I Am A Soldier

I was reading an old book the other day about the Huguenots, the Waldensians and others that tried to remain true to the commands of God during the Dark Ages, and the contrast  between them and us is absolutely incredible. 

Thousands died cruel deaths; burned at the stake, hurled over cliffs, hung up with meat hooks, starved in prison, and yet very few, if any, turned back from following God. 

Yet today, it seems the slightest thing can turn many of us back from following Jesus.  Our feelings get hurt, so we quit.   Our leadership gets criticized, so we quit.  A pastor doesn’t come visit us at the right time, so we quit.   We don’t want to get involved, so we don’t.   We are afraid to make our neighbor uncomfortable, so we don’t share.  Church doesn't suit our tastes, so we stop attending.  At the slightest hint of resistance, we turn back.  Could it be that the worst enemy the church has is prosperity?

I mentioned this to a friend in another state, and he sent me this piece which I think needs to be our rallying cry.  Read it and see where you stand.  It is entitled, I am a Soldier.

I am a soldier.

I am a soldier in the army of my God;

The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer.

The Holy Bible is my code of conduct.

Faith, prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare.

I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by

adversity and tested by fire.

I am a volunteer in this army and I have enlisted for eternity

I will either retire from this army at the Second Coming or die in this

army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out or pushed out.

I am faithful, reliable and dependable.

If my God needs me, I am there.

If He needs me in Sabbath School to teach children, work with youth,

help with adults or just sit and learn, He can use me, because I am there.

If He needs me in church Sabbath morning, Vespers, Wednesday, revival or

special services, I am there.

I am there to preach, teach, sing, play, pray, work or worship.

God can use me because I am there.

I am a Soldier. I am not a baby.

I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up or

pepped up.

I am a Soldier. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me,

entice me or lure me.

I am a Soldier. I am not a wimp.

I am in place saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name

and serving in His Kingdom.

No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy or give me

handouts.

I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for or catered to.

I am a Soldier, and I am committed.

I cannot have my feelings hurt badly enough to turn me around.

I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside.

I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit,

When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing,

And if I end up with nothing I will still break even.

I am a Soldier, I am committed, I will win.

My God will supply all my needs.

I am more than a conqueror, I will always triumph.

I can do all things through Christ .

Devils cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot

weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy

me. Governments cannot silence me and Hell cannot handle me.

I am a soldier. I am committed. Even death cannot destroy me.

When my Commander calls me from this battlefield He will promote me and

then bring me back to rule this world with Him.

I am a Soldier in the army and I am marching, claiming victory.

I will not give up, I will not turn around. I am a Soldier marching Heavenbound.

I am a Soldier. Will you stand with me?

If God is in it, you can do it.

2Tim. 2:3    Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  4 Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.

2Tim. 2:14     Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God’s presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them.

2Tim. 2:15    Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.  16 Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior.  17 This kind of talk spreads like cancer.

More Than Meets the Eye

Over and over, in the lives of those He met, Jesus went beneath the surface to bring them into a relationship with Himself. Here's a story that comes to mind.

Mark 2:1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

What? The guy needs to walk first…then maybe we can talk about his sins… He didn’t come for that! He came for healing. But Jesus knew there was more to it that what meets the eye. And then something else happens.

Mark 2:6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Again, there is more than meets the eye…even with the teachers of the law.

Mark 2:8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the paralytic, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Jesus understood fully the situation and the needs. He didn’t just look at a paralyzed man hanging there. He looked and saw someone so weighed down with guilt that he couldn’t move in the spiritual realm either. So entangled in their own guilt and shame that they were spiritually paralyzed. Ever known anyone like that? So Jesus goes for the real need first. And the man instantly knew that Jesus understood him and it freed and bolstered his faith, which would take him through the first test of faith. “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

To help kids today, we have to take the time to enter their world; To understand the story underneath the external. To hear the cry of their hearts and respond to that first by helping get them to Jesus where their souls can be set free and true healing can begin. Unless we recognize that EVERY kid has a story beneath the surface and seek to understand that story, we will never truly be effective with them.  They are continuously talking...are we listening?

Walking Willfully into God's Workshop

Is it possible that the "professionalization" of ministry has somehow robbed us of a simple, deepening trust in God?  Have we gotten so good at our research, our analysis and our application of data, that we somehow have missed actually seeing God?

I marvel at the incredible intelligence God has bestowed on some of my colleagues and in looking at their incredible ministries, sometimes I also feel exceptionally unqualified for my own.  Sometimes I can't even understand the dialog that runs between them, so I stay out of the discussion.  And it is then that I long to be more educated, more articulate, more able to add something to the dialog.  But for what purpose?  If I am to be honest, it is usually for the purpose of making me somehow look better.  To make me look more intelligent. To perhaps be more respected.  And at this juncture, God usually crashes into my little daydream to remind me that He is all I need.

