Tommy Mitchell / The Rurban Church Blog

A Tribute to Charles W. Chisholm (my Father-in-law)

The change was not alarming at first.  Tiredness, just not feeling good!  At Christmas 2012, Charles was getting around fine,  still laughing, talking, and I really didn't notice any difference.  He did seem a bit tired - but who isn't at Christmas?!

Then just a couple of weeks later, the tiredness and weakness seemed to be increasing a bit.  On over in January, this became more acute, and we began to worry a bit about increasing fatigue.  A trip to the hospital revealed he needed blood, and he got a couple of units that made him feel better.  But that was short-lived relief, and within a few days an ER doctor pronounced, "you have a mass in your lung!" 

That sent us all into high alert.  Andrea and I traveled to Baptist Hospital to be with Charles and Elizabeth for the P.E.T. Scan and lung biopsy.  By the end of the day, the Oncologist revealed what we were fearing most - Stage 4 Metastatic Lung Cancer. 

No two people respond to cancer and chemo just alike.  Charles had one chemo treatment, and complications from it and extreme weakness led to his sudden and quite unexpected death last Friday, February 8, 2013. Denise had been with them through this most difficult week. We were all present when he died.

Today, just a day after his burial, it just doesn't seem real to me. Having done hundreds of funerals and being with dozens of families for bad news, there is still nothing so sobering as when it happens to your own family. 

Charles was such a man! When I first met him, I was a bit scared of him!  Looking back on it now as a parent, I give him great credit for trying to instill a little "fear" in a guy who came to date one of his 5 daughters!   He was heavily tanned from working on his farm.  He was a dairy farmer!  Quite a few of you probably just sighed! Dairy farming is hard, regular, unrelenting work that follows a twice a day schedule.  He plugged away at it. 

Things were tough in those days.  He had some setbacks -  some were just circumstances beyond his control.    When the farming crisis hit in the 1980's, he lost the farm.  

This was tough for him and Elizabeth.  They still had one child, Heather, at home! It was time to start over.  And start over is exactly what he did.

Charles moved to Canton, MS and started a used tire store.  Within a relatively short period of time, it was up and going and growing stronger.  The success of it can be measured in the fact that it is still in operation, and Charles was still spending some time there nearly every day up to the time of his death.  

He worked hard there.  I remember a few years ago Charles had open heart surgery.  Two weeks later he was at the tire store helping go through a fresh load of used tires, sorting them by grade etc.. Even he admitted that might have been a bit hasty - it nearly killed him!  But that kind of determination marked his character.  He was very successful.

In 1983, Charles made the greatest decision of his life - he surrendered himself to Jesus Christ to follow Him.  I have to tell you - I don't think I could have preached his funeral this past Sunday and Monday if Charles had not made that decision.  It changed him - it changed his life - and it impacted his family.  Charles became a Bible reader! He got interested in his church.  He served there.  He helped however he needed to.  It was amazing to watch what God did with him.

In all the years I have known Charles (a little over 35 years) we have had a great relationship. I've gone with him to pick up loads of tires, traveled to cattle sales, gone to car auctions and just enjoyed it overall.   He was full of knowledge - actually useful knowledge.   He kept up with current events - (he was a Fox News Junkie) - and he loved games.

Charles should probably be awarded some type of award by the makers of scrabble! You just did not want to play scrabble with Charles.  He was the king of blocking the board with all manner of two and three letter words.  He and Elizabeth played every night at 8:00 pm.  Andrea timed her nightly phone call to their house so as not to interfere with "the game!" 

In these last few years Charles served as Deacon at Center Terrace Church in Canton.  I was so proud of him.  His last ministry to his church was serving on the Pastor Search Team.  He was too sick on the Sunday that the people met the new prospective minister to be present - but he was interested in hearing how it went. 

It was a privilege to preach the message at his funeral. It was the most difficult funeral I have ever preached from an emotional stand-point.  But in every other regard,  it was among the greatest blessings and privileges I have ever had. 

Charles was "Charlie-boy" to me - "Papaw" to my children - "Daddy" to my wife!  I could never afford to cry much over the past few days - I needed to help other folks deal with their pain.  Since I have been home, I find myself "tearing up" regularly.   Charles is the first of our two sets of parents to go home to the Lord!  I didn't know for sure how we would handle it when this day finally came.  Through God's help, the mutual support of family, and the blessings of so many friends, we are making it through.

Today I am praying more than ever for his wife, Elizabeth - and the girls - Rannah, Denise, Andrea (the love of my life), Tracy, and Heather.  I love them all and wish I could remove the pain.

Keep our families in your prayers.  And we rejoice in the Lord who gave us Charles - and loved him enough to give him a home in heaven with the Lord forever!

Are We Shadow Boxing?

For a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, there is much to "go after" these days.  There are many issues on the table that Christ followers should truly and justifiably care about.  Really, there are too many.

Morality is in steep decline.  There are easily a dozen or more issues that we can (and do) pursue and try to improve in society.   Abortion and the culture of death is one.  Sexual promiscuity of every type imaginable is another.  Honesty and truthfulness in government is still another.  The turning upside down of nearly everything sacred in society, the denigration of marriage and family, the exploitation of people, particularly women and children, and a host of other things almost too numerous to mention crowd our moral calendar.

We live in a climate of fear. We fear radicalism, even government. We fear our guns are going to be confiscated. We fear our ability to provide financially is going to be harmed or destroyed.  We fear a lot of stuff.

