seeing the possibilities is to ignore that word He spoke about counting the cost before we begin the journey.

Memories

Some Sunday nights I find myself missing a relic from the past.  Sunday evening worship.  While it is almost an unheard of thing in this day, back in the day when I was younger and things were so much different, Sunday evening worship was as certain as Sunday School.  It was never attended as well as Sunday morning worship as most of the Methodists with whom I was mostly acquainted got enough of church earlier in the day.  Growing up in a parsonage meant I had no choice.  It the door to the church was open, I was expected to enter.   Looking back is to realize it was not as bad as I thought it to be at the time.  

My friends got to stay home on Sunday evening and watch "The Ed Sullivan Show," or "Bonanza" while I sat in church.  I must confess that I was not psychologically impaired by missing those television shows and that I was surely blessed without knowing it by being on one of those Sunday night pews.  Things happened on Sunday night that did not happen on Sunday morning.   Sunday night worship left such an impression that it was always something offered when I was giving leadership to the churches assigned to me.  We sang those old gospel songs from the brown Cokesbury Hymnal.  It was a time when the preacher might call for testimonies from the congregation and there were always some who were eager to stand and speak.  It was also a time when Brother Walter, or someone like him, might be called upon to pray and in such moments we were often led into the heart of real life disciple of Jesus Christ.  Of course, the thing most remembered were the moments we gathered around the altar to pray at the end of the service.  There are churches from my past which bear the imprint of my knees upon its wooden altars.  

I guess somewhere along the way folks got too busy for returning to the church a second time on Sunday.  Perhaps, it became a tradition no one needed anymore.  Maybe Ed and the Cartwright family became too big an attraction.  I am no sociologist though I have some thoughts about what happened, but one thing I do know.  I miss those Sunday nights of worship and long tonight to be immersed in such spiritual waters again.

A Long Neck Lamp

Over the years I have found that the morning hours which come early serve me best as I seek to discern what God is saying and doing in my life.  I must confess to wandering away from what I know to be best from time to time, but even as I do, I find once again the drawing power of such hours.  Perhaps, my mind has not had time to start its engine.  Perhaps, it is the quietness inherent in a moment of waiting for the sun to show itself more fully in the eastern sky.  Perhaps, there is a blessing in being intentional about seeking after God which casual and spontaneous prayers throughout the day do not allow.   

Any number of possibilities could be added to the list, but I do know what is best for me in my own walk with Christ.  Like so many things I am re-learning about myself in this particular season, everything is mostly about mystery.  There is so much more I do not know now than I have ever not before known.  While I am not sure about this thought about not knowing, it makes enough sense for me to live with it.  More and more I run into things I do not know.   There are many reasons why mornings affect my spirit as they do, but one of them is found in a poem I have had before me since I went to college at Young Harris.  

Back then I had what can only be described as a bulky old fashioned desk lamp with a long neck. On that long neck I taped a poem by Ralph Cushman entitled "The Secret."  "I met God in the morning when my day was at its best, and His presence came like sunrise, like a glory in my breast.  All day long the presence lingered, all day long He stayed with me, and we sailed in perfect calmness o'er a very troubled sea.  So I think I know the secret, learned from many a troubled way, you must seek Him in the morning if you want Him through the day."  I still have the lamp.  And, the poem is still taped to that long neck.  And, the words still speak to my heart.

Prayer Warriors

There are so many intercessory prayer stories in Scripture.  To turn the pages of the Word is to encounter people who are praying for other people.  One of the greatest intercessory words recorded is the prayer of Jesus found in the 17th chapter of John.  As the empowered church began to move into the ends of the earth, we read the letters of the Apostles who assure the church that its people are remembered in prayer.  The book of Acts is full of remarkable stories of people becoming involved in the stream of intercessory prayer and experiencing moments which became as signs and wonders.   

As we read and reflect on those stories, we remember our own.  Most of us have been remembered in the prayers of others.  We know the difference those prayers have made in our difficult moments.  We have not always understood how it worked, but we could offer no other explanation than prayer being the reason we made it.  Not only have we known the power of other people praying for us, but we have also prayed for others.  At times it has seemed that the page on which we wrote the names of those for whom we prayed was not big enough.  Like the prayer list which appears in church bulletins, ours sometimes seems to outgrow the time we have to be on our knees before the Father.  