The conversation typically goes something like this:
God: What are you thinking about?
Me: Like You don't know?
G: Oh, I do know...but I think you need to really hear what you are saying.  So...what are you thinking about?
M: I'm thinking about how inadequate I am to the task You called me to do.
G: Who said you were supposed to be adequate?
M: Well, it would be nice to know that I can handle what you send my way...so perhaps I should go get my doctorate or something.
G: Would that make you adequate to the task I've called you to?
M: Umm...I would at least appear smarter and perhaps people would respect what I say a little more.
G: So this is really more about you than about what I called  you to do?
M: Well...I suppose, perhaps...ummm...maybe... Ok...Yes.  Since you put it like that.

G: Do you think I AM adequate to the task that I have prepared for you?
M: Sure YOU are!  But this is me we are talking about!
G: What was the promise I made right before I left?
M: That You will be with me always?
G: Right!  So this is US we are talking about.  Not just you.  US...you and ME together.  And really, if I so chose, I could actually do it all Myself, but I wanted to share a little with you.  Like a Father in a workshop teaching His child how to make things, I have invited YOU into my MY workshop, and I will provide everything you need.
M: But what about more education?
G: That may be the path that I have chosen for others to go down...but YOUR path is here in my workshop.  Learn of ME.  Learn of MY WAYS.   Don't lose sight of me in the midst of your dreams of grandeur.  That is not the path I have chosen for you.  I have fully equipped you for the path that you must walk.  I have promised to go with you...and as always, I AM!
M: And that is enough for me God.

And so I come back to realizing that God has called each of us render service where HE has placed us, using the tools that He has given each of us.  I have come to realize that He has not called me to be successful.   Only faithful.  And if I am faithful to that calling, that will be enough.

God help me to be faithful and to remember that You called me to serve right where I am with the tools that You have given me...and that YOU are enough.

Not all the wisdom and skill of man can produce life in the smallest object in nature. It is only through the life which God Himself has imparted, that either plant or animal can live. So it is only through the life from God that spiritual life is begotten in the hearts of men. Unless a man is "born from above," he cannot become a partaker of the life which Christ came to give. John 3:3, Steps to Christ page 68

King ME!!!

Ever since Eve bit into the apple and then shared it with Adam, we’ve been a race bound for destruction.  Though they were created with no selfishness, the desire to be like God, which in itself is a noble thing, proved to be their destruction.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be like God, is there?  I mean, isn’t that our goal as Christians?  To be like Jesus?  So what was the problem?  They not only wanted to be like God.  What they actually wanted was to be God.  That’s really what Satan was offering them in Genesis 3:4.   Let’s go to Genesis chapter 3.  We’ll begin in verse 1.

Gen. 3:1   Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  2   The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”  4   “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Did you see that phrase?  “You will be like God”.  The original language, Hebrew, indicates that Satan is offering them a short-cut.  What he is actually saying to them is:  “Your state of being will instantly become God-like.”  Another unstated implication of that statement would be:  You won’t any longer need God since you will be a god yourself.  And with that, a new thought that had never occurred to Eve, suddenly became the temptation that she could not resist.  “I want to be god.”   And with that bite, Eve feels a rush of energy and a change of being and she begins to run through the garden singing at the top of her lungs, “It’s all about ME!”  Well, maybe not just like that, but her focus, which had only been God-centered, suddenly turned selfish.  She wanted to be God.   And it continues, to this day, to be the one temptation that none of us can resist.  

You’ve said it, oh, maybe not in those exact words, but every one of you has fallen prey to that temptation at some point in your life.  You’ve re-mixed the words maybe, but it’s the same thing.  I want it now!  Hey, that’s MINE!  You leave MY stuff alone!  Or maybe you’ve grown more sophisticated: “C’mon lady, the gas pedal is the one on the right!  Step on it already!  I’m late!”  or  “Oh, look at how much she has in that cart.  If I hurry I can make it into line before she does.”  Or “If he thinks for one minute that I’m gonna put up with that, then he’s got another thing coming.”

What do all of those things focus on? Or perhaps I should say, WHO do all those previous statements focus on?  ME.  You see, I have to admit that in my inner core, I am inherently selfish. I want what I want, and I want it now!  I want to do what I want to do, go where I want to go, be who I want to be, say what I want to say, play where I want to play, and I don’t want any negative consequences.  I want to be like a King.  They can order people around, be coddled, made over and pampered.  People are always at their beck and call and if they decide they don’t like someone, they can have them killed with no consequence.  I like the sounds of that.  King ME! Consequence free.

But is that really the case?  Or is there snag in the theory?  Sin causes separation from the life giving source.  Separation has a natural consequence--death.  If you unplug a computer from the power...it dies...oh, perhaps not right away...if it has a battery.  But eventually.  And if you don't plug it back in, it becomes useless for little more than a paperweight.

Are you unplugged spiritually?  Is your battery running low?  Maybe it's time to swallow the pride and plug back in.

Pastor Don accepts New Position

I have been on a personal journey, started by a conversation that I had in my leadership class 5 years ago, that brings me to this point. I was asked the question by my leadership instructor: "Where do you think God will lead you to spend the last years before your retirement that will utilize all of your passions, skills, abilities and experience to make the most impact on the church?" I had no idea. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know how I would find out!