So, with only mentioning these few things, let me give a caution and a suggestion.  

Caution:  Don't shadow box yourself into exhaustion.  Shadow boxing is "boxing the air!" You look like your boxing, and it does provide the ability to develop technique, style, and endurance. But you never land a blow. And if you do it long enough, you will just wear yourself out.  That is our tendency as Christ followers.  We hear about an issue that really strikes a nerve, and then we spend endless hours blogging, facebooking, emailing, and talking up the cause.  Sometimes, with great energy expended, we win a little victory, sometimes we lose.  Meanwhile, the overall result is that many other causes or issues have continued to fester and we are left worn out and overwhelmed.

Which leads me to the suggestion right after this observation.  You can't get people who do not have a redeemed relationship with Jesus Christ to act like they do!  And if through boycotting, screaming, facebooking, and blogging you manage to change the behavior of unredeemed people, it is likely to be a hollow and short-lived victory.  HERE IS THE SUGGESTION -  Spend most of your time sharing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.  

Through the years I have become amazed at the energy we will spend and the measures we will take in attempting to get society to act morally apart from the only one who can empower moral behavior - Jesus Christ.  The Great Commission is about making disciples! It is about leading people to Christ.  Jesus, in scripture, makes it abundantly plain that the ministry of reconciliation is His and our highest priority.   Instead of following His commands and commission, we do nearly everything but share Jesus.  

One has to wonder where society would be right now if for the last 50 years every believer who truly knows Jesus had spent most of their ministry time making disciples!   Consider abortion! Through much money spent and legislation passed and boycotts and protests etc., we have caused some clinics to close!  But now we live in a time where the politicial environment is "hard left" or " extremely liberal" and abortions will and are rising.    But if you lead people to faith in Christ, their culture of death becomes a culture of life.  Instead of battling the results of sin, you are involved in changing the cause - the heart! 

Most Christians, for some strange reason, seem to prefer the "cause" of anything and the "protest" of everything over the simple presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   Do you want to change "things," "circumstances," and "right wrongs?"  Or do you want to see the entire transformation of society?  There is only one way - and it will truly not be done by political party, protest, or legislation.  Transformation of society requires the regeneration, the redemption of the heart. 

If you are a part of leading 50 people to being disciples of Christ, those 50 people in their transformed lives will accomplish far more than all the protests in the world.  And if you involve yourself in endless work trying to get unsaved people to act morally, you will shadow box yourself into exhaustion.   

Christ is poweful to save - to redeem - to transform! Why not carry His Gospel to all around us?

A Fitting Memorial!

I was looking around in my blog and found a post from 2008 that was looking back to events in 2007.  Actually, I had thought about writing about these matters a little later in November, but after reading my previous post, I just decided to repost it! It still captures my feelings about some unforgettable days back in late 2007 and early 2008! 

God has been good!  CLICK HERE FOR THE POST

Losing My Voice!

When a preacher loses his voice, it can be frustrating! Actually, it can be completely dangerous.  As a matter of fact, when any Christ follower loses their voice, it is not good.  Unlike a sore throat, however, the loss of voice to which I am referring is more spiritual than vocal! 

Psalms 66:18 states, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me!

Losing one's spiritual voice is similar to losing one's physical voice in that immediate attention is required and a remedy must be sought out.  Fortunately, we know how to cure a spiritual loss of voice.

Confession with a genuinely repentant spirit is required.  "Regarding iniquity in our heart" is the practice of giving sin a "place" in our heart.  It is to prioritize sin, to nurture it, to hold on to it, to give it fertile soil and water.   This can never have a good outcome for the believer.  It means sin will likely turn into sins and my heart will grow distant from God.

There is good reason for this distance, and the scripture is clear - in such a condition of the heart, the Lord will not hear me!  I will have lost my voice before God because He simply will not listen any longer.  This is tragic, and unnecessary.   In Romans 5:1-2 we read, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith^[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we^[c] rejoice^[d] in hope of the glory of God.

Peace with God and access to His grace through faith are promised us. But we can surely damage, blow up, and create an impasse to talking to Him and hearing from Him when we "regard" sin in our heart. 

The cure for a spiritual sore throat is confession and repentance!  We need not become stubborn in sin because we will lose!  If I have learned anything over the years as a christian, it is this: God will not be mocked!  Not only will He not hear me if I cultivate sin in my heart, He has the capacity to punish as well.  Confession is taking ownership of our sins - repentance is turning from the sin in order to turn to Christ. 

Be careful to take care of your spiritual voice so that communion and fellowship with our Lord is never interrupted.

Monday Night Ministry!

Tonight I attended a revival service at Barton Baptist Church.  There were two reasons that I went.  First, I wanted to hear the preacher, Dean Register! I enjoy hearing Dean preach and he has preached for me both at ABC and on the Gulf Coast when I served as the Associational Missions Director! It was great to see and hear him again!

Second, I wanted to worship with no skin in the game!  That sounds wrong - and maybe it is an "inelegant" way of putting it! Last week we had a revival at our church! I did not have to preach, but I had responsibilities for the guests, some of the daily service details, invitation counseling etc.. That was not the case tonight!

Tonight, I was just a worshiper!  I was able to sing without knowing what song was coming next or if I was supposed to say anything at any point! I was able to follow along in my Bible and not worry about anything going on around me! It was possible for me to listen to the message for the "word" that God had for me without any expectation from anyone around me!  It was a wonderful service!

