Grabbing Hold of God

Much of the contemporary church has lost its reverence for God. He is too often viewed as a sugar daddy, a sort of cosmic automatic teller machine. If we say the right words and punch in the right code, He is obligated to deliver what we want.

True prayer, according to pastor and acclaimed Bible expositor John MacArthur, often involves struggling and grappling with God, proving to Him the deepest concern of one’s heart. Prayer is to be a persistent, courageous struggle from which the believer may come away limping.

Virginia Stem Owens wrote the following about wrestling with God in earnest prayer. Her sentiments stand in marked contrast to the glib, self-centered prayers of our day:

Christians have always interpreted the splitting of the temple veil during the crucifixion as symbolic and the liberation from the mediated presence of God. Henceforth they were “free” to approach him directly which is almost like telling someone he is free to stick his head in the lion’s jaws for once you start praying there is no guarantee that you won’t find yourself before Pharaoh, shipwrecked on a desert island, or in a lion’s den.

 

This is no cosmic teddy bear we are cuddling up to. As one of the one children describes him in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, “he is not a tame lion.” Jacques Ellul is convinced that prayer for persons living in the technological age must be combat, and not just combat with the evil one, with one’s society, or even one’s divided self, though it is also all of these; it is combat with God. We too must struggle with him just as Jacob at Peniel where he earned his name Israel – “he who strives with God.” We too must prepare to say, “I will not let you go til you bless me.”

 

Consider Moses, again and again intervening between the Israelites and God’s wrath; Abraham praying for Sodom; the widow demanding justice of the unjust judge. But in this combat with God, Ellul cautions, we must be ready to bear the consequences … “Jacob’s thigh was pulled out of joint, and he went away lame. However, the most unusual experience will be God’s decision to put to work the person who cried to him …whoever wrestles with God in prayer puts his whole life at stake.”

 

Awful things happen to people who pray. Their plans are frequently disrupted. They end up in strange places. Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was to go” ... After Mary’s magnificent prayer at the annunciation, she finds herself the pariah of Nazareth society.

 

How tempting to up the stakes, making prayer merely another consumer product. How embarrassing to have to admit not only that prayer may get you into a prison, as it did Jeremiah, but also that while you’re moldering away in a miry pit there, you may have a long list of lamentations and unanswered questions to present to your Lord. How are we going to tell them they may end up lame and vagrant if they grasp hold of this God?

(“Prayer – Into the Lion’s Jaws,” Christianity Today, November 19, 1976. pp. 222-223, italics in the original)

 

The Unseen Murderer

First, it is good to be back. I have not blogged in a few months because I had my third daughter, Mariella, in June. Needless to say, things have been hectic since her arrival but she is an absolute joy and an amazing blessing from the Lord.

During my time away, much has transpired in the world, most recently the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. For so many reasons these events have been tragic and hard to understand especially since the perpetrator shot himself and his mother leaving us with few answers as to why he would open gun fire on children. The Pastor of my church gave a poignant sermon last week entitled, “Turn Toward Jesus.” I would encourage you to listen to it as he deals with the origination of evil, the effects of sin on God’s creation, Jesus Christ as the only remedy for sin, and Jesus’ compassion toward those who suffer.

As the news media has swirled, and everything has been discussed from gun control to better mental health awareness, one issue has not been discussed that needs some solemn consideration.

This year in the US alone, more than one million abortions have been performed. Every 95 seconds an abortion is executed. This means that approximately every 30 minutes of EVERY day 20 babies are murdered, the same number of children that were murdered at Sandy Hook. More than 50 million babies have been slaughtered since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.

Perhaps one of the reasons 20 year old Adam Lanza decided to open fire on an elementary school is because we, as a society, have so little regard for human life. I heard one newscaster say that children are supposed to be safe at school. Indeed. And they are also supposed to be safe in the womb. My founding pastor once said that when abortion was passed the sacredness of life outside of the womb will suffer as a result. He could not have been more right.