His response was that I needed to pray about whatever burden God laid on my heart. He gave me until the next time we met to come up with a response. As I prayed about it, God laid the 60% of our SDA youth who are NOT in Adventist Education, on my heart. Who reaches them and who seeks to retain them? I began to reason from there. It has to be the local church and more specifically the local level youth leaders. But who supports the local level youth leaders? Hardly anyone. And just because you do local youth ministry better, doesn't mean that you have created a church environment that is enticing and/or even safe for students.

So that pulled things back another level. My burden enlarged to encompass the students, local youth leaders and the climate in the local church. Working with a church to improve the climate, working with the youth leader to custom design a youth ministry for their setting and helping students feel connected to a larger church body as well.

Then, as I pondered it further, the question came to me: But how will we know if we have been successful with a student? How will we know when they get to their young adult years that they a) really have a love for Jesus and b) feel like they belong in their church? Is there a spiritual growth path that we can put people on that would help them become disciple-making disciples? At what point do we need to focus in order to build solid, spiritual young adults? Earliteens? Youth?

Also, what about those students who, though they may have gone to SDA schools through high school, can't afford or choose not to attend an Adventist university? And the vision grew some more.

That's the dream God laid on my heart. But that job didn't even exist. I say didn't, because years ago, I left this dream in God's hands and told Him that if He wanted me to fulfill that dream, He would have to a) create a job that fit that description and b) call me to it.

Today, that happened. The Georgia-Cumberland Conference Executive committee voted that very job description into existence back in November, and today they officially offered me the position. And because God has been leading me towards this for the past 5 years, it was the next natural step for me to take in following Jesus. I would hate to be a pastor who tells others to follow Jesus while refusing to do so myself. So we are taking the next step. Sandy and I accepted the position.

It was not without a struggle because we LOVE our GCA Church family. It is our home. And I LOVE the students at GCA. They are MY kids!! Yet, I feel led to take the next step and must follow if I am to be true to God and myself. So that's the story...now here are the details.

I will continue pastoring the GCA church, even while beginning some of my responsibilities at the conference office, through May 31. June 1 to August 31, I will be taking a Sabbatical and begin writing materials to use in this next phase of my journey to help churches become more youth and young adult friendly places. Sept 1 I will officially begin in this new position at the conference.

We will NOT be moving. We will still need friends. We will still LOVE having students come over and hang out...and we will even be hanging out at GCA some. So though we are changing jobs, we are NOT changing communities.

Well...there it is. I didn't want to have to tell you all this news via e-mail, but since this is a home leave weekend, and next weekend is the music weekend, I was only left with this option in order that the conference could begin the process of finding a replacement for me here at GCA. I am so sorry. I wanted to share this with you face to face. As a result, I will be allotting a little time this Sabbath in church for the adults, and next Thursday's chapel for the students for any who may have questions for me.

Please know that I am NOT leaving because someone did something wrong. I am NOT leaving because someone hurt my feelings or is angry with me. I am NOT leaving because of major issues in the church...(as a matter of fact, I don't think we have any major issues at this point...but I may be blind to them) I am only leaving because I am trying to personally follow the call of God on my life just like I have been trying to teach you to do. And that's the ONLY reason I am leaving. I'm trying to become a better follower of God.

Please pray for Sandy and me as we make this transition. I love you all. I love this church. May we finish strong and then move on to wherever God leads.

Pastor Don​​

T-Ball and the Road of Love

A few years back, singer, songwriter and story teller Bill Harley, was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered.  He told a story of a young girl who ended up rejecting the expectations of those around her because she loved with abandon.  Here is her story as told by Bill Harley.

Last year, my young son played T-ball…Needless to say, I was delighted when Dylan wanted to play.  Now on the other team there was a girl I will call Tracy. Tracy came each week.  I know, since my son’s team always played her team.  She was not very good. She had coke-bottle glasses and a hearing aids on each ear.  She ran in a loping, carefree way, with one leg pulling after the other, one arm windmilling wildly in the air.

Everyone in the bleachers cheered for her, regardless of what team their progeny played for.  In all the games I saw, she never hit the ball, not even close.  It sat there on the tee waiting to be hit and it never was.  Sometimes after 10 or 11 swings, Tracy hit the T ( in T-ball, the ball sits on a plastic tee, waiting for a batter to hit the ball, which happens once every three batters).  The ball would fall off the tee and sit on the ground six inches in from home plate.  “Run! Run” yelled Tracy’s coach, and Tracy would lope to off towards first, clutching the bat in both arms, smiling.  Someone usually woke up and ran her down with the ball before she reached first.

Everyone applauded.

The last game of the season, Tracey came up and through some fluke, or simply a nod towards the law of averages, she creamed the ball.  She smoked it right up the middle, through the legs of 17 players.  Kids dodged as it went by or looked absentmindedly at it as it rolled unstopped, seemingly gaining speed, hopping over second base, heading into center field.  And once it reached there, there was no one to stop it.

Have I told you that there are no outfielders in T-ball?  There are for three minutes in the beginning of every inning, but then they move into the infield to be closer to the action, or at least, to their friends.