More than a few people whom I came to know as prayer warriors have crossed my path.  I have heard their testimonies.  I have seen them constantly taking on the responsibility of praying for others.  They never seemed to tire.  It was a ministry they embraced with gratitude.  Some of them have been older adults who believe that it is the ministry God has entrusted to them in the later years of their life.  Others in different seasons of their life are just committed to pray.  These prayer warriors are the people who we want standing alongside of us when we have a need for people to pray for us.  They are also the kind of people we want to be.

The Sixth Commandment

It seems strange that people cannot simply live their own lives and allow other people to do the same.  However, what appears to be common sense has been the way not chosen since Cain rose up and killed his brother, Abel.  The big difference between that first act of violence is that we have learned how to kill one another more with more efficiency.  The knife Cain used killed one; today's weapons of war have the potential to kill more than can be counted.  If only all the nations could adhere to one of the Ten Commandments, the one which says, "You shall not kill."  (Exodus 20:13), but, alas, they will not.    

 

Common sense also tells us to take care of the children, the very young who are with us.  Once again common sense takes a back seat and expediency and convenience prevails.  The Word makes it clear that conception is not happenstance.  It is purposeful.  The book of Genesis tells us that from the moment of conception the child bears the mark of the holy Creator and as a re-affirming Word we hear the Psalmist say, "...it was You who formed my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb..."  (Psalms 139:13).  Unfortunately, children conceived in the womb are no longer necessarily safe from harm.  If only our society could hear and understand that ancient sacred Word which says, "You shall not kill."   

 

It is true that most of us who follow Christ would not consider taking the life of another.  It is also true that the Christ we follow takes us to an uncomfortable place as He said, "You have heard that it was said...'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.  But I say to you that if you are angry with your brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment..."  Is it not fair to say Jesus is saying that to harbor anger is viewed by the Father as an act of the heart which speaks of disobedience to the commandment, "You shall not kill" for anger in the heart is but the first step toward destroying the life of another?  If we follow anger to its logical conclusion, the sixth commandment starts looming large before us.  If only we could realize the way we disregard the Word which says, "You shall not kill" without even raising our hand.

Friends

The second chapter of Mark tells the story of a paralyzed man who was forgiven and then healed by Jesus because of the compassionate intervention of four of his friends.  Unable to get into the house, the four friends tore up the roof and lowered their friend into the presence of Jesus.  A key verse in the story is verse 5 which says, "When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' " and then later, "...stand up, take your mat and go to your home."  (Mark 2:5, 11)  The man on the mat was forgiven and healed not because of his faith, but because of the faith of his friends.   

If we ever need a word to push us into persistent intercession for a sufferer, surely this is the story.  Those four friends would not quit until they knew their friend had been touched by Jesus.  Their aching shoulders which came upon them during the journey did not deter them from tearing up the roof.  Their compassion had not limits.  Nary a one of the four was a quitter.  Their faith did not allow for such a possibility.   A memory I shall take with me as long as I have memory is of three friends who came to stay and pray during a time when the darkness was so deep I could not see anything that spoke of God's presence.  A request for prayer to one brought the three who brought comfort and holy presence into that hospital room through the night.  

What I have learned through the years both by personal experience and by watching is that we often come to moments when we cannot pray for ourselves and those who are so very close to us. Along with that lesson has been the knowledge that in those moments others stand in our behalf to intercede for us until we find ourselves far enough along to look heavenward again.  I can never repay those friends from the past.  All I can do is to be such a friend to others whose path crosses mine.

Amazed at the Mystery

There are mornings when we are awaken before the clock shatters the silence of a room possessed by sleep.  It is as if something or, Someone, has called us from the world of dreams to the world filled with reality.  Reality is that there are those around us have need of the prayers of others in the day that is dawning.  I have never been one who has professed understanding the spiritual dynamics of prayer.  I am not always sure how it makes a difference, but not knowing does not deter me from praying.  Jesus prayed.  The Word says pray.  It is enough for me.  I pray, too.    

I remember more than a few times when I have experienced getting through what I thought was insurmountable because I knew there were unseen faces calling my name as they experienced the presence of the Father.  I did not know then, nor do I know now how it is that prayers heard only by the Father's ears are enabled to make a difference in the life of another.  I can offer some of the rote answers, but at the end of the conversation, all I can really say with confidence is that it is holy mystery.  The deeper I go into the days of my life, the more I am convinced that life is all about God's grace and the mysterious way He blesses us with that grace.   

