Note: Two years ago Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast. New Orleans and many smaller communities were severely damaged as a result of the hurricane and flooding. Sadly, over 1800 people lost their lives as a result of the monster storm. As the magnitude of the devastation was slowly uncovered and responded to, I found myself being highly irritated by pronouncements such as, “This is God judging New Orleans!” Why is it that there seems to be a hunger on the part of some to see God pour out His punishment? It seems like some can hardly wait for God to be mean to somebody…and they can get to witness it. In the heat of the situation, I sat down and wrote a brief e-mail for my family on what I believed was the biblical significance of what was happening. This was the very first “For My Family” e-mail devotional and I have been sending them weekly ever since.
HURRICANE KATRINA
Was It A Sign Of God’s Judgment On New Orleans?
The simple answer is NO, it was not judgment! If that were the case, then God owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. In Genesis 18:32 God said that if there were only ten (10) righteous people in the city, He would not destroy it. There were not ten and God did destroy it. In contrast, New Orleans has been the home to tens of thousands of believers. I have personally been to several very fine and thriving churches in New Orleans and its suburbs. New Orleans is no more lacking in a community of believers than any other city in America.
I first visited New Orleans in 1968 with David Wilkerson. A few years later we held a citywide crusade at the New Orleans Convention Center with thousands of people in attendance every night; this crusade was sponsored primarily by the Catholic Charismatic Community. Over the years I have been to New Orleans close to two dozen times for ministry. New Orleans is not one of my favorite towns but I like the people, I do like Cajun food, I love café au lait, and I enjoy Cajun music.
If Hurricane Katrina was not God’s judgment on New Orleans, then what was it? In Matthew 24:3 Jesus is asked by his disciples, “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (NIV)
In the next few verses Jesus lays out the following as signs of the end and His return:
· Deception will be rampant
· There will be false Christ’s and false religions in abundance
· There will be wars, rumors of wars, nations rising against other nations
· There will be famines, and earthquakes in a diversity of places
Jesus then said in verse 8, “All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (NIV) In the King James and several other translations, the word for birth pains is “sorrows.” The meaning of “sorrows” is that the pains will come with an increasing intensity and an ever-shortening amount of time between each contraction (pain) until the delivery takes place.
Hurricane Katrina; the tsunami in South Asia; earthquakes in a diversity of places; famines in Africa—these are all a part of God’s wake-up call to those who will listen. The birth pains/contractions that come as a baby is preparing for birth are a part of the announcement system that the child is on its way, that birth is about to occur.
Mark 13 is a parallel passage to Matthew 24. In Mark 13:8 Jesus answers the disciples’ same question with the same list and the statement regarding “birth pain.” And then Jesus says this, “You must be on your guard” (Mark 13:9). Those who are “on guard” are alert; they are discerning; they are prepared; they are not going to be caught unaware.
I believe that Katrina is one of the “sorrows” that Scripture speaks of and there will be more. When I see the devastation that covers such a huge geographic area, I am moved, and as a family we have helped and we will continue helping. But there is also a spiritual dimension to all this and I have found myself irritated at those who like to be called prophets and who quickly pronounce judgment on New Orleans (from the safety of their over-priced home or hotel room many hundreds of miles away). As I have tried to understand this disaster of a geographic size never before seen in America, I have come to the conclusion that this is not judgment. But it definitely is a sign that is pointing us to the increasing nearness of Christ’s return and the end of the age.
It is time to be alert, to be open and transparent with the Lord. Most likely, there will be more “sorrows”—possibly even worse than Katrina. God’s people who are “on guard” will be fine; God’s Spirit will walk us through those hours and we will experience His grace and power in fresh new ways. We are not to be fearful but we are to be faithful and faith-filled. We are not to be slumbering; rather, we are to be alert and focused on Him who can keep us in the midst of the fire, the flood, the hurricane, the earthquake…His name is Jesus and He’s my Lord and Savior. God’s people who are “on guard” are also ready to step in and help in any way they can: through prayer, through giving and through personal involvement in caring for the hurting.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Faith Brown
In 1967 my wife Carol and I joined David Wilkerson’s ministry in New York City to work with David in his burgeoning crusade ministry. A year later, two of Carol’s sisters moved to New York to be part of a new ministry called CURE Corps that David was setting up under the Teen Challenge ministry. Christian college students and recent graduates were being challenged to give a year of their life to minister in some of the worst sections of New York City. Carol’s sister Shari fulfilled her one year in CURE Corps, met her future husband, and continued on with her life. The second sister, Faith, came for the year—and ended up staying in New York for twenty years! When CURE Corps closed down after a few years, Faith and several others began their own ministry to inner-city families and high-school and college students in New York.
In 2000 in a book entitled An Uncommon Faith, my wife wrote about Faith’s early life and some of her challenges and adventures in developing the ministry in New York. Faith is a modern-day example of how God can use a young college graduate from Colorado to touch hundreds of lives caught in the trap of sin (drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, gang members) with the power of the Gospel. Her life is a tremendous example for us all; if God can use Faith Brown in such a powerful way, He can use you, too!