Tracy hit the ball and stood at home, delighted.  “Run!” yelled her coach.  “Run!”  All the parents, all of us, we stood and screamed, “Run, Tracy, Run, Run!”  Tracy turned and smiled at us, and then, happy to please, galumphed off to first. The first base coach wave his arms ‘round and ‘round when Tracy stopped at first.  “Keep going Tracy, keep going! Go!”  Happy to please, she headed to second.  By the time she was halfway to second, seven members of the opposition had reached the ball and were passing it among themselves.  It’s a rule in T-ball—everyone on the defending team has to touch every ball.

The ball began to make it long and circuitous route toward home plate, passing from one side of the field to the other. Tracy headed for third.  Adults fell out of the bleachers.  “Go, Tracy, Go!”  Tracy reached third and stopped, but the parents were very close to her now and she got the message.  Her coach stood at home plate calling her as the ball passed over the first basemen’s head and landed in the fielding team’s empty dugout.  “Come on Tracy!  Come on, baby!  Get a home run!”

Tracy started for home and then it happened.  During the pandemonium, no one had noticed the twelve-year-old geriatric mutt that had lazily settled itself down in front of the bleachers five feet from the third base line.  As Tracy rounded third, the dog, awakened by the screaming sat up and wagged its tail at Tracy as she headed down the line.  The tongue hung out, mouth pulled back in an unmistakable canine smile, and Tracy stopped, right there.  Halfway home, thirty feet from a legitimate home run, she stopped.

She looked at the dog.  Her coached yelled, “Come on Tracy!  Come on home!”  He went to his knees behind home plate pleading.  The crowd cheered, “Go, Tracy, Go! Run!”  She looked at the adults, at  her own parents shrieking and catching it all on video.  She looked at the dog.  The dog wagged its tail.  She looked at her coach. She looked at home.  She looked at the dog.  Everything went into slow motion.  She went for the dog!  It was a moment of complete stunned silence.  And then, perhaps, not as loud, but deeper, longer, more heartfelt, we all applauded as Tracy fell to her knees to  hug the dog.  Two roads diverged on a third-base line.  Tracy went for the dog.”

It occurs to me that two roads diverge in each of our lives.  One is the road of hurry, worry and passionless living. The other is the road of love.  A place where we can rediscover the awe and wonder of living.  Where we can take the dull grays of our existence and bring the color alive again.  Will we go for the safe, predictable road society lays out for us, or will be go for the One we love, Jesus who bids us come and savor life?  The world will be yelling “Come on, be sensible.”  Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Now that’s awesome!

The Blind Men and the Elephant and YOUR view of God.

I remember coming across this poem quite a few years ago and thinking how true it was. Perhaps 

nothing rules our lives more than our particular perspective and view of God. Is your view totally complete?

The Blind Men and the Elephant
John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)


It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.


The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a WALL!"



The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a SPEAR!"


The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a SNAKE!"


The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he:
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a TREE!"


The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a FAN!"


The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a ROPE!"


And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

What is your view of God based on?  When it is only based on your limited experience, you will be partly right....but you'll also be wrong.

Could you love a God like that?

Author Ken Gire wrote a series of books back in the 90’s that quickly became some of my favorites.  One of them is entitled Incredible Moments with the Savior.  I want to pull a story from that book and see if we can see things a bit differently. 

“Nain is a cozy community carved out of a rocky slope overlooking the valley of Jezreel.  It is springtime, and the valley is a sea of wind-blown grass, frothing with wildflowers; the air, redolent with the blossoms of fruit trees. 

But in the valley of this widow’s heart, it is the dead of winter.

Twice, death has reached its icy fingers into her family and wrenched loved ones from her.  First her husband.  Now her son.  Her only son.

For years she has faced an uncertain future. Now she faces it alone. With no one to hold her hand.  With no one to steady her steps.

No one to comfort her when she cries herself to sleep at night.  No one to wake up to in the morning.  No one to fix breakfast for.  No one to share the holy days, or the common days, or any days at all for that matter.  No one to grow old with.  And no one to look after her in the autumn of life.

No one.

Nothing remains but an empty shell of a house.  A house that years ago gave up waiting for a husband to come home from work.  And now, no longer waits for that husband’s son.

The sagging house is slumped in its own grief, retreating into itself, silent and still.  There are no sounds of animated talk that chronicle the day.  No ripples of laughter.  No late-night conversations.  Only quiet tributaries of grief running from room to room.

Bundled in her heart is a too-short stack of memories.  Not enough to cloak her from the chill of her present loneliness, let alone to keep her warm in her old age.

The open coffin leads the way to the cemetery outside of town.  Trailing in its wake is the weeping mother, relatives, close friends, and other mourners.  Interspersed throughout the procession are the melancholy, dove-like calls of flutes and the plaintive tinkling of cymbals.  A chorus of women chant their laments while men pray and plod along in silent vigil.

But at the same time this crowd is leaving Nain, another crowd is entering.  The one is following a coffin; the other is following Christ.  The one is filled with sorrow and despair; the other, with excitement and hope.

In respect for the dead the crowd following Jesus pulls back, allowing the funeral procession to thread its way through the gate. 