With such thoughts in my mind in these early hours when the sun lingers in the unseen realm, I have been awaken to pray.  There are people and needs which immediately come to mind.  There is stirring within me a sense that it is to pray for these folks in need that God spoke His awakening Word before the clock jarred me awake.  I am grateful to be a part of those who have been awaken today for prayer.  I offer my prayers to our merciful God Who will takes these feeble expressions of concern and use them for holy purposes.  I stand amazed at the mystery.

More Than Mostly Full

When Ephesians 5:8 shows up on the open page and says, "...be filled with the Spirit,"  one of the first thoughts is that to be filled means there is room for naught else.  When a coffee cup is full, it is full.  There is no room for more coffee, or anything else.  While the image is faulty in that a cup can be filled with many different substances until there is room for nothing else, the Scripture is clear that the Apostle is talking about a single vessel being filled, not with many things, but one thing.  According to the image presented by Paul, the Holy Spirit does not share the heart, the soul of our being.  Instead, He seeks to fill it completely with Himself.

He is either given permission to control the essence of who we are, or we are still hanging tenaciously to that control.   Indeed, this is the issue of the Spirit filled life.  The issue has to do with submission to the authority of the Holy Spirit.  It is about the surrender of our agenda, our wishes and wants, our ambitions and goals to Someone other than ourselves.  The Spirit filled life is about living with a willingness and a desire for our life to be used in whatever way God wishes for the sake of the Kingdom.  This is what enabled Paul to write, "I have learned to be content with whatever I have."  (Philippians 4:11). This is what enabled Jesus to pray in those last hours on the Mount of Olives, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not My will but Yours be done."  (Luke 22:42).   

To be filled with the Spirit is to live with such an attitude of abandonment to self that we live content praying for "whatever You want to do and whenever You want to do it."  It is an easy thing to sit midst the congregation of God's people and nod affirmatively about the importance of being filled with the Spirit, but still another thing to so empty our heart of what we want that the Holy Spirit has not partial control, but absolute control.  Ephesians 5:18 calls us to nothing less than being completely His.

Thinking Big

One of the necessary things the Holy Spirit brings to the church is spiritual energy.  It is a spiritual energy which comes not from increased human activity, but from the Holy Spirit being given room to do what it is that He wants to do with the church.  Of course, this is one of the things which is often a hindrance to the Spirit as He seeks to empower the church.  We want Him present, but we want Him to bless what we have already put in place through our planning and our tradition.  In so many places He is more like a silent spiritual icon in the window sill than the source of its spiritual power.   

The truth is the church is too much guided by what happened last year.  We have a tendency to pat ourselves on the back for the good things we are doing without really giving consideration to the possibility that the Spirit is leading us to something new or different.  Someone whose name I have forgotten suggested some years ago that the Holy Spirit could leave the church and it would be at least five years before anyone noticed.  It does often seem that the church is operating on auto pilot instead of listening to the direction of the Spirit.  

When we look closely at the way the Holy Spirit showed up for the work of the Kingdom on Pentecost, we see the unpredictable, we see enthusiasm for the things of Christ, we see a radical kind of faith that sees as possible what would have been regarded as impossible, and we see men and women whose hearts were strangely and severely warmed by the power of the Spirit.  Such a church was equipped and empowered to change the world which is nothing less than how the Spirit desires to use our church.  We may think little, but the Holy Spirit gives us power to think big!

Be Filled

The old timers in the holiness community preached about a second work of grace.  This was a word which encouraged those who had professed faith in Christ to seek a greater awareness of God.  It was not a word which said that people needed something more than just faith in Christ to be a Christian, but that there was something more awaiting those whose hunger and thirst for God was not satisfied.  This something more was spoken of as a deeper life, or a fuller life, or a life in which the believer came to a place of wanting to belong completely to God.  Ephesians 5:18 points to this life as it says, "...be filled with the Spirit."    

 It could be said that the model for this deeper life is embedded in the lives of those first disciples.  There can be no doubt that those disciples such as Peter, James, and John were believers and followers of Jesus.  What they left to follow Jesus was far more than most of us would leave to follow Him.  Even as we affirm the fact of their discipleship, we also know that Jesus instructed them to "stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."  (Luke 24:49).  They did as they were told and when the Day of Pentecost came, there was rushing wind, tongues of fire, and "all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:4).  Something happened that day.  Timid fearful men became bold men equipped with spiritual power.    