The ministry Faith helped establish continues to flourish to this day, an enduring testimony of her life and witness nearly twenty years after her death from cancer. This ministry is active on nearly forty high-school and college campuses and in many other areas of ministry in the “Big Apple.” On a regular basis we are going to feature some of Faith’s writings on this blog. For information on how to purchase a copy of An Uncommon Faith, send an e-mail to dpmn1999@aol.com and request information on the book. You can also request information on the New York ministry that Faith began and we will send that as well.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
"Sometimes I lift a lonely, neglected child onto my lap and pray to God that Jesus comes before I have to look into another set of such sad eyes. Sometimes I look at my own life with all its selfishness and indifference toward the things of God and I weep. But then I look to Jesus, my Solid Rock, my Friend who is closer than a mother, who also weeps with me, but now—now He is giving me a reassuring smile. My life is secure in His Hands. He is leading and guiding me. No one but the Lord can really share this burden. After all, He gave it to me, so it should just fit my spiritual shoulders—perfectly. If it’s too big, then I’m just not sharing it with Him like I should.
"Sometimes this coat of concern for the poor and despised gets heavy. I feel conspicuous, always wearing it and always defending them before the self-satisfied status quo. I want to take the coat off sometimes and exist in a secure, pleasant world. But Jesus reminds me that He put this coat on me and I must wear it until He removes it. And if it’s getting heavy, it’s probably because I’m carrying pride and self-pity in the pockets.
"I think Jesus wants to fashion a coat of concern for every Christian. All the coats won’t be alike but they will fit perfectly because they will be tailor-made. Only when you wear a coat can you appreciate the warmth and responsibility of someone else’s coat."
Written by
In 1967 my wife Carol and I joined David Wilkerson’s ministry in New York City to work with David in his burgeoning crusade ministry. A year later, two of Carol’s sisters moved to New York to be part of a new ministry called CURE Corps that David was setting up under the Teen Challenge ministry. Christian college students and recent graduates were being challenged to give a year of their life to minister in some of the worst sections of New York City. Carol’s sister Shari fulfilled her one year in CURE Corps, met her future husband, and continued on with her life. The second sister, Faith, came for the year—and ended up staying in New York for twenty years! When CURE Corps closed down after a few years, Faith and several others began their own ministry to inner-city families and high-school and college students in New York.
In 2000 in a book entitled An Uncommon Faith, my wife wrote about Faith’s early life and some of her challenges and adventures in developing the ministry in New York. Faith is a modern-day example of how God can use a young college graduate from Colorado to touch hundreds of lives caught in the trap of sin (drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, gang members) with the power of the Gospel. Her life is a tremendous example for us all; if God can use Faith Brown in such a powerful way, He can use you, too!
The ministry Faith helped establish continues to flourish to this day, an enduring testimony of her life and witness nearly twenty years after her death from cancer. This ministry is active on nearly forty high-school and college campuses and in many other areas of ministry in the “Big Apple.” On a regular basis we are going to feature some of Faith’s writings on this blog. For information on how to purchase a copy of An Uncommon Faith, send an e-mail to dpmn1999@aol.com and request information on the book. You can also request information on the New York ministry that Faith began and we will send that as well.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
"Sometimes I lift a lonely, neglected child onto my lap and pray to God that Jesus comes before I have to look into another set of such sad eyes. Sometimes I look at my own life with all its selfishness and indifference toward the things of God and I weep. But then I look to Jesus, my Solid Rock, my Friend who is closer than a mother, who also weeps with me, but now—now He is giving me a reassuring smile. My life is secure in His Hands. He is leading and guiding me. No one but the Lord can really share this burden. After all, He gave it to me, so it should just fit my spiritual shoulders—perfectly. If it’s too big, then I’m just not sharing it with Him like I should.
"Sometimes this coat of concern for the poor and despised gets heavy. I feel conspicuous, always wearing it and always defending them before the self-satisfied status quo. I want to take the coat off sometimes and exist in a secure, pleasant world. But Jesus reminds me that He put this coat on me and I must wear it until He removes it. And if it’s getting heavy, it’s probably because I’m carrying pride and self-pity in the pockets.
"I think Jesus wants to fashion a coat of concern for every Christian. All the coats won’t be alike but they will fit perfectly because they will be tailor-made. Only when you wear a coat can you appreciate the warmth and responsibility of someone else’s coat."
Written by
Faith Brown 1972
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
SOAKED AND GLAD OF IT!
In the previous portion of this epistle (I hesitate to call it a teaching) entitled “The Shield of Faith,” I talked about how Roman soldiers soaked their leather-covered shields before going into battle. In this way, when the enemy shot flaming arrows at them, instead of their wooden shield catching fire, the wet leather would extinguish the arrows.
As I thought about this, I realized this is a wonderful truth for daily living as a believer in a world that is becoming increasingly difficult. The picture of the soaked shield extinguishing the flaming arrows of the enemy has a very practical application for us.
First, we need to understand the definition of soaked. To be soaked means to be thoroughly saturated by immersion in water or another liquid.
The word picture that I believe Paul is wanting us to get is that when we are “soaked” as Christians, we then have a shield of faith that is a powerful defensive weapon and will quench the fiery darts that the enemy is shooting at us.
The question, then, is how to get “soaked” so that our shields are raised and ready for battle. I don’t think the answer is complicated or requires some kind of extreme sacrifice. I believe that “soaking” takes place when:
1. We are regularly immersed in the Word. I think we are talking about taking in the Word at least a few minutes a day.
2. We are regularly immersed in prayer. Most of us have commute times…maybe we can turn off the radio and the music for a few minutes and just talk to the Lord. Don’t worry about what people think, they’ll just think you are using your phone and you will be….to Heaven!
3. We are regularly immersed in worship. Worship is important, both at church and perhaps again during our quiet times. Some days I don’t feel like asking the Lord for a thing, all I want to do is worship Him. I give thanks and I sing…we have so much to be thankful for!
4. We are active in the Spirit and in our heavenly language. Again, it doesn’t have to be lengthy but regular and sincere and we activate the Spirit within us.