There, life and death stand on two distinct islands.  The bridge between the two is a mother’s grief, arching over a torrent of tears.

When Jesus sees the tears wrung from the mother’s heart, every thought that had preoccupied Him on His journey flees.  The whole of His attention focuses on this shattered woman.

All He knows is her desperation.  All He feels is her pain.  All He sees is her tears.

And those tears are the flame that melts his heart.

Jesus extends his hand to touch the coffin, and the procession lurches to a stop.  He isn’t concerned with protocol or etiquette or even with the fact that touching a coffin would render Him unclean in the eyes of the rabbinic law.  His only concern is for this desperate mother.

“Don’t cry.”

The words are not out of a textbook on pastoral care.  They seep from the cracks of a heart bursting with compassion.  Jesus turns to the woman’s son.

‘Young man, I say to you, get up.’

Two words to the bereaved, eight to the deceased.  But that is enough.  Enough to snatch a son from death’s pilfering hand and return him to the arms of his mother.

The young man sits up and talks!  What he says we are not told.  But surely one of the first words to stumble from his lips is ‘Mother’.

The miracle is an incredible display of the Savior’s power.  But there is something even more incredible about this auspicious meeting at the town gate.

This mother had not asked for a miracle.  She had not thrown herself at the Savior’s feet and begged for the life of her son.  She hadn’t demonstrated great faith.  In fact, she hadn’t demonstrated any faith at all.  As far as we know, she didn’t even know who Jesus was.

That is what is so incredible.

It’s a miracle done without human prompting.  Without thought of lessons to be taught to the disciples.  Without thought of deity to be demonstrated to skeptics.  It is a miracle drawn solely from the well of divine compassion.  So free the water.  So pure the heart from which it is drawn.  So tender the hand that cups it and brings it to this bereaved mother’s lips.”

 (Incredible Moments with the Savior, Ken Gire ©1990, Zondervan,  pp 41-45)

Let me ask you:  Could you love a God like that?  Would you not want to be near One who has already been moved by compassion at your plight?  He has already responded and provided a way for you to be reunited with your loved ones.  Already death has been conquered and only awaits divine Word before it must retreat and give up those it, even now, holds in its icy clutches.  When Jesus, who conquered death, gives the command, there is no power in heaven or hell that can hold back those who will respond to the call of the Conquerer.  I ask you again: Could you love a God like that?

The Return isn’t about the logistics, it’s about the Person.  It isn’t about knowing the facts, as important as they may be, but about knowing the One who, out of love, has already provided for us.  It’s about relationship.

You CAN Begin Again Pt 2

She didn’t think it was that big of a deal, at least not at first. Her boyfriend had only wanted to spend a little time making out, showing her, as he put it, “how much he loved her.” It was exciting to be held in his embrace. It felt good to be physically touched and caressed. But one thing led to the next and before long, raging hormones got the best of them, and found themselves in bed, not only with each other, but with a load of guilt and overwhelming shame. But they loved each other right? How could it be wrong when it felt so right? And yet there was always that nagging feeling in the back of their mind that something wasn’t so right. When all of their friends were gone, when they were apart, and they were left only to the thoughts in their own mind, they both knew, deep down that it wasn’t right. And yet, when they were with each other, they couldn’t control themselves and they found themselves getting more deeply involved, until one day they realized that life wasn’t quite as fun as it once had been. They were fighting more in between their sexual encounters. In fact, life had been reduced to that cycle. Fight and have sex. And the guilt continued to gnaw on them. And she just knew she was going to hell.

He thought that perhaps it was because she just wasn’t the right girl after all, and though he had promised a thousand times that he loved her, he began looking and jumped ship when he saw a prettier face come by. And it wasn’t long before he was involved in another relationship and pledging his love to another, “for all time!”

She could hardly stand herself for the choices she had made, and she liked him less. Something inside her screamed. “Wait!---Do-over!” But she realized that she could never go back, and since she was headed for hell and since a guy had ruined her, she decided that she was going to get her revenge by taking down as many guys as she could. She set out to see if she could seduce someone. At first, she did it for fun. But one day, a guy offered her money, and she realized that she could support herself and mess up guys at the same time. And guys were so stupid, she thought. They are so totally ruled by their hormones.

Weeks turned into months which turned into years. Always it was the same. Men, who just wanted one thing. Men from all walks of life. Business men. Construction workers. Professors. Lawyers. Doctors. And yes, even a few preachers, who always came at two or three in the morning to keep from getting caught. The hypocrites. All of them, professing to live honorable lives, some even having a wife and kids at home.

At least she wasn’t pretending…not anymore. There had been a time when she had told herself that she was still a good person. But not anymore. Now she knew what she was, and had accepted it…except for that same old gnawing feelings of guilt that she couldn’t seem to shake, and that she was headed for hell. And in the middle of the dark and lonely nights after the man of the hour had left her bed, she would lay and stare at the ceiling and wonder if there was no way out.

