Saturday, September 27, 2008

MAN ON THE RUN

“O” was a man on the run. He had robbed his boss, run away from his job, and was “on the lam”— running from the law. In many ways, O was like the postmodern generation that is now reshaping the cultural landscape of our world. They are not committed to much of anything—not to their jobs, and not to the sanctity of marriage. They are willing to jettison at a moment’s notice pretty much anything from the past that asks for commitment. Their word is not their bond and loyalty is not a concept they embrace tightly. They are a generation on the move, on the run. They are running away from themselves and from anything that smacks of responsibility. They are also a generation that is running and hiding from the law. Illegal drug use among postmodernists is at an all-time high, and cheating on work, cheating on loved ones, and cheating on marriage is pandemic.

O was such a man. Who was he? His name is Onesimus and in many ways he is the central character in one the shortest books in the Bible, Philemon. O was a servant in the employ of Philemon and he had robbed his employer, broken his word, and run away. What he did was illegal and that meant he was on the run from the law, from his employer and from his past.

Paul’s letter to Philemon is an appeal and a statement, written from one friend to another. Paul wrote to his friend to say that O was with him in Rome. Philemon lived several hundred miles away in Colosse and the Colossian church met in his house.

We really don’t know how O ended up in Rome and how he connected with Paul. So let me speculate. Paul had never been to Colosse, but it’s possible that Philemon had come to Ephesus and that Paul had led him to faith in Jesus Christ. Since the Colossian church met in Philemon’s home, I am certain that O had heard a lot of teaching on Jesus and the Christian life and most likely he had heard Paul’s name referred to again and again.

Is it possible that O was running away because he was trying to get to something that he found attractive and yet could not get there where he was? I think it is feasible that he found the message of Jesus compelling and was drawn to it, but for some reason was unable to respond while still in Colosse. So he ran away to get to the message of life!

There is a fascinating amount of wordplay in this short book. The name Onesimus means “useful.” When Paul refers to O in verse 11, he first describes him as “[he]who once was unprofitable” or useless. The verse goes on, “but now [is] profitable to you and to me.” The man whose name meant “useful” had never lived up to his name. Instead, he had been useless but now had become useful. What an incredible statement! What had taken place?

Again we are only given glimpses but they lead us to some conclusions. Either Paul or one of his team in Rome had led O to faith in Jesus and he had experienced the power of the gospel. His conversion was so strong and so complete that his “before” and “after” life stood in sharp contrast to each other. His absolutely useless life and behavior has been transformed by the power of God into a life that Paul describes as profitable, useful.

Perhaps we need to be reminded again of the power of God that is unleashed when we share the gospel with someone. Paul said it this way to the church at Rome, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The word power in the Greek is dunamis, from which the word dynamite is derived.

The unleashing of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ in O’s life had blasted him out of his old life and into the fullness of a new and profitable life in Christ. “The old is gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I do not fully embrace a lot of the theories and thinking kicking around in the church today. These theories analyze the culture and project it onto the presentation of the gospel. I do agree that a lot of the methodology of the past is no longer relevant and I fully understand that. What I do not agree with is the limp-wristed presentation of the message of the gospel that is prevalent in many churches. Is it any wonder that many in the church are confused and nearly 40 percent of evangelicals think that Jesus is not the only way to get to God? When the message is so watered down that there is no way for people to respond, that is just clearly wrong. Has the gospel lost its power? No, but some of the messengers have lost their way!

The testimony of Onesimus is that the gospel of Jesus Christ can change a life completely. A life that by all accounts was wasted and useless can be completely changed by the power of God. The useless life becomes a life of focus, meaning and usefulness.

Every time you share the gospel, the potential exists that the dynamite of God’s power will envelope that person. Go ahead, light the fuse!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

RED DAWN

Red Dawn is a 1984 war film about a fictional invasion of the United States by the Soviet Union and Cuba, and the resulting guerrilla actions of a group of high school students in a little town in Colorado. The fictional adventure movie was not a giant hit at the box office but 24 years later it has become a staple on the action/adventure cable movie channels.

The title of the movie is actually lifted from a passage of Scripture, Matthew 16:1-3: “The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.'”

As a boy growing up on the west coast of Canada, I heard the following saying repeated dozens and dozens of times by my parents.