The alternative to being a “soaked” believer is not very attractive. I don’t want to think about trying to protect myself with a shield that would actually add to the ability of the fiery darts of the enemy to burn rather than extinguishing them
“Those who wait upon 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).
This is an Old Testament picture of “soaking.” It doesn’t mean to sit and wait and do nothing but, instead, the Hebrew meaning is “to look expectantly for and to entwine yourself with the object of your waiting.” When we read the Word, or pray or worship, what is the object of our attention? It is one person…the Lord Jesus!
I’m all wet and I intend to stay that way!
As I thought about this, I realized this is a wonderful truth for daily living as a believer in a world that is becoming increasingly difficult. The picture of the soaked shield extinguishing the flaming arrows of the enemy has a very practical application for us.
First, we need to understand the definition of soaked. To be soaked means to be thoroughly saturated by immersion in water or another liquid.
The word picture that I believe Paul is wanting us to get is that when we are “soaked” as Christians, we then have a shield of faith that is a powerful defensive weapon and will quench the fiery darts that the enemy is shooting at us.
The question, then, is how to get “soaked” so that our shields are raised and ready for battle. I don’t think the answer is complicated or requires some kind of extreme sacrifice. I believe that “soaking” takes place when:
1. We are regularly immersed in the Word. I think we are talking about taking in the Word at least a few minutes a day.
2. We are regularly immersed in prayer. Most of us have commute times…maybe we can turn off the radio and the music for a few minutes and just talk to the Lord. Don’t worry about what people think, they’ll just think you are using your phone and you will be….to Heaven!
3. We are regularly immersed in worship. Worship is important, both at church and perhaps again during our quiet times. Some days I don’t feel like asking the Lord for a thing, all I want to do is worship Him. I give thanks and I sing…we have so much to be thankful for!
4. We are active in the Spirit and in our heavenly language. Again, it doesn’t have to be lengthy but regular and sincere and we activate the Spirit within us.
The alternative to being a “soaked” believer is not very attractive. I don’t want to think about trying to protect myself with a shield that would actually add to the ability of the fiery darts of the enemy to burn rather than extinguishing them
“Those who wait upon 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).
This is an Old Testament picture of “soaking.” It doesn’t mean to sit and wait and do nothing but, instead, the Hebrew meaning is “to look expectantly for and to entwine yourself with the object of your waiting.” When we read the Word, or pray or worship, what is the object of our attention? It is one person…the Lord Jesus!
I’m all wet and I intend to stay that way!
Friday, August 17, 2007
THE SHIELD OF FAITH
Recently I have been strongly impressed to read and reread Ephesians 6:10-20. This is Paul’s famous teaching on putting on the armor of God and there are a couple of key thoughts that I want to draw out for you.
Over and over in the passage we are exhorted to “stand.” The foundation of a building is firmly set in place; it is fixed and is not going to be moved. Paul is telling us to be immovable like that. In verse 13, the Greek word that is used for “withstand” is the word from which we derive the word “antihistamine.” This suggests a vigorous opposing, to put a block on something, standing face to face with your adversary and not giving any ground. Or as the crazy man in the movie “Network” yelled out the window, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
We are told to put on the armor of God and that takes conscious action on our part. We need to be in transparent relation with the Lord through our communication with Him and the pattern of how we live our lives. When we are in clear communication with Him and living in a manner that is pleasing Him, then we are putting on His armor and it is protecting us. By the way, putting on the armor is a one-time act and from then on we make sure it is in place. None of this silliness about “daily putting on the armor.” So what happens to it that you have to put it on daily—does it fall off when you sleep? Is the armor of God so fragile that it falls off when you least expect it? I think not!
“…Taking up the shield of faith” (v.16). Again, this is something we do. We do this by our confidence in Him and our declaration of that confidence in prayer. My wife and I often pray this way, “Lord, we raise up the shield of faith over and around our family, the shield of faith that quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Now let me help you understand what Paul was saying when he uttered these words about the shield of faith.
What Paul had in mind was very much like the shield that a Roman soldier carried. It was about four-and-a-half feet long and about two feet wide. The Romans introduced a strategy into warfare that, at its time, revolutionized how warfare was done. A Roman company of about 150 men, each of them carrying a sword and shield, would go into battle in a tight rectangle formation. When they came under attack, they would each put their shields into place, some to the sides, some to the front, some to the back and some over their heads. The company became a solid block covered on all sides and over the top and they would move forward or backward in unison. The shields were covered in leather and before the Romans went into a fight, they would soak their shields in water so that when the enemy shot fiery arrows at them, the wet leather would not burn. When the Romans introduced this kind of tactic to their armies, it revolutionized warfare. They called this rectangle a “tortoise” (turtle). They weren’t fast but they got the job done and devastated the enemy.
In times of stress, when we feel like we are being attacked, we are to take up the shield of faith and know that the fiery darts of the enemy are being extinguished. It may not always look like it but the victory is ours.
More about the shield in the next post.
Over and over in the passage we are exhorted to “stand.” The foundation of a building is firmly set in place; it is fixed and is not going to be moved. Paul is telling us to be immovable like that. In verse 13, the Greek word that is used for “withstand” is the word from which we derive the word “antihistamine.” This suggests a vigorous opposing, to put a block on something, standing face to face with your adversary and not giving any ground. Or as the crazy man in the movie “Network” yelled out the window, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
We are told to put on the armor of God and that takes conscious action on our part. We need to be in transparent relation with the Lord through our communication with Him and the pattern of how we live our lives. When we are in clear communication with Him and living in a manner that is pleasing Him, then we are putting on His armor and it is protecting us. By the way, putting on the armor is a one-time act and from then on we make sure it is in place. None of this silliness about “daily putting on the armor.” So what happens to it that you have to put it on daily—does it fall off when you sleep? Is the armor of God so fragile that it falls off when you least expect it? I think not!