Something which can surely be defined as "something more" possessed them.  They no longer saw themselves as belonging to anyone except the risen Jesus.  They had been His followers, but after the Spirit came filling them with holy presence, there was one thing which drove them forward and that was allowing His will to be worked out through their living.  They were so filled with the presence of the Spirit that there was room for nothing else in their lives.  They were filled, not partially, but completely.  From that point on they lived as those who totally belonged to Christ. 

The Disruptive Spirit

The language of Pentecost is more than a little frightening to those of us who love ordered and predictable worship that last no more than an hour.  What is set forth in the early verses of the second chapter of Acts is a church being birthed in a room where overwhelming chaos seems to be the order of the day.  Those gathered were praying when suddenly it was as if heaven had been blown into the room by a wind that shook everything loose that was nailed down.  Along with the wind came what those present could only describe as tongues of fire causing strange words to pour forth from their mouths.  If we were in the midst of our ordered Sunday morning worship and such happened, we would run for the door!   

None of this says to us that there is something fundamentally wrong with the worship we experience on Sunday morning, but it is to say we should be careful not to dismiss the possibility that the Spirit might have plans other than ours for our Sunday morning gatherings.  We are afraid of disruptions to the planned order when the disruption might be the Spirit at work.  I remember going as a part of witness team during the Asbury Revival of 1970.  We arrived about an hour before a revival service on a college campus.  As complete strangers we walked into the pastor's office, told him briefly about the revival, and asked for a few minutes to share what God was doing.  He said we could have ten minutes.  The revival preacher never got to preach.  Before the ten minutes had been used up, the altar was full of college students who had not even been invited to come and kneel.   

Things could have been so different had the pastor not been bold enough and discerning enough to consider the possibility that the disruption we brought was of the Holy Spirit.  Lives that were changed that night might not have been changed.  What we can never forget when we gather for worship is that our agenda can never take precedence over the agenda of the Spirit.  The Spirit might want to do something in the gathering that is not on the printed order of worship and it would be a great loss to miss it. 

The Sanctified Life

When I went to Asbury College back in 1968, it was the last place I wanted to go.  Knowing that God wanted me to go to Asbury, I took matters in my own hands and went to Georgia Southern College.  As one filled with the spirit of Jonah who went west instead of east, I went south instead of north.  There was a part of me which enjoyed my stint in the belly of the big fish, but in the end, the discontent experienced in deliberate disobedience caused me to send my application for admission to Asbury College.  This Kentucky college was non-denominational with an overt holiness tradition.  "Holiness unto the Lord" was on the front wall of the main auditorium.  

Three times a week we gathered in that auditorium for required chapel services and the theme most common to those services was the call to holy living.  The language used spoke of "being filled with the Holy Spirit," or "baptized in the Holy Spirit," or "sanctified."  It was all new to this young believer and all I knew for sure was that I wanted no part of something which seemed be food for religious fanatics.  What I remember most about the preaching was that it seemed to be focused more on having an experience than a radical life style of abandonment of self to God.  I have no argument with those who preached in those days that there comes to many a believer a need for a moment of consciously choosing a total commitment to Christ instead of one that is mostly about dabbling in shallow waters.  

I have preached such a message many times, but being filled with the Spirit as it is proclaimed in the Scripture is about a life style decision instead of an experience.  It is about choosing God's agenda over our own.  It is about abandoning any right to the control of our life so that His control is absolute.  It is about never ceasing to seek God.  To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that there is no room in our spirit for anything that hinders our desire for God.  The sanctified life where the Holy Spirit is given unhindered control is not for the religious dabblers.  It is for those who are intent in going hard after God. 

Pray for One Another

Anyone who keeps a prayer list knows that it is like an living organism.  It never stays the same.  Some of the people for whom we pray have concerns which carry not just into the years, but into the decades.  I have a friend from my first appointment who continues to pray each day for God's blessings upon me.  There are names on my prayer list for whom I have prayed for decades.  There are other names which have filled a line on the page for a much briefer span of time before being removed by an act of God's mercy.  While some names are being removed, others are being added.  A prayer list seems to have a life of its own.   

Only a short time ago, I learned of a pastor friend whose life has suddenly been disrupted by the uncertainty of a sudden unexpected diagnosis.  My sister who lives a thousand miles away has asked me to pray for a friend of hers that I know only through her care and concern.  Such is how prayer list grow.  I often find myself returning to what the Apostle James wrote to the early church.  "Pray for one another so that you may be healed."  (James 5:16).  I have been one who has been greatly blessed by the prayers of others.  Prayers have been offered in my behalf that enabled me to make it through moments that had overwhelming power.    