It happened early one morning. She had just gotten to sleep at 2:30, but at 5:00, just as the sky was starting to turn pale, there was an insistent knocking on her door. She pulled aside the curtain to see one of her regulars, a preacher, looking around and banging on the door. She opened the door and he swept in, angry that she had taken so long to answer the door. “Someone might see me,” he said. “Hypocrite,” she responded.

“Don’t call me that! I give you a good amount of business!”

“Yeah, and a good amount of guilt. If your God is so great, why doesn’t he rescue me from you?”

He pulled out a wad of bills. “Who's the paying customer here? Do you want the money or not? Just shut up and get on with it."

She went into the same weary routine of seduction and soon it was over. Suddenly, the door burst open and in came police officers and a bunch of other ministers. Finally she thought, they’ve nailed the hypocrite. He just sneered at her and picked up the wad of bills that he had laid on the nightstand. But instead of him, they grabbed her and yanked her naked and fighting from the bed, dragged her out into the street and down towards the local church. There was a Street Preacher there. And they threw her down in front of him. Naked and alone. And they began quoting scripture, “Moses said that such a woman should be killed. What do you say?”

You know the story and you know the preacher. Jesus bent down, without saying a word and took off his outer garment and covered her. Then he knelt down and began writing in the dirt. The accusers asked their question again. Jesus stood up and said, “let the one without sin be the one to throw the first rock.” And then he knelt and started writing. One of my favorite Christian writers, Ellen White says that he was actually writing their sins in the dirt, and one by one as they read their own sins written there, they dropped their rocks and slipped away.

When they were all alone, Jesus asked the woman a simple question. John 8:10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

I can imagine her looking up for the first time from the place she has been huddled waiting for the rocks to hit. And as she looks around she is forced to acknowledge that no one is left to condemn her except the one that truly could. John 8:11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus speaks the same words to you and me this morning. Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” Do-over!

That’s the good news. And some of you need that news this very day. Some of you, the Lord has been working on your heart all this week. You’ve had a spiritual struggle going on for a long time, because you know you need to drop the old life and start over, but you keep clinging to your sin. Let it go this morning. Accept before God, that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness. Confess your sins to Him, and he will forgive and cleanse you from all of your sin. He’ll let you start over.

Simply say in your heart to God: God, I am a sinner in need of your forgiveness. I need you to take my sin and guilt and shame and cover me with your robe of righteousness. 

 

You CAN begin again!!

You CAN begin again! Pt 1.

The summer of my fifth-grade year, a hot new fad took my neighborhood by storm. Many of our neighbors jumped on board immediately, and with a lot of begging and pleading from my sister and I, we were soon the latest in the neighborhood to buy in to the rage of the season. I remember coming home from the store, unpacking the box in the front yard, and while my dad set up the net, my sister and I smacked what was known as a birdie, back and forth. The rage…backyard badminton. Only in our case, we had to play in the front yard, because our back yard sloped away so steeply it made it difficult to play.

Then we were all about hitting the birdie back and forth trying to hit it over the net. We played for hours. Then one day, it occurred to us that there just might be a way to keep score. We read the directions for play and learned about boundaries and scoring. We measured out a regulation court and put out four stakes for the back corners, and tied a string to one and ran it all the way around the court so we could know where the boundaries were. We read about serving and returning. We tried each a few times and returned to the rulebook. We read of strategies for badminton. My personal strategy at the time was just to hit the stupid thing and hope it went over. We read of proper racket grips and we adjusted ours accordingly. And finally, when we had read all we could, we decided it was time to try our first game.

I stepped up to the line, with my racket extended and the birdie held aloft. Swinging through and stepping forward, I promptly caught my foot in the string and my birdie went straight up and straight down, and I immediately cried those words we learn all through childhood whenever we mess up. “Wait! Do-over!” And my sister quickly agreed that because of the string, I was indeed entitled to a do-over. We fixed the string again…this time as close to the ground as possible, and I tried again. This time I didn’t hit it hard enough and it went into the net. “Wait! Do-over!” After the 5th “Do-over” my sister said…”That’s enough! It’s my turn now!”

But after her 5th “Do-over” I was saying the same thing. You need to know that I went on to become a champion badminton player. I took badminton in college for a PE credit, figuring it would a simple A. I’ve never worked so hard at a PE grade in my life as I did competitive badminton. It is definitely not a sissy sport. And there are definitely not any “Do-overs” allowed. You mess up…too bad!

Don’t you love that concept of “Do-over”? Don’t you wish sometimes in life after you’ve just messed up big-time that you could just yell, “Wait! Do-over!” and everything would reset for you just the way it was before you messed up? Wouldn’t that be great?

You say something you really didn’t mean to say, and you can see that your words just devastated the other person—“Wait! Do-over!” and the damage is instantly undone. It’s like you never said anything at all. Or you wreck your parent’s car and injure someone. “Wait! Do-over!” and zzzzzip! You are right at the point before things went awry, and with your new-found knowledge, you can avoid the mistake and move on consequence free. You choose differently and avoid the wreck and no one is any the wiser.