“…Taking up the shield of faith” (v.16). Again, this is something we do. We do this by our confidence in Him and our declaration of that confidence in prayer. My wife and I often pray this way, “Lord, we raise up the shield of faith over and around our family, the shield of faith that quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Now let me help you understand what Paul was saying when he uttered these words about the shield of faith.
What Paul had in mind was very much like the shield that a Roman soldier carried. It was about four-and-a-half feet long and about two feet wide. The Romans introduced a strategy into warfare that, at its time, revolutionized how warfare was done. A Roman company of about 150 men, each of them carrying a sword and shield, would go into battle in a tight rectangle formation. When they came under attack, they would each put their shields into place, some to the sides, some to the front, some to the back and some over their heads. The company became a solid block covered on all sides and over the top and they would move forward or backward in unison. The shields were covered in leather and before the Romans went into a fight, they would soak their shields in water so that when the enemy shot fiery arrows at them, the wet leather would not burn. When the Romans introduced this kind of tactic to their armies, it revolutionized warfare. They called this rectangle a “tortoise” (turtle). They weren’t fast but they got the job done and devastated the enemy.
In times of stress, when we feel like we are being attacked, we are to take up the shield of faith and know that the fiery darts of the enemy are being extinguished. It may not always look like it but the victory is ours.
More about the shield in the next post.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
IS THE CHURCH RELEVANT TO ME?
“And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities. Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together (as believers), as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25, Amplified Bible).
I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to. From the late sixties through to the early nineties, sometimes I was on the road as many as 150 days a year. In the years I was with David Wilkerson (sixties and seventies), I traveled more than at any other time. It was the peak of David’s public ministry; The Cross and the Switchblade book was a runaway best seller, the movie based on the book was a huge hit, and David’s crusades throughout the U.S. and Canada were drawing crowds as large as anyone except Billy Graham. We traveled hard in those days. It was not unusual for the crusade team to be on the road for ten days, home for ten days and then out again for ten days. It was exhilarating and tiring at the same time.
We lived in Dallas from 1971 to 1974 and our family attended a local church. I experienced something during this time that really helped me put a value on my personal understanding of what the local church means to me.
I would come off a crusade road trip exhausted and glad to be home with my family. My wife is the greatest and always kept our home and young children safe and in order (well mostly). Carol has always been very supportive of my ministry; she knew that I was doing what I was born to do.
The church we attended was a medium-sized congregation and we had lots of friends there. The pastor was a wonderful man with just one flaw: while he was a good pastor, I just didn’t really enjoy his preaching. I would arrive home from a trip having been in crusade services every night for sometimes ten days in a row and I found myself finding fault with the pastor’s preaching. After a while I decided that rather than become critical, I simply would not go to church that often while I was home. I told Carol that I was just too tired and I would stay home and pray and study on my own. And I did just that.
Several months went by and I rarely went to a Sunday morning service at our home church. Slowly, an awareness developed in my mind and I realized that my spiritual life was slipping. This mystified me: I was busy faithfully serving the Lord and I loved Him just as much as ever. I was not living in sin and I was participating in crusade rallies ten to fifteen nights a month…so how could this be?
As I thought and prayed about what was happening to me, I came to a startling conclusion. I realized that I needed the church far more than it needed me.
1. There is a spiritual release that comes when we submit to the authority of the local assembly. I am not talking about any kind of cultic practice where the church dominates your life and tells you what to do about everything. However, God gives pastors spiritual authority and when they are doing what they are supposed to do, the people are under that authority and it is releasing to the congregation. It really doesn’t matter if the pastor is a great preacher…God will honor his calling as a pastor, anyway. I never again gave place to that critical spirit that would try and manifest itself. I submitted myself to the ministry of the pastor leading this congregation.
2. I need the fellowship of brothers and sisters in the Lord who can encourage, help, and correct me, if necessary. I wasn’t getting that as a part of a crusade team because we were all employees and the dynamic is different. I needed to be a part of the koinonia (Greek for fellowship).
3. I need to be able to contribute of my time, talent, and treasure to the local fellowship. There is a wonderful spiritual dynamic that is released in the life of believers who are active and involved in the ministry of the local church and we are the ones doing “the work of the ministry.” In Ephesians 4:12 we are taught that leadership’s responsibility is to equip the saints (that’s you and me) for the work of the ministry. The word “equip” in classical Greek is a medical word that was most commonly used in referring to setting a broken or displaced bone back in its proper place. When the bone is put back, there is a tremendous sense of relief or “rightness” because the bone is not out of joint. When we are doing what we are supposed to be doing in the church, that same sense of “rightness” is released in our lives.
I am not legalistic about church attendance but I have found the value in being a part of and faithful to a local church. Where you fellowship is not that important as long as the church is faithful to the fundamentals of the faith. I have no time for people who run around from church to church looking for the latest “blessing” and as soon as a new church opens up with a preacher who has a hot new approach, there they are. People who run around from church to church do not value what the church is and the important part that it can play in their lives. They are children and they need to grow up!
I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to. From the late sixties through to the early nineties, sometimes I was on the road as many as 150 days a year. In the years I was with David Wilkerson (sixties and seventies), I traveled more than at any other time. It was the peak of David’s public ministry; The Cross and the Switchblade book was a runaway best seller, the movie based on the book was a huge hit, and David’s crusades throughout the U.S. and Canada were drawing crowds as large as anyone except Billy Graham. We traveled hard in those days. It was not unusual for the crusade team to be on the road for ten days, home for ten days and then out again for ten days. It was exhilarating and tiring at the same time.