We preachers (and other ministry postions) seldom get to be "just a worshiper!"  We seldom get to just soak in the ministry of another in the corporate worship setting of a church.  I am thankful for our sister church, their wonderful pastor and my friend Brad Howard, and Dean Register. It was a great night!

Difficult Days Demand.......................

WOW!  The events of the last few days continue to trouble and distress many Americans.  They distress most Christians.   And there are many things about which we should be concerned.  The economy and economic policies have everyone on edge.  The path of healthcare in the future is quite cloudy - some would even say "muddy!"  The political give and take being played out in the media is happening 24/7 and after a while becomes mind numbing.  Moralilty is more than "in decline!" Morality is in a death spiral in the nation!  Then we have the international events of the Middle East and the very real dangers that are involved and it is enough to give you a good case of discouragement. 

So, in these difficult days - for those of you who have a Christian /Biblical worldview, may I remind you of some things that these days demand.....of us?!?!

1. To Remember Our security is in God Almighty! Our security is not and has never been in government or political figures.  There are legitimate concerns about economic and international health, but ultimately we must rest our souls in the mighty right hand of God's rigtheousness.  God sets the rise and fall of nations for the accomplishment of His purposes.  Our future is secured by Him and in Him!

Remember the TRUTH - Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.  Psalm 20:7    AND

 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty."  Zechariah 4:6

2. To Remember That We Have Hope in Jesus Christ!  These verses are a helpful reminder.

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.    Romans 5:1-5

This hope is a hope we can proclaim to the hopeless.  Though circumstances may be bleak, Christ is unchanging in His power, His interest in us, His love for us, and His purpose and plan for the ages.  We can join Him in His work and rest in His plan!  His will and purposes will be done.  That is reason for hope! He is hope!

3. To Remember that Difficult Times are Fantastic Times to Share the Gospel!  Conversations are abounding regarding the future of the country, the insecurity people feel about their jobs, and the worries people feel about their ability to make it from week to week!   We serve a Saviour who has secured our futures, has provided for our greatest need, and has given us the victory over sin and death!  This is a time to share the Gospel with folks!  We can spend a lot of time giving everyone our political opinion, or sharing our best economic theories or our thoughts on international affairs.   OR, we can run straight for the cross of Christ - and proclaim Christ, crucified for our sins, buried in the tomb, and raised up again in victory over sin and death - all to the glory of the Father.   "Why waste a crisis?" may be a political question.  But we need to ask ourselves why we followers of Christ are wasting a time of upheaval on man-made answers instead of sharing Christ?  We have the answer - repent and believe!

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.    Acts 3:19-20  

If you are walking around totally bummed out over the circumstances that surround us, then to use a Biblical phrase, "BE OF GOOD CHEER!"   We have amazing opportunities to show the love, the power, the grace, and the glory of God to people whose lives are in such need of divine transformation.   May our speech and our actions demonstrate that we really believe what our Bibles teach. 

Self-Examination!

One of the important matters dealt with in the book of Galatians is the matter of a false gospel.  One can make a fairly good argument that the modern church is suffering much under the load of a false gospel - which has produced false disciples - which in turn produces frustration and weakness in the local congregation.  For a few posts, I will remind us of scriptural teaching on genuine salvation!

OBEDIENCE - The pattern of life for a true Christ follower is one of obedience.  Is this the pattern of my life?  Do I, as a regular course of behavior, argue with God about everything I sense He may be asking of me? What is the nature of my obedience to God - loving submission or begrudgingly doing His tasks?  Note this scripture in 1 John 2: 3- 6:

3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
NIV

Scripture is pretty clear on this matter of obedience! Obedience to God is not a "ho-hum" matter!  Think of the power of verse 3 - We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

That statement is not ambiguous! If we have any doubts - just continue - 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

So, how important do you think obedience is to God?  He doesn't mince words - I may proclaim every day that "I know Him!"  But if my actions are not those of an obedient Christ follower - then I am a liar - and truth is absent from me! 

Notice the blessing of obedience - 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.   We experience the full measure of God's love when we obey Him.  His love is made complete in an obedient disciple.  

Now one more thing - just to be clear - This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

What is the prayerless Christian? What is the Wordless Christian? What is the mean-spirited Christian? What is the hateful Christian? What is the loveless Christian? What is the decietful Christian?  What is the unfaithful Christian?  Well - speaking from these verses - they are not Christians. 

We like to muddy the waters - make everything ok for everybody - and hold everyone to the lowest standard we can think of.    Paul literally railed against the false gospel in Galatians.  He realized that adding anything to grace was heresy and deadly.   In our day, we are not adding to the Gospel - we are robbing from it. 

What we tend to see practiced in the modern church is a simple profession, followed by baptism, followed by nothing!  I am not trying to overstate it.  Southern Baptist Churches are almost all the same in our huge membership rosters with more than half TOTALLY missing!   That is a problem.

I happen to believe the problem is lostness! Remember - This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Does anyone do this perfectly?  NO - NO ONE DOES!  What we have done in our churches, though, is to make the standard of Christ-likeness and discipleship exist at the lowest of levels instead of the highest. 

God will judge for sure - not us - but beware of a false Gospel that says you can claim Christ as Savior and produce no meaningful fruit! 

The Most Ineffective Methods.......are........

There are many "experts" running around these days! I will say up front that some experts really are such!  Some have done careful research and made reasonable conclusions! Some have an agenda and use their expert status to play down methods / ideas not to their liking while extolling their own preferred methods and ideas.