Or you are making out with your boyfriend or girlfriend and things get a bit too hot and heavy and before you realize what has happened, you have gone too far and become sexually involved. “Wait—do-over! And suddenly you have your virginity back with a new knowledge and the ability to choose, once again how you will handle it. This time, realizing the emotional, physical, and spiritual toll it will take, you choose differently and get yourself out of the situation before it gets too serious…and you find that all is well and no one is the wiser.

Or you step out on your marriage for just one night...but the guilt and shame won't leave you and now your spouse has discovered your secret. "Wait--do-over!" And suddenly your marriage is put back together again.

What a great concept, if a simple “Wait! Do-over!” would un-change all the bad mistakes and stupid choices we make or dumb accidents we have because we’re not paying attention. But it’s not that simple. There is no magic do-over rule. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Have you ever experienced that rule? For every choice you make, there is a consequence. That’s the rule. If you want good consequences, you have to make good choices. But if you make bad choices, there are bad consequences to have to deal with. That’s life!

Some of you are carrying heavy loads because of the choices you’ve made. Some of you are absolutely miserable deep under the surface, even though you outwardly are all smiling and joking.

See we live two different lives. One that is on the surface that we let everyone see, and one that is beneath the surface that we desperately try to keep hidden, except from a choice few people that we’ve learned to trust. And you live life scared to death that someone you don’t trust might find out who you really are and not like you because of it, or worse, use it against you.

Some of you have done stuff that you badly wish you could go back and undo. Perhaps some of you even did stuff this past week that you have been kicking yourself for and hoping and praying that no one finds out about.

You desperately long for a Do-over. A new beginning. One that says….ok…I have really screwed things up in my life, but wait—do-over!!! I just want to be at peace inside myself. I just want to be able to look at myself in the mirror again and know that I’m an ok person. I just want to be loved for who I am. I want to drop this load of guilt and shame. And I just wish I could start all over and not be so stupid and make the same mistakes.

Did you know the Bible says that there is such a thing as a do-over. While it can’t erase all of the consequences of your sin and bad choices, it can make you appear, to God, as though you had never sinned. Grab your bibles, let’s go on a quick trip to the land of do-overs.


Romans 3: 10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." 13 "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." 14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Man’s condition is rotten. Basically, God is saying: “I DO know all about you. I know your heart. I know your deeds. And they are not good. In fact, Romans 3 goes on to say: 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus

Did you see that? All have sinned and fall short. That means that the pastor has stuff in his life that needs as much forgiveness as you do. That means that I am as much of a sinner as you are, and there are things in my life that I want to keep hidden as much as you do. And how can I condemn you when I have sin in my life? Does that mean that I can just excuse your sin because I want you to excuse mine? No…if we did that for each other, it would still leave us in a miserable mess.

Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If I keep doing the things I have done, I deserve death. There is no hope. I’m up the creek without a paddle. I’m in a sinking ship with no hope. I’m drowning in a sea of sin. If I just stop at the beginning of that phrase, it’s hopeless. Oh, but praise God, I don’t have to stop there. BUT…the gift of God.

What does gift mean?
Can I earn it?
Can I buy it?
Can I barter for it?
Can I trade for it?

John 3:16    “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

I can do nothing except receive it. How?

By faith. By simply trusting in His sacrifice. Trusting in the completed work of what Jesus did on the cross and claiming it for your own. He said that if I would receive His gift, He would put his life’s record in place of mine. I can’t add anything to it. It’s perfect. It’s the biggest do-over possible!

When Satan, the accuser of the brethren comes and says, “Keele is mine…he’s sinned and he’s sinned big! I want him and you must release him to me”, God the Father looks over at Jesus…and instead of seeing my record riddled with sin and mistakes, He looks at me THROUGH Jesus…as though I had never sinned. Jesus simply says, “My blood, Father. He has accepted my blood.” And God looks back at that old serpent, the devil and He says, “Devil! You don’t know what you’re talking about! NOW GET OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE MY CHILD ALONE! And I am saved from the accusations. Saved from the Devil. Saved from eternal death. Is that Good News or what?

Ok…so what do I do?

 Confess.

 

1John 1:8,9    "If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.  9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness."  

Confess that you have done wrong. God already knows it. You already know it. Tell the truth! And determine to turn away from sin. Don’t keep wallowing in the miry quicksand of the sin that has sucked you in. Get out of it. Turn away. Don’t just casually say…oops, sorry God. Oh well. Hehe.

But confess it and ask him for power to turn away from it. And claim Jesus as your Savior.

1 John 5: 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

God wants you to have the assurance of your salvation. He says that if you have accepted the Son of God into your life, you may KNOW that you have eternal life. And that’s cause to celebrate. That’s cause to be happy. Knowing that you have been released from your past. Knowing that you also have grace to live for the future.

Learn to accept it...then learn to offer it.

DO-OVER! Starting with a Clean Slate

It is right, at this time of year, for us to pause to reflect over the past year. It is good to see how the Lord has blessed and how His leading has brought us through both tragedy and triumph. But have you taken time to reflect on whether your life has made a difference in the past year…especially for the cause of God? Have you considered how your life will make a difference this next year? 