We lived in Dallas from 1971 to 1974 and our family attended a local church. I experienced something during this time that really helped me put a value on my personal understanding of what the local church means to me.
I would come off a crusade road trip exhausted and glad to be home with my family. My wife is the greatest and always kept our home and young children safe and in order (well mostly). Carol has always been very supportive of my ministry; she knew that I was doing what I was born to do.
The church we attended was a medium-sized congregation and we had lots of friends there. The pastor was a wonderful man with just one flaw: while he was a good pastor, I just didn’t really enjoy his preaching. I would arrive home from a trip having been in crusade services every night for sometimes ten days in a row and I found myself finding fault with the pastor’s preaching. After a while I decided that rather than become critical, I simply would not go to church that often while I was home. I told Carol that I was just too tired and I would stay home and pray and study on my own. And I did just that.
Several months went by and I rarely went to a Sunday morning service at our home church. Slowly, an awareness developed in my mind and I realized that my spiritual life was slipping. This mystified me: I was busy faithfully serving the Lord and I loved Him just as much as ever. I was not living in sin and I was participating in crusade rallies ten to fifteen nights a month…so how could this be?
As I thought and prayed about what was happening to me, I came to a startling conclusion. I realized that I needed the church far more than it needed me.
1. There is a spiritual release that comes when we submit to the authority of the local assembly. I am not talking about any kind of cultic practice where the church dominates your life and tells you what to do about everything. However, God gives pastors spiritual authority and when they are doing what they are supposed to do, the people are under that authority and it is releasing to the congregation. It really doesn’t matter if the pastor is a great preacher…God will honor his calling as a pastor, anyway. I never again gave place to that critical spirit that would try and manifest itself. I submitted myself to the ministry of the pastor leading this congregation.
2. I need the fellowship of brothers and sisters in the Lord who can encourage, help, and correct me, if necessary. I wasn’t getting that as a part of a crusade team because we were all employees and the dynamic is different. I needed to be a part of the koinonia (Greek for fellowship).
3. I need to be able to contribute of my time, talent, and treasure to the local fellowship. There is a wonderful spiritual dynamic that is released in the life of believers who are active and involved in the ministry of the local church and we are the ones doing “the work of the ministry.” In Ephesians 4:12 we are taught that leadership’s responsibility is to equip the saints (that’s you and me) for the work of the ministry. The word “equip” in classical Greek is a medical word that was most commonly used in referring to setting a broken or displaced bone back in its proper place. When the bone is put back, there is a tremendous sense of relief or “rightness” because the bone is not out of joint. When we are doing what we are supposed to be doing in the church, that same sense of “rightness” is released in our lives.
I am not legalistic about church attendance but I have found the value in being a part of and faithful to a local church. Where you fellowship is not that important as long as the church is faithful to the fundamentals of the faith. I have no time for people who run around from church to church looking for the latest “blessing” and as soon as a new church opens up with a preacher who has a hot new approach, there they are. People who run around from church to church do not value what the church is and the important part that it can play in their lives. They are children and they need to grow up!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Ancient Ways
RETURNING TO THE ANCIENT WAYS
My son in law and I were talking a couple of weeks ago and he relayed to me the statement that an acquaintance of ours had made about “returning to the ancient ways,” referring to the way they served Christ in the first century. More than once I have heard statements like, “Wouldn’t it have been great to live in the time of the first century church!” I heard this first as a boy in western Canada and later, quite often, during my travels of the last four decades.
At its core, this statement is an honest expression of desire for more of God’s power and presence in our lives. There is a certain wistfulness in the desire to somehow be freed from the trappings of the complicated living of today and moved backward to a simpler time. Actually, there is a way for that to happen. It could be accomplished pretty much by moving to some area of the world, like a remote corner of China, where the development of the church and Christianity, the elevated persecution, and the more simple culture would be similar to what it was like in first century Palestine.
Palestine in the first century was really not that great a place to live—interesting, yes, but a nice place to live? No! It was a poor country; it was under the thumb of the Roman Empire; it was cauldron of religious revolt; and there were frequent uprisings that the Roman army put down with extreme violence and bloodshed. The economy of the area was weak but the average Jew paid close to 40 percent of his income to the tax collectors and to the temple in tithe. Life was not that great! In 70 AD and again in 132 AD, the Roman army moved in and the first time destroyed most of Jerusalem and the temple. In 132 AD a false messiah inspired a rebellion in Jerusalem, and the Romans completed the task of destroying the city and the nation essentially ceased to exist. Not a great time to be alive and living in that part of the world.
In John 4 Jesus had an encounter with a woman at a well in Samaria. This encounter was remarkable on several levels:
1. The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other and good Jews went out of their way not to go through Samaria, which was a part of Palestine. Was Jesus going against "the way things were" again?
2. A Jewish rabbi (teacher) did not talk to a Samaritan woman in public.
3. The unusual turn the conversation took after Jesus engaged the woman in conversation and essentially laid bare the wasted life she was living. The woman responded by saying in verse 19, “You are a prophet” and then went on to say, “We Samaritans worship at our temple on Mt. Gerizim and you Jews worship at your temple in Jerusalem.” The unspoken part of the woman’s statement was: “Where is the right place to worship?”