We want to blame violent video games, poor parenting, and mental health drugs for this tragedy when just a few weeks ago we voted in a man for president that used abortion as the very platform for his campaign. Republicans and Democrats debated for months whether a woman who is raped should have to carry the baby, skillfully ignoring the elephant in the room as more than 86 percent of all abortions are voluntary and performed out of convenience and are not the result of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life. But this is what we do. We focus on the peripheral in an effort to ignore the gruesome reality – we are a society of murderers. We look at 20-year-old Adam Lanza and render him an evil monster, and yet, we approve whole heartedly for the murder of millions of babies every year soothing our consciences with the perverted belief that women have the right to decide life or death.

In Romans chapter one, verses 28-32, the Apostle Paul gives a detailed account of the sins of a society that has forsaken God, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” Pretty grim picture, I know. And this list so aptly describes the present state of our nation which often leaves me wondering if we are on the precipice of another dark age.

But there is hope. A sure hope in the person of Jesus Christ.

As we come to the birthday of our Lord in just of couple of days, it is important to remember that God lowered Himself and became man to save sinners. It is in Him alone that we find the solution to this mess. He is our Hope, our Deliverer, our Prince of Peace. He walked this earth too and witnessed tragedies like Sandy Hook. In fact, after Jesus was born, King Herod had all the baby boys age two and under killed in effort to keep the Messiah from arriving during his reign (Matthew 2:16-18). This is why Jesus willingly went to the cross. To defeat sin and death. It is at the cross that we find healing for our brokenness and where we find mercy and grace in a time of need.

Please join me this Christmas season in praying for all the families that were victimized by the events at Sandy Hook. Let’s also pray that God will use it to rip away the sin veil from our nation’s eyes and bring to light His holiness, grace, and mercy.

I want to close with a prayer from the Christian author Max Lucado, which I feel perfectly sums up our petition this Christmas season:

Dear Jesus,

It's a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod's jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won't you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children

A Voice Silenced

Just a few days ago the entertainment industry lost one of its brightest stars, Whitney Houston at the young age of 48.

Houston was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all time. Her awards include two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards in her lifetime. Houston was also one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold more than 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide.

On February 11, she was found dead in a suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, California, submerged in the bathtub. The cause of death is still being determined.

Few people may know that Whitney Houston was raised a Baptist. She was born in a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, the third and youngest child of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. and gospel singer Cissy Houston (née Emily Drinkard). Her mother, along with cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick and godmother Aretha Franklin were all notable figures in the gospel, rhythm and blues, pop, and soul genres.

At the age of 11, Houston began to follow in her mother's footsteps and started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where she also learned to play the piano. Her first solo performance in the church was “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.” In addition to her mother, Franklin, and Warwick, Houston was also exposed to the music of Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack, most of whom would have an impact on her as a singer and performer.

But as is this case with so many American pop stars, she chose a life of addiction at a young age. She admitted that she began experimenting with drugs during the filming of the movie The Bodyguard in 1992. When filming was finished she began doing hard core drugs like cocaine on a regular basis. It was also during this time that she met her future husband Bobby Brown formerly of the pop star band New Edition, who was also a drug addict himself. What ensued were many years of drug abuse that ruined her vocal chords and ultimately led to her death this past week. She is survived by her only daughter, Bobby Kristina who is 18 and was last seen checking herself into a hospital to deal with the trauma of losing her mother so unexpectantly.

Throughout her career, Houston often spoke of Jesus and her upbringing as a Baptist. Her friends said that before she passed she spoke about looking forward to meeting Jesus in person upon her death. I do not pretend to know when it was that Houston departed from the faith that she was raised with but it undoubtedly happened along the way to fame and fortune that led her to a life of misery and stole her most precious gift – her voice. The Bible talks about a path in life that many people choose that seems right in their own eyes but it ultimately leads to death (Proverbs 14:12).