So, I get interested when someone makes a pretty bold statement of fact regarding matters of the church!  Recently I was reminded of a "FACT" that has been widely touted as "FACT" in the Southern Baptist Convention.  This "FACT" is related to evangelism and evangelistic success!

The "FACT" was declared that "REVIVALS" are the most ineffective method of reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  Now, I am not a die-hard revival fan - the kind of person that believes we have done God an injustice if we miss having two revivals a year  - one in the spring and the other in the fall!  Revival meetings have fallen on hard times in the last 10 years in Southern Baptist life! Part of that is due to an almost total "non-spiritual" approach to them - just scheduling revival meetings to schedule them! 

Another part of the difficulty with revival meetings is the lack of creativity associated with them!  Conducting a revival can be done with targeted subject matter - with the involvement of the people in accomplishing a spiritual and material goal - with it lasting a day - a week - a month - depending on what is being attempted!  Just having a "revival meeting" with no creativity is fairly unsuccessful!

The "FACT" part is what gets me! Name the most effective method of reaching people!  Whatever it is - it will involve less than 5% of Southern Baptists - because the failure of evangelism among Southern Baptists is not our methods - but our people!  We do not share our faith - anytime - in any way!  When less than 5% of a people who like to brag that they are devoted to sharing the Gospel with the world actually do so - ever - there will be a demonstrated failure with any "method" you put out there!

The "FACT" is this - the most ineffective method or methods of evangelism are the ones never tried! One could at least argue the stretch that if meeting together for a revival is ineffective for reaching people - then so are Sunday worship services!  (and they largely are ineffective)   Call for a meeting of pastors to get together - pray - and hold one another accountable for sharing their faith!  The attendance will be LOW LOW LOW!  Call for a gathering of deacons to come together and pray - and hold one another accountable for sharing their faith - the meeting will not get off the ground!

Personal evangelism among Southern Baptists does not work! Relational evangelism does not work! Tracts do not work!  Revivals do not work!  None of them ever have!  What works is the Holy Spirit!  When we will TRUST and OBEY the Lord to be an active and vocal witness to His grace - when we will allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to people and places for sharing the Gospel - when we will let the Word of God speak through us - filled with the Holy Spirit - then GOD WORKS! 

No method of evangelism left untried ever produces!  Why have we seen such a decrease in the use of revival meetings for evangelism?  People are uninterested in spiritual things - our calendars are full - and perish the thought we might be challenged to share the Good News with someone or confess the sinfulness of our own hearts!  After all - there is too much on tv and too many great activities with which we can involve ourselves!

The next time you hear anyone say, "This method (revivals, visits, etc.) is no longer effective," ask them how they share their faith!  Specifically!  The answer will be revealing!

30 Day Marriage Adventure Completed! (Mostly)

Our 30 Days of Adventure are mostly done!  It took a little over 30 days because we ran into unavoidable conflicts a time or two.  You can't overlook a funeral visitation, for example, to go do your marriage activity for that day!   So, because of plans already on the calendar a couple of times, and because sometimes the activity would fall on a day when it was just impossible to complete it, we had to delay a few of them.

We are still supposed to go for a ride and get ice-cream or a milk-shake! We still have one car-washing to do - and we still have a movie to go see!  I believe that will complete them all. 

Over-all, it was a fun 30 days! Each day we anticipated a great time together - sometimes simple - sometimes involved - but always fun.

Lessons learned - if we do this again - we will probably go for less cards and just draw out one for her and for me on Sunday! Then we will have the entire week to carry it out!  Having activities everyday can become frustrating because of the schedules we already have.  So, we think a "less is more" approach might be better.  And those activities can be a bit more meaningful with a whole week to find the time to devote to them.

If you have no idea what I am talking about - see this post!

 

A Few Reminders about Sunday!

Many people will attend churches on Sunday!  Probably most of the people who read this blog will attend a church on Sunday.  Some will attend with no particular responsibility - and others will be there to teach, volunteer, greet, etc..

No matter how or why you are attending - there are some things everyone should do before showing up!

1. Pray! You knew that - right?  Pray for the people leading! Pray they will be spirit-filled, anointed people who follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit! Pray that their lives will be free from sin - that they will lead, teach, volunteer, keep the nursery with a spirit of holiness and rigtheousness!

Oh - if you are "just" attending - prayer will transform your "just attending" into far more also! Pray the same things for yourselves as you pray for your leaders!  Expect much of yourself in worship - God already has high expectations!

2. Focus! When we worship together on Sundays, we will inevitably have fellowship with one another! That is ok! But when fellowship overtakes the object of our worship, Jesus Christ, then we have substituted lesser things for more important matters.   If our primary purpose of "attending" is to "see and be seen," then we have missed our purpose - and what should be our focus.

Our focus is not our room for Bible Study - our chairs - our temperature - our supplies - our coffee - our sodas - our parking spot - our ---- well - you get the idea!  Our focus for Sunday corporate worship must be Christ!  If Christ is filling our mind, our heart, our view, our focus, then other stuff is not! 

Honestly, there are a few folks that I believe get up on Sunday morning and come to church just to recite their complaint list!  What is there to complain about?  Christ is the focus of this day of worship! Complain about Him! I don't think we really can. 

Focus on Christ - His full forgiveness - His beauty - His glory - His perfect redemption - His equipping - His empowering - His example - His blessings - His challenges - His mercy - His grace - His wisdom - His calling - His mission - His glory - well - we should be getting the idea. 