Jesus response was, succinctly put, “Setting is not the issue. God is a spirit and they that worship Him will worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
The romantic wistfulness of saying, “I want to get back to the ‘ways of the ancients’” or “I’ve got to identify with the ‘True Church’” is an expression of an unfulfilled hunger for more of Him.
At their worst, these are trivial cover- up expressions designed to exploit a self-willed approach to worship. At their best, they are an expression of a deep hunger to follow God that can never be fulfilled through something as mundane as changing your denomination or as childish as “going back to the ways of the ancients.”
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24 (NIV).
My son in law and I were talking a couple of weeks ago and he relayed to me the statement that an acquaintance of ours had made about “returning to the ancient ways,” referring to the way they served Christ in the first century. More than once I have heard statements like, “Wouldn’t it have been great to live in the time of the first century church!” I heard this first as a boy in western Canada and later, quite often, during my travels of the last four decades.
At its core, this statement is an honest expression of desire for more of God’s power and presence in our lives. There is a certain wistfulness in the desire to somehow be freed from the trappings of the complicated living of today and moved backward to a simpler time. Actually, there is a way for that to happen. It could be accomplished pretty much by moving to some area of the world, like a remote corner of China, where the development of the church and Christianity, the elevated persecution, and the more simple culture would be similar to what it was like in first century Palestine.
Palestine in the first century was really not that great a place to live—interesting, yes, but a nice place to live? No! It was a poor country; it was under the thumb of the Roman Empire; it was cauldron of religious revolt; and there were frequent uprisings that the Roman army put down with extreme violence and bloodshed. The economy of the area was weak but the average Jew paid close to 40 percent of his income to the tax collectors and to the temple in tithe. Life was not that great! In 70 AD and again in 132 AD, the Roman army moved in and the first time destroyed most of Jerusalem and the temple. In 132 AD a false messiah inspired a rebellion in Jerusalem, and the Romans completed the task of destroying the city and the nation essentially ceased to exist. Not a great time to be alive and living in that part of the world.
In John 4 Jesus had an encounter with a woman at a well in Samaria. This encounter was remarkable on several levels:
1. The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other and good Jews went out of their way not to go through Samaria, which was a part of Palestine. Was Jesus going against "the way things were" again?
2. A Jewish rabbi (teacher) did not talk to a Samaritan woman in public.
3. The unusual turn the conversation took after Jesus engaged the woman in conversation and essentially laid bare the wasted life she was living. The woman responded by saying in verse 19, “You are a prophet” and then went on to say, “We Samaritans worship at our temple on Mt. Gerizim and you Jews worship at your temple in Jerusalem.” The unspoken part of the woman’s statement was: “Where is the right place to worship?”
Jesus response was, succinctly put, “Setting is not the issue. God is a spirit and they that worship Him will worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
The romantic wistfulness of saying, “I want to get back to the ‘ways of the ancients’” or “I’ve got to identify with the ‘True Church’” is an expression of an unfulfilled hunger for more of Him.
At their worst, these are trivial cover- up expressions designed to exploit a self-willed approach to worship. At their best, they are an expression of a deep hunger to follow God that can never be fulfilled through something as mundane as changing your denomination or as childish as “going back to the ways of the ancients.”
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24 (NIV).
Friday, August 3, 2007
It ain't easy being green!
“IT AIN’T EASY BEING GREEN”
- Kermit the Frog -
The world community had to be convinced that something catastrophic was happening before it arrived at where we are today, going “green.” The terrible turn of events, i.e. global warming, was presented as being fatal to mankind’s future, mankind was the primary culprit, and a significant number of people accepted that premise. Now global warming has become a “cause célèbre” with politicians and the media mongers of the entertainment world riding their spurt of “newsworthiness” for all it is worth.
We learn a lot of lessons about the future from the past. I am not yet fully convinced that global warming is as dangerous as is being presented. I believe that we have a neglected responsibility toward the environment and that the present “panic” could bring needed changes and attention. I cannot separate from my mind the cycles of history any more than I can change the cycles of the seasons. Summer is always followed by fall and then winter and then spring and back to summer. Is it possible that we are in a warming trend, a part of a cycle that will soon peak and then the earth will cool again? Does anyone remember that in 1975 Newsweek magazine ran a major article entitled “The Cooling World”? One of the assertions in the article was “the evidence in support of these predictions (of global cooling) has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard pressed to keep up with it.” Also in 1975, the New York Times published an article, “A Major Cooling Widely Considered Inevitable.” My, how times, or perhaps the cycles, have changed.
In 1517 Martin Luther wrote his famous “95 Theses” and launched the Protestant Reformation. What tipped Luther over the edge was the “selling” of indulgences. The Holy Roman Church had empowered a man by the name of Johann Tetzel to raise money for a new cathedral by “selling” indulgences. A person could buy an indulgence for himself or for a family member or friend that had died. Indulgences, which were granted by the pope, forgave individual sinners not for their sins but for the punishment applied to those sins. The sale of indulgences became very big business. Imagine, sin with no consequences! What a sales pitch that would make! Luther especially objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
The church had taught their congregants to be fearful of the eternal results of unpardoned sin. Someone saw in that resident fear a wonderful opportunity to fund an ambitious building program. The pope signed off on the idea and Johann Tetzel was empowered to take the message to the masses. When Tetzel arrived with his scheme in Germany, the already cantankerous Luther saw this for what it was: a heretical money-raising scam—and the revolution was on.