The discipline of a prayer list keeps us away from shotgun prayers which are like generic prayers thrown heavenward with a hope that something will stick on heaven's gate.  A far better approach seems to be one of asking those who ask us to pray the simple question, "How can I pray for you?"  Another thing to do when someone ask us to pray for them or someone for whom they have concern is to say to them, "Yes, I will pray for you, but let us also pray together right now." It matters not how public the place might be.  We can turn any place into a prayer closet simply by saying, "Let's pray now."  Praying for someone whose need has been shared with us is something we all can do.  We can even do it in this very minute.

A Big Deal

It is often true that we sell ourselves short.  We live in such a way that we often deny the possibilities the power of Christ can bring to life in and through us.  We want to be known as a Christian, but when someone takes note of a difference in the way we are living, we tend to speak of that difference as no big thing when the change in us is something Christ is doing.  It is a big thing.  Our life is different after we say "Yes" to Jesus not because of the things we do, but because of what Christ is now able to do in our lives.   

What is often overlooked as we talk about our faith is that life with Christ is not about what we do for Christ, but what Christ is able to do through our life.  In Hebrews 3:1 the Word says, "Therefore brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling..."  As those who trust in Christ we are, therefore, holy partners.  The Apostle Peter said much the same thing as he wrote, "But, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods' own people..." (I Peter 2:9).  There is also that Word from Paul to the church at Corinth that speaks powerfully of our identity as one who lives in Christ, "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed way; see, everything has become new."  (I Corinthians 5:17).   

Instead of thinking that being a Christian is no big deal, we should understand and accept the fact that it is a big deal.  It is a big deal because our being justified and entering into a relationship of salvation is the result not of our efforts, but of of God's effort to transform our life into a life that allows the heart of Jesus to be seen through us.  When we denigrate being a Christian, we denigrate the cross on which Jesus died.  What Christ did on the cross enables us to be holy partners with God and that is a big deal!

There is A River

Up ahead there is a a river,

and to it, we must go.

It is the river they call Jordan

and Jesus waits upon the shore.

 

Walk bravely now, my brother,

fear not what's ahead.

The water's warm as sunshine

and clear blue as mountain air.

 

One day I'll be seein' Jesus,

Moma and my Daddy, too.

On the shore they'll be a' waitin'

open arms of love for me and you.

Chorus:

Come along and join the journey,

the Savior is ahead.

He knows the ones goin' with Him

and the way that takes us Home. 

(Lyrics for a song, but the music exist

only in my head.)

Children of God

When we read Matthew 5:14 which records Jesus saying to us, "You are the light of the world,"  one of the first things we think about is that children's song, "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine."  The song's reference to putting that little light under a bushel makes it clear that the inspiration of the song is from this passage in the Sermon on the Mount.  It is a fun song to sing.  When it is announced, young and old enjoy making all the motions that go with the singing.   

 

There is one huge problem with this song about the little light.  It teaches bad theology. There is nothing little about the light of which Jesus spoke that day.  It is the eternal light of which Genesis speaks in its very first verses.  The light which Jesus saw afire in each one of us is the light of Genesis 1:3.  It is the creative light which defines who we are.  The light Jesus saw in those who listened that day and who continue to hear the echoes of His voice first spoken from that mountain is described by the Apostle John as the light that "...shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."  (John 1:5).  The light Jesus saw in us is not the light turned on by our education, or that burns because of determination and will power.  It is a light that is separate from us; yet, one without which we could not be.   

 

When Jesus spoke that day He was not speaking of a little light, but the eternal light which first shined in us at conception and which defines who we are and to Whom we belong.  It is in the forgetting that the essence of our life is about this eternal life that has led to our choosing the darkness of separation from our Creator. This spiritual amnesia causes us to choose a way inconsistent with the purpose for which He created us.  When Jesus came to shine among us, He reminded us that our choosing the darkness may prevent us from seeing the eternal light within us, but no choice of ours can ever extinguish or overcome it.  We are bearers of eternal light and when He came, He called us to see and to claim once again our birthright as sons and daughters of God our Father.