FOCUS ON JESUS - let the focus on Christ guide our fellowship - guide our conversation - guide our participation while we are worship on Sunday!

3. Participate - There really should not be any spectators on Sunday! We should all be participants! There will be people who will read scripture - read it yourself in your Bible! There will be people who pray - pray along with them!  There will be people praising God - you praise Him too!  There will be people who ask you to pray for them - well stop right there and pray with and for them!  There will be people singing - then open your mouth and sing - whether it is basically in tune or just a joyful noise!  There will be someone preaching - you speak up and encourage them on - say "A-men" - "that's right" - "come on!" There will be opportunities to give - then give cheerfully!  There will be opportunities to follow Christ more closely - perhaps opportunities to pray as a group at the altar - do it!  Participate! 

Open doors for people - pick up trash - help someone get to a seat - welcome and greet everyone you see whether you know them or not! 

PARTICIPATE!  God has not called us to sit, soak, and sour - but to pray, focus, and participate!

Are you ready for Sunday?

Torn Apart by Violence!

The mass shooting in Colorado at a movie theater is simply horrible! It is grotesque! It is the ultimate act of both violence and cowardice! It is sheer thuggery!  It is blatant, overt hatred!  It is despicable!

You see, no words exist to properly describe the horror and carnage poured out on the patrons of that theater!  No words can describe the lifetime scars that survivors will feel. No words can describe the senseless loss of life to parents, children, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends of those who died!

Today, there will be ESSENTIAL and NEEDED critical incident debriefing available for scores of people impacted.  First responders, fire, and police will be reeling from the carnage they have had to wade through! 

And then, the whole second round of victimization and exploitation will begin! The news media, in this political season, will try and hope to find that this person who did the shooting was a conservative so they can smear republicans with the shooting. Many conservative writers and some in the media will try to pin it on a liberal wacko!  The gun lobbies, both pro and anti gun control, will try to use the tragedy to advance their cause.  Some politicians will start fund-raising off the tragedy!  It will turn into a dark exploitation that rivals the shooting itself in ugliness!

Everyone will be asking "why?"  If the shooter (s) were to give a precise reason for their act of violence, would it really make any difference?  The fact is, we live in an increasingly violent society that does not revere and value life!  Life has become cheap to killers, no matter the stated reason for their actions. We live in a society where the breakdown of morality is coming home to roost.  The lack of parental love and discipline, the lack of strong respect for life, the lack of a strong moral center, the derision expressed towards God - all these have unraveled the fabric of mutual respect and love! 

As our moral and social pillars have been falling, we are now in danger of a total collapse in society. You can only remove so many supporting pillars from a structure before it falls!   I'm not trying to be doom and gloom - but we must be truthful about our circumstances.  We have more killings on a daily basis in Chicago than we do Afghanistan!

Pray for these many families! The horror of this will be a life-altering event for the rest of the lives of those who survived and for those who lost their loved ones.   God help America!

The Trajectories of Life!

Eveyone encounters different folks on different trajectories of life everyday!  I will venture to say that if you are a counselor, or a vocational minister you will be a bit more exposed to this in a more "up close and personal" manner! 

The last week has just been close to bewildering at all the varying trajectories of life I have encountered among the people I serve and meet!  Some of them are soaring trajectories - full of hope, vision, excitement, and enthusiasm.  Some of them are soaring downward - robbed, at least temporarily of joy, of hope, leading to discouragement, despair, and depression! 

My brain (really, my soul) has encountered one of those weeks where it needs a great refreshing from the Lord! Having done what I do for many years makes it easier to swing from one extreme of ministry to another without it being too difficult to do! But there are weeks where it piles up!  You walk from the funeral home into a wedding planning session!  There is a contrast! You go from the bedside in ICU where someone has just died - into a room with a newborn!  You go from someone who feels that all hope is gone to another person who is just hanging on your every word for hope!

As we all minister - clergy and laypeople - we get most depleted in "being all things to all people" that by the grace of God, we might win some! 

How do you recover? I used to think it was just getting out of the office and ministry needs for a day! And there is nothing wrong with that!  I have found, though, that what helps me most is telling someone, writing it down (like here), and then spending more time in the Word of God and prayer!

God can restore our spirits instantly! God can bless us physically - and usually does require our participation in rest!  We are always going to be encoutering people on various trajectories of life! The key is to stay focused on Christ so our personal trajectory is not overwhelmed by everyone else!

I'm Not Insane!

Really! I'm not insane! But I suppose a person who doesn't know me might think so! You see - I am trying to be more deliberate every day with what I call "conversational Christianity!"  Christ has redeemed us - and in doing so has imparted right into our very being the Spirit of God!  WOW!  That is a pretty good deal for us!!!!!

In light of MUCH scripture, we know that we are to follow Christ, to obey Christ, to listen to Christ through our daily communion with the Spirit of God!  This is not mystical, though the full mechanics of it are somewhat a mystery to us!  We are not perfect in our understanding of things, but the more we are in God's word, the more we are people of devoted prayer, the more conversational we will be with Christ! 

We sometimes make the mistake of putting all our "time with God" in a box for a certain time of day! Morning devotion 0r evening devotion times end up being the "God time" in our lives.  Hey, nothing wrong at all with having elongated times spent specifically studying the Word and praying!