A few weeks ago my wife and I were watching a news magazine program (I don’t remember which one). A couple with two children was being interviewed about the reason for their purchasing “carbon offsets.” I listened intently as the husband explained that they were taking a vacation trip flying from Chicago to London. Being very concerned about their “carbon imprint,” they found out how much carbon would be deposited into the atmosphere by a flight of that distance for a family of four and then they purchased “offsets” from a carbon offset supplier. I later found out that “offset” money goes toward the planting of trees or is invested in alternative energy supply. A growing point of concern is how much of that money actually ends up being used in preserving the environment.
I have a question for the “green” crowd. If you are that concerned about the environment and the “impact” of your activities, then why take the trip at all? Why have a car? Why have air-conditioning? Why take trips on airplanes? Why not stay home and go to one of the great lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma or Arkansas? Of course, that won’t happen because that would be inconvenient!
The global warming congregation has finally succeeded in scaring a lot of highly impressionable people. If you cry, “The sky is falling” long enough, some will get on the bandwagon with you, and we have watched that happen. We have watched the Gore momentum rise dramatically in the last couple of years.
I believe we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the world we live in. Is there room for improvement?—absolutely! Am I going to wipe my nose on my sleeve or use one square of toilet tissue per bathroom visit?—absolutely not! Are there charlatans and scam artists riding the “fear” of environmental disaster?—absolutely!
I am not convinced that global warming is “fait accompli.” This is not the first time the earth has warmed only to be followed by a cooling trend or an Ice Age. Let’s be the best stewards we can be of our world. But if the “green” crowd is really going to be “green,” they need to shut up with the rhetoric and start being “green”—and stop buying offsets to release them from the guilt of hypocrisy.
It ain’t easy being green!
- Kermit the Frog -
The world community had to be convinced that something catastrophic was happening before it arrived at where we are today, going “green.” The terrible turn of events, i.e. global warming, was presented as being fatal to mankind’s future, mankind was the primary culprit, and a significant number of people accepted that premise. Now global warming has become a “cause célèbre” with politicians and the media mongers of the entertainment world riding their spurt of “newsworthiness” for all it is worth.
We learn a lot of lessons about the future from the past. I am not yet fully convinced that global warming is as dangerous as is being presented. I believe that we have a neglected responsibility toward the environment and that the present “panic” could bring needed changes and attention. I cannot separate from my mind the cycles of history any more than I can change the cycles of the seasons. Summer is always followed by fall and then winter and then spring and back to summer. Is it possible that we are in a warming trend, a part of a cycle that will soon peak and then the earth will cool again? Does anyone remember that in 1975 Newsweek magazine ran a major article entitled “The Cooling World”? One of the assertions in the article was “the evidence in support of these predictions (of global cooling) has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard pressed to keep up with it.” Also in 1975, the New York Times published an article, “A Major Cooling Widely Considered Inevitable.” My, how times, or perhaps the cycles, have changed.
In 1517 Martin Luther wrote his famous “95 Theses” and launched the Protestant Reformation. What tipped Luther over the edge was the “selling” of indulgences. The Holy Roman Church had empowered a man by the name of Johann Tetzel to raise money for a new cathedral by “selling” indulgences. A person could buy an indulgence for himself or for a family member or friend that had died. Indulgences, which were granted by the pope, forgave individual sinners not for their sins but for the punishment applied to those sins. The sale of indulgences became very big business. Imagine, sin with no consequences! What a sales pitch that would make! Luther especially objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
The church had taught their congregants to be fearful of the eternal results of unpardoned sin. Someone saw in that resident fear a wonderful opportunity to fund an ambitious building program. The pope signed off on the idea and Johann Tetzel was empowered to take the message to the masses. When Tetzel arrived with his scheme in Germany, the already cantankerous Luther saw this for what it was: a heretical money-raising scam—and the revolution was on.
A few weeks ago my wife and I were watching a news magazine program (I don’t remember which one). A couple with two children was being interviewed about the reason for their purchasing “carbon offsets.” I listened intently as the husband explained that they were taking a vacation trip flying from Chicago to London. Being very concerned about their “carbon imprint,” they found out how much carbon would be deposited into the atmosphere by a flight of that distance for a family of four and then they purchased “offsets” from a carbon offset supplier. I later found out that “offset” money goes toward the planting of trees or is invested in alternative energy supply. A growing point of concern is how much of that money actually ends up being used in preserving the environment.
I have a question for the “green” crowd. If you are that concerned about the environment and the “impact” of your activities, then why take the trip at all? Why have a car? Why have air-conditioning? Why take trips on airplanes? Why not stay home and go to one of the great lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma or Arkansas? Of course, that won’t happen because that would be inconvenient!
The global warming congregation has finally succeeded in scaring a lot of highly impressionable people. If you cry, “The sky is falling” long enough, some will get on the bandwagon with you, and we have watched that happen. We have watched the Gore momentum rise dramatically in the last couple of years.
I believe we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the world we live in. Is there room for improvement?—absolutely! Am I going to wipe my nose on my sleeve or use one square of toilet tissue per bathroom visit?—absolutely not! Are there charlatans and scam artists riding the “fear” of environmental disaster?—absolutely!
I am not convinced that global warming is “fait accompli.” This is not the first time the earth has warmed only to be followed by a cooling trend or an Ice Age. Let’s be the best stewards we can be of our world. But if the “green” crowd is really going to be “green,” they need to shut up with the rhetoric and start being “green”—and stop buying offsets to release them from the guilt of hypocrisy.
It ain’t easy being green!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
GIDEON
Judges 6:1-12
“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
The angel uttered these words in verse12 and for a moment the earth stopped in its orbit, the wind died, and birds stopped chirping…the world went silent and still. This was an angel of heaven talking to the wimp in the hole in the ground and calling him a “mighty man of valor.” All of nature knew that something was going on here because, in the natural, Gideon was about as far removed from being a man of valor as one could be.