Have you ever considered how even seemingly small things can make a huge difference in the outcome of things. Take temperature for an example. Consider how things change when the temperature changes.

What happens when things get cold? At 45 you grab your coat on the way out the door. At 32, water freezes. 28- Human skin in danger of frostbite. –27. Ammonia changes from liquid to gas.

What happens when things get hot? 90 is the melting point of butter. 100- crank up the air (that happens for me at about 80) 140 5-second exposure to the human skin causes 3rd degree burns. 212- boiling point of water.

Isn’t it interesting that in the physical environment, just a change of temperatures can cause so many reactions?

Just think about how a change in temperatures affects you. Have you ever stopped to realize that a change in temperatures causes you to change? If you are person that loves cold weather, then you may have gotten up in the past few weeks and found yourself invigorated by the cold, crisp mornings. On the other hand, if you don’t like the cold, or if you are like my wife and hate the cold, then you have suffered through the past few weeks, perhaps huddled around a wood stove or a gas heater or something else that radiates warmth.

If you are like me, let it hit 90, and my whole disposition changes. It’s too stinkin’ hot and I just want to stay in the A/C where I can live a normal life.

No, I don’t want to go on a picnic—or a bike ride—or anything that requires me to haul my body outside. Mowing the lawn happens as close to sunrise or sunset as possible in order to protect against meltdown. Sandy, on the other hand, always wants to open the windows and just enjoy the summer. I can tell you, that makes for an interesting marriage, but that’s a whole different blog post, so I’ll not get into it here.

I just find it interesting, that just a change in temperature can cause reactions in not only our physical world around us, but in us as well.

But did you notice what happened to things that stayed at room temperature? Nothing. In the physical world, no temperature related reactions take place at room temperature. Have you noticed the same is true for us? We are able to relax at room temperature. Not too hot…not too cold. Just right. Ahhhhhhh.

Thank you Pastor Don, for this incredible lesson in science and physiology, but that isn’t what I came to read. Come on Mabel, let’s go, we have other stuff to do.

Hold on, Mabel…not so fast. Here’s the point. In this season of evaluation, recognizing that just a change in temperature can cause a reaction in the physical world, have you stopped to reflect on your life? That’s the question that needs to be asked! Is your life, more specifically, your spiritual life, causing any reactions? Are you really who you say you are, or have you just settled for a room temperature faith existence? Do you see a reaction, any reaction, to the way you live out your faith?

When was the last time you heated someone up spiritually? Or when was the last time you found yourself chilling someone’s enthusiasm for the gospel?

Jesus isn’t saying that he wants you to be cold. But He is saying that He would rather you be cold towards your faith than just lukewarm. If you were cold, people would at least know where you stand. If they wanted to be cold in their faith walk, they could come join you. If they want to be on fire in their faith walk, they could avoid your chilling effects on their lives. But lukewarm? Nasty…God says.

You ever had a hot day where you got really thirsty while mowing the lawn or doing some yard work and you just couldn’t wait to rush inside and pop open a can of lukewarm Sprite? Nasty. It foams everywhere and leaves you feeling more unsatisfied, and just as thirsty.

Or what about that cold day where you are out raking leaves and getting chilled? You rush inside to grab that nice cup of lukewarm chocolate…not hot chocolate…lukewarm. It just doesn’t do it for you.

It doesn’t do it for God either. Notice in Revelation 3: 15,16

Rev. 3:15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Some versions translate that word: spew, implying not just a spitting out, or emptying the mouth, but a violent and rapid evacuation of the mouth. A spewing forth. So we see that with God, lukewarm does cause a reaction. And it isn’t positive.

God is saying that He wants His people to be hot, to be on fire for Christ. If not, then be cold. Lukewarm isn’t a state He wants His people in. What causes “lukewarm-ness”? Verse 17 gives us a hint.

17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

You’ve grown comfortable with where you are. You feel like you are doing ok. You feel like, in the spiritual realm, you are all right. You’ve accepted Christ. You’ve given up things that you needed to get rid of. You’ve walked, or at least lounged, on the path of righteousness for a long time…so you figure you’ve got it pretty well made in the shade with a glass of lemonade.

But God says that you’re real condition is less than ideal. He says you are wretched. He says you are pitiful. He says you are poor. He says you are blind and naked. In essence, God is saying that your self-sufficiency can cause, or has caused or is causing your spiritual walk to go bad. He’s saying that you’ve grown soft in the middle of the battle. He’s saying that you’ve grown so used to the comforts and accouterment of modern life in America, that you’ve forgotten this isn’t your real home.

And so He sends a new year—a giant conspiracy of grace—a colossal do-over, so that we can stop and re-assess where we are in life, and once again start with a clean slate.

I suppose one of the greatest things about a new year, is that, though many in our society say they don’t believe in God, they participate in one giant celebration of Grace. A colossal “do-over” as it were. The world, at this one time of year, gets a glimpse of grace. It’s as if they have read and understand God’s words in the book of Isaiah

Is. 43:18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

Every one is ready to forget the past and start fresh. Everyone desires a clean slate.  How will you write the next chapters of your life?  Will your life make a difference for someone else this year?