But we live in a rough and tumble world! Though morning time spent with the Lord is wonderful, it alone is not sufficient out in the trenches of ministry!  So, the longer I live the more "conversational" I am trying to be with the Lord.  The Lord and I just talk about everything - all day long!  Like Paul, I have not arrived or attained perfection in this!  But I press on! 

Every day I have something of a broad outline of what I believe I have to accomplish!  But life happens during those times and I find the Lord conversing with me through the Spirit! If we will converse with God throughout the day, we will find MANY opportunities of ministry! We will find ourselves engaging with people we do not know! We will find ourselves seeing things we would never see!  But one has to be willing to have an ongoing conversation with God! One has to be willing to respond instantly to that conversation.

Some people get nervous when we declare "the Lord spoke to me!"  Well, to be clear, He often speaks to me through His Word!  That is often where our conversation begins!  Then the Spirit prompts my heart - turns my head, opens my eyes, helps me hear what is going on all around me!  I absolutely believe that the more closely I walk in the Word and prayer, the more my spirit will agree with His Spirit! And, to know His Spirit, we talk!  Some folks would say, "He claims to talk with God - He is insane!"  Well, I suppose it depends on what you say God told you to do!

God will never tell you to do something that contradicts His Word! God will never tell you to do something contrary to His character and nature!  That does not mean that God will not tell you to do things that people will not cause people to raise an eyebrow! 

Throughout your day today, as you go through it, try making a conscious effort to just be open to hearing from God!  Like this:  "Lord, I am about to be in this place of business - help me be alert to opportunities to serve You in this place!"    or - you are about to leave a location - an area - to go somewhere else - and you ask, "Lord, is there anything else I need to do while I am here?" 

You know - with us being the busy, busy people we are, we can easily go through all our daily travels and never even think of Jesus!  Now for the believer - that is insane!

Sleepless Night and Tea!

It is 1:08 am as I write this post and obviously I am wide awake! I am definitely tired - and sleepy - but wide awake!  The culprit is tea! Actually, the culprit is me - tea is just the vehicle of my insomnia! It started with Brandy Bernard! She filled in the last couple of days for our office secretary! Brandy fixes splenda sweet tea when she works for us! The splenda sweet part is great for me - but the caffeine in the tea is not! One glass would have been fine - especially this morning! But, it was a hot day - and the pitcher was almost full - and I found myself making multiple trips to "freshen" my rather large cup!  The result - where I usually drink little to no tea anymore because of the caffeine problem, today at work alone I had about 5 glasses of it! 

But wait - there is more! Tonight after visiting the funeral home, Andrea and I ate out in town and I very unwisely chose unsweet tea for my beverage of choice.  There I drank a couple of glasses and then got a "to-go" cup for the trip home!  So yep - that is about 8 good sized portions of tea for me today! It has caught up with me! I am not sleeping any time soon!

The worst part! I knowingly and willingly did this to myself!  The doctor has told me not to drink tea unless it is decaffeinated! My wife tells me not to do it! My own brain tells me not to do it! But it sure is good!  Until 1:16 am as it is right now!

Why do I sometimes do this to myself?  Hard - headedness?  Stupidity? Thirst?  Probably more along the lines of rebellion!  We just hate to be told what we cannot do! And I love tea!  I usually can go for  a good stretch without breaking the rules - but then I just give in and do it!

That is pretty much how we end up doing some of the more serious "wrongs" in life! We know better - we know we will pay for it - but we just rebel and do whatever it may be anyway!  The only way we do what is right is when we care more about what is right than what makes us feel good!  The "tea issue" is not too serious a matter! But sin is!  When I think enough of my doc, my wife, my health, and my heart - I will stay away from the tea! When I think enough of Christ and genuinely respect Him enough to obey Him, I will stay away from sin!

No more tea for me! For a while! Right now I am just hoping to go to bed before daylight arrives and robs me of the chance!

Freedom in Forgiveness

Everyone needs to live in freedom!   “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.    Galatians 5:1

The Christian life is supposed to be a life of freedom in Christ - freedom to serve Him, and freedom from things that hinder our service.  Satan knows the reality of the first part of that verse - but the last part indicates that we can allow ourselves to be burdened again by the things that hinder our freedom resulting in the loss of joy, fulfilment, direction, and freedom.

I would focus your attention on forgiveness which is fundamental to our faith! Our salvation from sin hinges on the forgiveness granted us by our Lord.  Satan, the great thief and liar, tries to rob us of the freedom we experience in God's forgiveness.   Here are some reminders!

1.  Beware of the Big Lie  You are not forgiven!  Have you ever heard that one? Most likely you have and you may even be dealing with it now. Satan loves to lie to us about God's forgiveness, trying to get us to doubt our standing with God.

 If you are not living in the reality of forgiveness, then you are likely dwelling in guilt.     There is an anatomy to the "Big Lie!"

     First -  The Accusation  -  You are Guilty!   Some folk live in the constant defeat of this accusation. How does it operate?
    What does the Bible say? “The accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”  Revelation 12:10

Simply put - Satan just hurls accusations at you - constantly!  Don’t be surprised at his accusations.     

Second - The Activity - You did a bad thing! - Satan reminds you of your past and maybe even your present and tells you that what you have done or are doing is so bad that you cannot be forgiven.   This covers a lot of ground.  Maybe you stole something, said something, participated in some activity, premarital sex, abortion, or became bitter, full of hate. etc.    According to the enemy, all of this is so bad you cannot be forgiven.