   

The Great Theft

We live in a culture which sees the Creation as something to be used.  It really goes beyond using to abusing and exploiting.  Our contemporary mindset views the Creation as an inexhaustible resource that provides a easy means of fattening our bank accounts.  Water wells are dug without any thought to the long term affect the drilling has on the underground aquifers.  The color green is disappearing from the face of the earth in favor of asphalt, concrete, and buildings without any regard for the life giving process of photosynthesis.    

It is obvious that we have forgotten an important Word which the Scripture says about the Creation.  In Hebrews 2:10 it says, "It is fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist..."  All the things we use to fuel our insatiable greed are not here for us to handle carelessly, but with a reverence that honors the Creator of all things.  Everything that is bears the mark of the holy.  The first Words of Genesis speak of every part of creation coming into existence with the imprint of the hands of the Creator God upon it.  Not only is everything that is holy, with the words "for whom" we are reminded that the Creation was brought into being not for us, but for the Creator.  In other words, what we use and exploit for personal gain belongs not to us, but to the One who created it.    

As we begin to think of what we have done, a horrible thought comes to mind.  It is a thought birthed by number eight of the Ten Commandments.  In Exodus 20:15, the Word of God says, "You shall not steal."  Stealing is an act of taking what belongs to another for our own personal use or gain.  Could it be that we are not only guilty of abusing the Creation, but also guilty of stealing it from the One to whom it belongs?  May God have mercy upon us all.

A Moment of Transport

This morning's Holy Communion transported me from the Table in the room to the one in heaven.  It took me away from the gathering of the saints in the sanctuary to the communion of the saints described in the book of Hebrews.  As if the place where I was kneeling was not holy enough, I found myself in an even holier place as memories took hold.  As I saw families gathering together around the Table to receive the Holy Sacrament, my spirit was flooded with memories of last communions.  

Being a pastor for a life time put me in the privileged places of offering the holy meal to the people of God.  It also provided me the the blessing of offering my Mother and my Dad their last communion.  Mom's was at the end of 2019 and Dad's was toward the end of 2023.  As I broke the bread and shared the cup in those moments, I was somehow aware that the next time we gathered for the holy meal it would be in the eternal place.  As I sat there in the quiet moments of waiting for others to move to the Table, those memories for some reason overwhelmed me to the point of tears.   There are times when we are aware that we are sharing last moments with someone we love, but most of the time we only realize it through the window of hindsight.  

The writer of Hebrews reminds us to "...pay greater attention..." (Hebrews 2:1). He was speaking about what we have heard as the message of Jesus, but it is also a phrase which tells us how to live in each day and in each moment.  We can never be sure exactly how God is blessing us in what seems to us to be such ordinary moments in our life.  The important thing is to live each moment, share each experience, and to give and receive love as if it is the last time such a moment will come to us.  Surely, it is true that paying greater attention to what is happening now in our life will bring us to moments of greater gratitude for the blessings of grace be given to us.

Sunday is Coming

As far back as I can remember, Sunday meant going to church.  A lot of different churches have been a part of my Sunday goings.  The first one remembered with any clarity was the little matchbox of a country church which maintained the cemetery where my father was laid to rest.  Over the years I went to the church of my baptism, the church of my wedding, the church of my ordination, the church of more funerals than I want to remember, the church which provided me a pulpit to preach, and the church which blesses me in the present moment.   

Some were very small like the first and others were large enough to make this old country boy feel mighty small.  As I recall, all of them had the sense of the holy within and about them.  Each seemed to have a quietness about them that invited my spirit to pray.  To this day it is hard to pass by a church without wondering what it is like inside.  I have memories of peering through the windows of many an old church with a padlock on the front door.  I had a preacher friend who used to collect church bulletins from churches he visited or that he found open in the moment of his passing by.  I often thought about following his example, but instead, I became a collector of memories.   

Today is Sunday and I will be doing what I have done most all the years of my life.  I will be going to church.  I could say I will be going because it is what my Mother taught me to do, but she is gone and I still go.  I go now and have gone for a long time because it has become a place which speaks of belonging.  I belong to those folks who sit around me and struggle with me to stay in tune during the singing.  I now belong to that crowd that gets restless when the preachers runs past too many stop signs in the sermon.  I belong to the God who is worshiped there.  I have found He can be worshiped anywhere on any day, but there is something that renews and stirs my spirit as nothing else can do on those Sunday mornings when I gather with the people of God that gather in those churches made holy by divine presence and sacred memories.