The year was about 1256 BC and the Midianites were making life miserable for the Jewish nation. In the roughly 200 years since Joshua had led the victorious nation into the promised land, Israel had turned from their wholehearted devotion to Jehovah and become stubborn, rebellious and compromised. Israel was given opportunity after opportunity to make things rights and like a pig, they returned to the mud and grime of disobedient living. Out of the desert came a raiding tribe of nomads, the Midianites. They were cruel, relentless raiders who were so persistent in devastating the Jews that they finally drove them into hiding. The Jews lived in constant fear of the Midianite raiders.
Gideon was in a winepress (essentially a large hole in the ground) trying to thresh enough wheat to feed his family. Threshing by hand required a little wind so that as the kernels of wheat were separated from the stock, they would fall to the ground and the breeze would blow away the chaff. A simple lesson of life is that you don’t thresh wheat in a hole in the ground and that’s what Gideon was trying to do. There was no wind down there and it was a mess.
I think when the angel uttered these words he had to stifle a laugh, because the scene before him was not that of Davy Crockett at the Alamo or General George Patton charging up his troops for the push into Germany in WWII. It was more like Pee Wee Herman playing in a sandbox. The incongruity of the depiction of Gideon as a “mighty man of valor” and the obvious timidity and fright of the man in the winepress (hole in the ground) was startling.
When I graduated from college I had no idea where I would fit in working in God’s Kingdom. It seemed like I learned to find where God wanted me to be by listening to the no’s that came to me from heaven. Several churches extended invitations for us to join their staff but as we prayed, heaven would say, “No, that’s not for you.” To make a long story even longer (I jest), we have always followed the doors that were open. And as the Lord said to go or at least didn’t say no, one thing has led to another and to another and to another.
One of the things that I have learned over the years is that it is often easier for others to see your potential than it is for you to see it in yourself. David Wilkerson gave me much encouragement in this area. David saw where my gifts were when I couldn’t see them for myself and gently moved me into areas of administration and leadership that I didn’t think I would ever be good at.
When the angel stood on the edge of the hole and looked down at Pee Wee threshing wheat, covered in dust, dirt and sweat, that is not what he saw. Yes, that was what was standing there but what the angel saw by faith was the man that God would use to lead Israel out of the pit they were in and into freedom. God didn’t need a John Wayne who had his act so together that he didn’t really need anyone but himself. God wanted a man who had no confidence in his flesh and simply wanted to please the Lord. That was the man that the angel saw in the hole. God sees us not as we are but as we can be!
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NIV).
That means God can use me, He can use you—He can use all of us!
Judges 6:1-12
“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
The angel uttered these words in verse12 and for a moment the earth stopped in its orbit, the wind died, and birds stopped chirping…the world went silent and still. This was an angel of heaven talking to the wimp in the hole in the ground and calling him a “mighty man of valor.” All of nature knew that something was going on here because, in the natural, Gideon was about as far removed from being a man of valor as one could be.
The year was about 1256 BC and the Midianites were making life miserable for the Jewish nation. In the roughly 200 years since Joshua had led the victorious nation into the promised land, Israel had turned from their wholehearted devotion to Jehovah and become stubborn, rebellious and compromised. Israel was given opportunity after opportunity to make things rights and like a pig, they returned to the mud and grime of disobedient living. Out of the desert came a raiding tribe of nomads, the Midianites. They were cruel, relentless raiders who were so persistent in devastating the Jews that they finally drove them into hiding. The Jews lived in constant fear of the Midianite raiders.
Gideon was in a winepress (essentially a large hole in the ground) trying to thresh enough wheat to feed his family. Threshing by hand required a little wind so that as the kernels of wheat were separated from the stock, they would fall to the ground and the breeze would blow away the chaff. A simple lesson of life is that you don’t thresh wheat in a hole in the ground and that’s what Gideon was trying to do. There was no wind down there and it was a mess.
I think when the angel uttered these words he had to stifle a laugh, because the scene before him was not that of Davy Crockett at the Alamo or General George Patton charging up his troops for the push into Germany in WWII. It was more like Pee Wee Herman playing in a sandbox. The incongruity of the depiction of Gideon as a “mighty man of valor” and the obvious timidity and fright of the man in the winepress (hole in the ground) was startling.
When I graduated from college I had no idea where I would fit in working in God’s Kingdom. It seemed like I learned to find where God wanted me to be by listening to the no’s that came to me from heaven. Several churches extended invitations for us to join their staff but as we prayed, heaven would say, “No, that’s not for you.” To make a long story even longer (I jest), we have always followed the doors that were open. And as the Lord said to go or at least didn’t say no, one thing has led to another and to another and to another.
One of the things that I have learned over the years is that it is often easier for others to see your potential than it is for you to see it in yourself. David Wilkerson gave me much encouragement in this area. David saw where my gifts were when I couldn’t see them for myself and gently moved me into areas of administration and leadership that I didn’t think I would ever be good at.
When the angel stood on the edge of the hole and looked down at Pee Wee threshing wheat, covered in dust, dirt and sweat, that is not what he saw. Yes, that was what was standing there but what the angel saw by faith was the man that God would use to lead Israel out of the pit they were in and into freedom. God didn’t need a John Wayne who had his act so together that he didn’t really need anyone but himself. God wanted a man who had no confidence in his flesh and simply wanted to please the Lord. That was the man that the angel saw in the hole. God sees us not as we are but as we can be!
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NIV).
That means God can use me, He can use you—He can use all of us!
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