    What does the Bible say? “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”     Romans 5:20

Third - The Accused - You are a bad person! - You are just too sorry to be forgiven.
    What does the Bible say? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and will purify us from all unrighteousness.”    I John 1:9

    Understand the effects of the "Big Lie!"  You will live in guilt that is frustrating and unending if you believe the "Big Lie!" Your relationships with others and with God will be tainted!

     Don't listen to the "Big Lie!"

2.  Embrace the Truth - God forgives and forgets our sins.

    Offer true confession to God! Name, claim, and own your sin and confess it!

    Offer true repentance - 2 Corinthians 7:10-11
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

If genuine repentance coming from true confession is not occuring, then forgiveness is not either.  The mark of true repentance is change - turning as evidenced in this scripture

    Offer true faith acceptance - God will forgive your sins. He will heal your spirit! He has promised to do so!

3. Enjoy the Results

    You will become forgiving - A genuine mark of a believer living in the freedom and reality of forgiveness is that we become forgiving towards others.  A person with an unforgiving spirit is not living in the power of God's forgiveness!

    You wll become guilt-free - Living in real repentance and forgiveness causes us to be cleansed from the things that cause guilt! We are cleansed! We are set free!

    You will become free - We get untangled from a yoke of bondage and than we are free to forgive and live forgiven!

There is nothing like freedom that comes through forgivness! 

Obedience vs. Sacrifice!

We know that obedience is better than sacrifice! Really! We do! God's Word says so in 1 Samuel 15:22!

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 

 A careful reading of the passage and context will reveal that Samuel is reminding King Saul that the Lord required him to be obedient.  Saul was attempting to do things, in his mind, for a good reason - but in doing so he was being disobedient to God.

How does this "obedience vs. sacrifice" apply in our day?  Well, we find it far easier to perform the trappings of our religious beliefs instead of obeying the Lord!  Really! We do!  It is far easier for us to talk about how we love God and people than to obey God's commands! It is easier for us to say we love God than to actually love a person who has made it hard for us to love them.  It is easier for us to say we rejoice in our forgiveness than to actually be forgiving towards someone who has wronged us! It is far easier for us to attend a worship service and sing songs of praise to God while ignoring the vast numbers of unchurched / unsaved people in our communities!  We have actually gotten pretty good at the "sacrifice" thing - the trappings, the rituals, the practices of religious expression while totally ignoring "obedience" to the living God!

But one then has to ask, "why?"  Why is it easier for us to make "sacrifice" rather than "obey!"

Has God failed in any way to demonstrate His ability to instruct us? Has He made any secret of His primary desires for us? Has He failed in any way to demonstrate His constant companionship? Has He failed in any way to demonstrate over and over through scripture and the testimonies of those who have obeyed Him that He is faithful to guide, to provide, to enable, to empower, and to equip us for all He asks us to do? 

Well, the obvious answer is "no!" He has not failed, short-changed, or lacked in any way in enabling us to be obedient.  We simply choose not to be obedient.   Mind-boggling isn't it?  Why? Again - why are we disobedient?   Sin is too simple of an answer! 

We may not obey because we are not His!  We may have never given our lives to Jesus! People who have given their lives to Jesus may certainly disobey Him - but not as a pattern of life! 

We may not obey Him because we allow fear of the unknown to overwhelm us! And He may certainly ask us to do things where we can't see all the provision - or the path through!  But He sees it all - He knows it all - He has all the provisions we need!

We may not obey Him because we don't want to lose control!  Yet, He has not lost control!

To obey is better than sacrifice! Really! It is!   And in obedience we see God's great blessings flow!

The Lord puts it this way: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments!"  John 14:15

 

Are We Really in a Crisis?

Last night I finished reading one of the most enjoyable and thought provoking books I have ever read - Kisses from Katie!  This book is such a good read because it is written by someone who is actively engaged in such a HUGE work for God!  

She writes powerfully, sharing incredible encounters with people in great need and encounters with a great God who provides. Katie shares some wonderful insights into the heart and mind of Christ, the kind of insight that is born on the battlefield of intense ministry!

 Her book reminded me of a some very important things!

First, I seldom allow myself to be put in a position where I must truly trust and depend on God!

Second, since I don't find myself in a position too often where I must depend on God, there has to be some disobedience in my life as to what He wants me to do!

Third, much of what we want to whine and moan about - and request prayer for - is trivial!  We tend to think we have a crisis if our vacation spot is not working out - or we aren't able to find tickets to some great event - or if we are delayed in traffic and it is making us late for things in our day! We wonder if God has forgotten us!!!!!!

 Try this on from Katie's book: (She was writing about a little boy named Michael who was in terrible physical condition)

    I wrapped him in a towel and, as my friend held him tightly, I began to cut away the dead skin that hung from his heels and the insides of his feet. Then I went to work extracting the jiggers and removing the egg sacs and the caked mud and rocks embedded in the holes the jiggers had eaten in his feet. My friend watched in horror and Michael didn’t say anything. He didn’t scream or cry; he simply sat there in what must have been excruciating pain as tears rolled down his beautiful, little, expressionless face. I, on the other hand, ran out of the room and threw up. I quickly returned to put clean clothes, a fresh pair of socks, and a new pair of shoes on Michael in preparation to take him back to his family.

Clark, Beth; Davis, Katie J. (2011-10-04). Kisses from Katie (p. 198). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The above desription is all in a typical day for Katie! It has forced her to depend solely on God for everything!