Never Be Satisfied

One of the worst things we can do in our spiritual life is to be satisfied.  Being satisfied is just another way of defining complacency.  Jesus warned against this as He told the disciples, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  (Matthew 5:48). The Apostle Paul pointed us in the same direction as he wrote, "...forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 3:13-14).  The writer of Hebrews sounded a similar note as he wrote, "...we must pay greater attention to what we have heard." (Hebrews 2:1).   

We cannot give in to being satisfied.  Even if we have walked with Jesus for what seems like more than a life time, even if we have read and studied the Word until it seems like the language of our heart, and even if no one can find fault with evidences of love and compassion flowing from within us, we cannot allow ourselves to pause even for a moment with the spirit of self satisfaction.  Self satisfaction gives birth to comparisons of ourselves with others instead of Christ and it allows us to put ourselves on that perilous perch which gives us permission to judge others.    While all these things are true, an even greater danger is the way being satisfied in our spiritual life cuts us off from the new things the Holy Spirit seeks to do in and through us.  

The Spirit is never through with us.  He is always seeking to take us to new levels of intimacy with Christ and into a greater awareness of the way the presence of God can permeate every single part of our life.  The Christian journey is never about arriving, but of going.  It is never about trusting ourselves, but of trusting Christ.  It is never about finishing, but striving forward.  The self satisfied may enjoy themselves, but they can never enjoy the fullness of life with the Christ who is always calling us to follow Him on the journey toward Home.

A Hungering Faith

As one whose spiritual mantra has for a long time been, "Pay Attention,"  I was stopped dead in my tracks when I came across Hebrews 2:1 which says, "Therefore, we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it..."  I sat there for a long minute scratching my head.  What does it mean to pay greater attention when paying attention has become a way of life? Is it speaking a word about being more focused?  Is it sounding a note saying to live with more attentiveness?  Or, is it a call to live with a mindfulness that points to having missed something, some thing, or some opportunity?   

I am sure the answer is out there somewhere where the Word of God makes itself known in a "now you see it, now you don't" manner.  Such is how God often reveals Himself in the creation.  What is seen in one moment is gone as quickly as a glance away; yet, there can be no doubt that it was a moment of holy revelation.  It is like the sunset.  Run in the house to get someone to see the magnificent display of colors and by the time the front door is opened the second time, what was seen is no more.  All day I have carried this Word from Hebrews with me.  All day I have constantly been looking for the way deeper into the truth of the passage, but still it remains as invisible as the Creator Himself.   Some Words that God speaks to us through the sacred Word are slow in coming.  It seems sometimes that greater clarity often means waiting for God to unfold the Word before us.  

I want to hear this word with greater understanding, but One thing I have learned over the years is that He is not in a hurry to bring the understanding I seek.  He is not hurried by my impatient seeking.  What I seek from the Word may be like a big ball of string being slowly unwound.  Perhaps, I will be around to see the core of the truth I seek, but, perhaps, not.  For now I know what I seek is out there invisible to my understanding and so I will wait to see what this hungering faith of mine will finally enable me to know.

Faith for the Journey

While it is true that deciding to follow Jesus is accepting a call to know-not-where, such a beckoning never really ends.  Most of us think in those beginning steps that we know where we are going.  Right or wrong, we have our expectations about the difference following Jesus is going to make in our life.  When we say "Yes" to Jesus, we may even have a plan in our mind that seems most likely.  Our beginning notions may actually get in the way of going where Christ wants us to go even though it may not be obvious to us in the beginning.   

The truth is we did not know then, nor do we know now.  To live with faith in Christ means going where He leads and not according to our plans and expectations.  Where He leads is always going to be outside of our comfort zone.  A Christian life lived within comfort zones is not really Christian living.  Christian living is not about us being in control, but about Jesus being in control.  At its core living by faith means turning lose of the controls of our life and trusting Jesus to be in charge.   To live within our comfort zone creates no challenge for us.  We can depend upon ourselves.  Our comfort zone is the place where we have placed everything in a particular place and where we only need ourselves to sustain life.  Such is not the way Jesus leads us.  

As we start whining in our spiritual life about the changes Jesus is asking us to make, we need to realize that without such leading we are going to live a mediocre spiritual life that takes us nowhere except deeper into a kind of spiritual entrenchment in the status quo.  To read the gospel is to see Jesus moving steadily toward the point of risking His whole life on the cross as an expression of His obedience to the Father.  Those of us who are serious about following Jesus should not expect a journey to the rose garden, but a journey of faith which takes us to the place of total abandonment to the Father's will.