“Red sky at night, sailors delight! Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning!”

Again this saying is lifted from the same passage of Scripture as the title of the movie.

It’s time for the Laodicean church (that’s us, the end-time church) to understand that the night is almost over, the dawn is breaking, the sky is red and we are not alert—we are not ready!

I wonder what is needed in the church of today to re-sensitize us to the stormy weather that is in our immediate future. What will it take to get the western church to behave as though they are actually a vibrant, living New Testament church?

Let me ask the question another way. How do you awaken someone who is soundly asleep? Maybe they have overslept and you have the wonderful task of awakening them. How do you do that? Do you begin to softly sing a gentle lullaby? Do you just slowly open the drapes and let the light into the room? Sound sleepers usually awaken only when they are prodded or spoken to sharply. Sound sleepers are generally unmoved by gentle, nurturing sounds and touches.

Am I suggesting that the church is asleep? Yes! Yes, I am! I can hear the sound of snoring from here!

I have mentioned frequently that I live in what is considered the buckle of the Bible Belt. Within two miles of my home is one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the nation with an estimated 17,000 in attendance on the average Sunday. Within 15 miles of our home are at least a dozen evangelical churches that consistently average between 5,000 and 10,000 or more in attendance.

Could you guess how many times our home has been reached out to in any kind of evangelistic effort from these bastions of successful “Christendom”? We have lived here for nine years. Have you made your guess yet? Let me make it easy on you…the answer is zero. I am not aware of any church in the area that actually reaches out to the people of the surrounding neighborhoods! Sure, they send out the occasional mailing announcing a new spectacular sermon/teaching series or inviting us to their Easter musical. The majority of these churches are so concerned about lost souls that they never give an altar call, not ever!

Asleep? No, the churches here are comatose! They have gorged themselves on the fallacy called transfer growth. They have cannibalized hundreds of smaller churches and because they have become large, they actually think they are fulfilling the great commission. What is it going to take to awaken those who have fallen asleep doing the work of God?

I am taking a fresh look at something Jesus said about the end times. In Luke 21:23, Jesus speaks of there being distress in the land. The word distress as it is used here means necessity imposed by external circumstances, including the lack of material things.

Let me pose some additional questions to you. If God loves His people and the church, would He be willing to orchestrate end-time events in such a way that prod the church awake? Would God bring pressure and circumstances to bear on the church to jerk it out of its sleepwalking? How did God deal with Israel when they failed to live up to His plan for them? Did God withhold painful circumstances from Israel? Would God treat us differently?

Is it possible that the primary reason for the end-time signs is that they are for the church, to snap the church out of its slumber and into wakefulness?

Look around. Dawn’s coming and the sky is red!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?

A few days ago I was talking with a friend about how the Lord leads us into new areas of service for Him. My friend said something like, “I think God will open a new door of opportunity before we drop what we are currently doing.”

I encouraged him not to approach getting guidance with preconceived ideas of how he thought God would lead and then I told him the following story.

In 1967, David Wilkerson asked Carol and me to move to New York and join his growing crusade ministry. A year later David asked me to take over as his Crusade Director and I was in that position until late 1974. These were incredible years in the midst of a powerful move of God and I loved what I was doing. In late 1974, God began to speak to me about resigning and being available for another assignment in His Kingdom. I balked big time and said, “Lord, I don’t need to move—I like it here!” The Lord never wavered, He just repeated His instruction. My next line of argument was, “Okay, if You will open another door, if I get a good offer, I’ll resign and go.” That didn’t move the Lord either so I went to another level. “I am a husband and a father of two small children. I have responsibilities!” The Lord responded to this fine piece of logic with, “Your primary responsibility is to be obedient to Me!” And that was the heart of the issue: my willingness to be obedient, to listen and to do.

I resigned a few days later although I did not have another place to go. But God is faithful and another door opened in short order. God has not changed, nor will He. He is always faithful!

My friend asked me if I thought he should start to put out feelers for other places of ministry and opportunity. I responded that I believe he should to go to prayer and listen for the voice of the Lord.

In John 10:4 Jesus speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd: “….he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”Jesus is out in front, we hear His voice, and we follow…because we trust Him. Not every word of guidance will immediately make sense to you, but everything will become clear as you closely follow Him.