I don't believe that we all have to serve in Uganda to depend on the Lord! But I do believe our affluence keeps us from God!  We need something done in our churches - we call together men and women who can get it done!  We need something done - we organize and plan and prepare and go do it!  But did we pray? Did we seek God? Are we attempting anything in our lives or our churches that we really can't do unless God shows up?

In ministry I hear a lot of the "crises" that people have!  In my life, I consider things to be a crisis at times!  But as I read and reflected on Katie's insights, I realized anew that my life is easy and comfortable! We are in a crisis - but it is a crisis of comfort and ease!

There are people who need reaching for Christ - but most of them are beyond our touch - they are dirty - maybe even openly sinful and rebellious - sometimes trapped by addictions and poor choices! We will not reach them from our pews or our comfortable homes! We will reach them when we walk among them, fully depending upon God for direction, strength, and provision!

I would encourage you to read this book, Kisses from Katie, and then praise God for our incredible wealth!

The Missing Christ!

In preparation for one of the points of today's Sunday morning message, I was reading in the book of Colossians!  It is very much a book about Christ!  The more I read it, the more I realized how much Christ is missing - missing from the church - missing from our homes - missing from our marriages - missing from our choices - missing from our activities!

Now, I know He is not literally "missing!" He is everywhere - whether or not I acknowledge Him! But we do a very good job of ignoring Him!  Sometimes, even when we are thinking of serving Him, we think of Him in the wrong way!

At many times - and even recent times - I have reflected on what "I" want to and have wanted to accomplish in my life for Christ!  The more I read the scriptures - including Colossians - and ponder on this - I realize that this desire to "accomplish" things for Christ is a problem!  It is not me who accomplishes anything - only Him!  Christ is the one who accomplishes His work! He may certainly use me - but I tend to frustrate Him by getting in the way and trying to do things myself!

I have often seen preaching as my best way to "get things done" in the Kingdom!  But really, He doesn't need my preaching - He rathers desires me - for me to just yield all those dreams, ambitions, and plans to Him! He desires that I totally depend on Him!  That doesn't mean I should not preach - it means that I come to it with the attitude that Christ will either speak through me or I will just be quiet! The results are up to Him - not me! The power is in Him, not me! 

People around me are broken! They really are! I want to fix them! There are two reasons that I can't! One, I am broken too - and He is still working on me!  Two, only Christ can fix people!   When I learn to totally depend upon Christ - to rest in His awesome power - to yield results to His workings through the Holy Spirit - then it is more likelythat I will see Christ do His marvelous work!

I think of how foolish it would have been when I was a child watching my Dad work on the car, if I had nudged him out of the way and said, "Dad, let me do that! I will fix this for you!"  I did not have the knowledge, the strength, the skill, or the endurance to fix the car!  Daddy would have just looked at me with a "bless his little heart" look!   Yet, we do the same thing with Christ every day! We "tell" Him or "show" Him how to grow His church!  We "tell" Him or attempt to "show" Him how to solve our problems and the problems of others!    Christ must be saying, "well, bless their hearts!" 

He seeks my obedience and availabilty! He seeks my total trust and dependence!  He has the rest covered!  He is not missing! But we are missing Him!  When will we quit trying everything under the sun and just return to trusting Him?

A Great Truth from Katie!

Yesterday I started reading Kisses from Katie - the story of a teenager who moved to Uganda right after her senior year of high school - and ended up staying to minister mostly to little children.  Her Christian maturity and writing is inspirational.  The passage below resonated with me..

During the first few months I lived in Uganda, in fall of 2007, I wrote, “Sometimes working in a Third World country makes me feel like I am emptying the ocean with an eyedropper.” Today, it often still feels that way. I have learned to be okay with this feeling because I have learned that I will not change the world. Jesus will do that. I can, however, change the world for one person. I can change the world for fourteen little girls and for four hundred schoolchildren and for a sick and dying grandmother and for a malnourished, neglected, abused five-year-old. And if one person sees the love of Christ in me, it is worth every minute. In fact, it is worth spending my life for.

Clark, Beth; Davis, Katie J. (2011-10-04). Kisses from Katie . Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

This was a gracious reminder to me! Too often I try to take on the role of my Lord, and I just can't possibly succeed at that!  I will not change the world - and I will not change Agricola - Jesus will do that!   Like Katie, however, I can change the world for one person at a time by introducing them to Christ. And perhaps they will be so impacted by Christ that they too will do the same.  Like Katie, I can try to be an impact and influence for the people surrounding me.  And it is worth spending our life for! And it is worth doing the way Katie figured out - by loving them with ACTIONS - sacrificially!

 

30 Day Marriage Adventure UPDATE!

Twelve days ago we started our 30 Day Marriage Adventure!  THIS IS THE ORIGINAL POST  Well, just thought you might like an update!

So far, this adventure has been fantastic! And fun! And refreshing! 

First, we know that every evening we will be doing something together!

Second, we know (in the evening when we draw the next day's card) that it will be a surprise!

Third, we know that whatever we do will be pleasing to the other person!

Fourth, we have had some incredible variety!

Tomorrow night we are playing a game of scrabble!  We have watched a classic movie that neither of us had seen before.  We have cleaned out our closet and downsized!  We have had friends over for dinner! We have read scripture together! We have eaten 0ut! And more!

I encourage you to try a 30 Day Marriage Adventure!  I think you will enjoy it!  We have 18 more days to go!