If we are committed to following Him and we put preconditions on His direction for us, it’s because we don’t trust Him to take us to the greatest point of fulfillment and service. We don’t trust Him because we think we know the vineyard and our needs better than He does and sometimes we even think He may need a little help from us.

A side note here. If you don’t recognize the voice, it’s not Him! Don’t follow! (See John 10:5.)

In Mark 14 Jesus is getting ready to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. In verse 12 the disciples asked, “Where do you want us to go and what do we do?” (Sound like a familiar request? At some time everyone who is serious about following Jesus asks Him that question.) Jesus responded to the disciples, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him” (Mark 14:13).

At first these directions don’t seem to make a lot of sense but they will. Our primary responsibility is to hear the voice of the Lord, to be obedient, and follow one step at a time.

The disciples met the man with the jar of water and followed him to where he entered into a house. Inside the house the disciples followed the instructions of the Lord and the owner of the house showed them a large upper room furnished and prepared (see Mark 14:15-16).

When the Lord gives directions and we follow them, we can be assured that there is a place already prepared for us to do His service. He will have a way to lead us to that part of the vineyard that He knows we can be useful in.

"The disciples....went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them" (Mark 14:16).

Listen for His voice!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

THE TABLE OF THE LORD!

I absolutely love the 23rd Psalm. For over 40 years I have been enjoying the riches of this incredible series of insights that flowed out of David’s heart and spirit. Just when I think I have discovered everything possible, I turn the diamond just a bit and the light catches a whole new brilliance of God’s love and care and it just lights up my life. That happened earlier today.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over”
(v. 5, emphasis mine).

This verse is a trilogy of blessing! A God-prepared table, an anointing, and an overflowing cup!

What is it that drives us to the dinner table in the natural? We get hungry and we eat to meet that need! What is it that drives us to seek God? Hunger in the inner man! What is God’s promise to the hungry? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6, emphasis mine). The word hunger means to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire, to be painfully hungry. God promises to meet those who earnestly, wholeheartedly, hungrily seek Him.

God tells us in Psalm 23:5 that He has prepared a table, a spread of spiritual food that is designed to meet and fulfill our deepest and most heartfelt needs. Each table is prepared for us alone! Go ahead, it’s all right, you can call it designer food because that’s exactly what God had in mind for you.

The table finds its best expression, its fullest ability to satisfy your deepest longing and desire, in those moments when you quietly meet with Him in personal worship, in the Word, in prayer and in quiet meditation. In those moments you have the greatest access to the full spread of the table. In those moments God begins to feed you with exactly what you need to fulfill your innermost hunger and to grow your spiritual man/woman.

It is in those personal moments of intimate contact with Him that the full impact of His designed nourishment begins to flow into you. He prepared this table with you in mind: your needs, your struggles, your growth. He has prepared a meal just for you that will meet your exact needs and strengthen you to become that man, that woman of God that He has destined you to be.

Please listen carefully to what I am going to say now because I know that some will misunderstand. When you do not take the time to eat at your own table but rush to eat at others’ tables, it’s not a mortal sin, it’s just the wrong food at the wrong time and it brings less than the desired response.

Your spiritual nourishment is found at the table the Lord has set just for you. This nourishment will come because you step up to the table and partake of the meal that was meticulously designed with you in mind.

We need to be faithful to the church. Hebrews 10:25 has not been taken out of your Bible and Ephesians 4:12 is not going away. Jesus is still calling some to be pastors and still empowering pastors to equip us for the work of the ministry. We need to sit under our pastor’s teaching and inspiration; we need to be in Bible study; we need the fellowship of others on the journey of faith. These are the between-meal power snacks along the journey of our life of faith. But if you are counting on what you get at church, see on Christian television, hear on Christian radio, or read in the latest inspirational best seller to be your primary source of spiritual nourishment, you are eating at the wrong table.

There is a RESERVED sign and a name card on your table. The table is reserved for you and the name on the card is yours. There are only two chairs at your table, one for you and the other for Jesus. Your time at the table is meant to be an occasion of intimacy: eating, talking, listening and worshiping.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me (Revelation 3:20, emphasis mine).

Dinnertime is coming, the table is set, and I can hardly wait!