Life is full of choices. One well known author once said, “In the end, our life will be a sum of our choices.” For Whitney Houston, she made far too many poor choices and reaped the cost at the age of 48.

Just a couple of years ago, Houston said on the Oprah Winfrey show that she began taking drugs not for fun but to mask her pain. It was such a tragic statement that it had me scratching my head as to what pain she was speaking of. But as I thought further, the answer became obvious. When a person is raised with the truth of the gospel and then rejects it, they spend the rest of their lives trying to fill the void that is only satisfied by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Houston, of course, due to her fame and money had the opportunity to fill her life with things that most people can only dream about – a private jet, vacations to the most luxurious vacation spots in the world, access to the drugs of her choice with no limitations. This is why King Solomon who was the riches man to ever walk the earth and denied himself nothing that his eyes laid upon, said in the Book of Ecclesiastes 1:14, “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.” As he looked back over his life, he concluded the book with the following statement, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Just two years ago, the entertainment industry lost pop icon and R&B king Michael Jackson at the age of 50. Jackson, like Houston, also died because of repeated drug abuse.

The story seems all too common in our culture today but it still points us back as believers to the words of Christ in John 10:10b, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus is not just offering eternal life but the abundant life right here, right now to all those who will put their faith and trust in Him. Within His commands one finds true liberty and freedom and the blessings of God. I pray if you do not know Him that you come to know the Prince of Peace today (Romans 10:9-10). If you do know him as Savior and Lord of your life, please make it a point to tell others to keep them off the broad road that leads to destruction.

The Storyteller

When you hear the word “theology” what comes to your mind first?

Most likely you first think of theology as the study of God. You may also have the image of a gray-haired professor writing on a chalkboard about the attributes of God and how He interacts with mankind. I often think of the numerous Christian literature books I have read that methodically extract the hidden truths contained in the Word of God.

When Jesus sought to teach about God and His kingdom he did not use a chalkboard, a flow chart, or pass out a stack of Theology 101 textbooks. He told stories. Many stories. The majority of Jesus' stories or parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread (parable of the Leaven Bread), a man knocking on his neighbor's door at night (parable of the Friend at Night), or the aftermath of a roadside mugging (parable of the Good Samaritan); yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love.

One notable author states, “To move through the language and imagery of Jesus’ parables offers some fascinating insights into His sensibilities. Webster’s dictionary defines an iconoclast as ‘one who makes attacks on cherished beliefs and institutions, one who destroys or opposes the veneration of religious images.’ Jesus, the master storyteller, was clearly an iconoclast. His parables expressed in words what His actions demonstrated. He shattered idols and blew away preconceived ideas of who God is what men and women are meant to be.”

Upon reading Jesus’ parables, I have often found myself scratching my head at God’s sense of justice and mercy. Why did the prodigal son receive such preferential treatment from his father over his hard working, loyal brother? Why did the king so willingly pardon the unpayable debt from a servant who boasted before him that he would repay him in full? And why on earth did the guys that only worked one hour in the field get the same pay as the guys that worked all day?

The Storyteller unsettles us. Jesus’ parables are an affront to our traditional beliefs about God, justice, and how we are to respond to others. But yet Jesus stands by His stories and urges us, as He did His Jewish audience two thousand years ago, to trust Him. As one writer so eloquently stated when discussing why Jesus taught using parables, “Because, above all, Jesus knew what God was like, so good to the poor, so glad when the lost are found, so overflowing with a father’s love for the returning child, so merciful to the despairing, the helpless and the needy.” This is the God we serve. A God who tells us so tenderly in Romans 5:8 that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that all the angels rejoice when ONE sinner repents.

Quite simply, I believe Jesus told us stories because He knew that was the most effective communication vehicle for conveying the love of God to us. Perhaps we would not have understood Him if He just simply stated the truths about who God is and how He loves us in a bunch of declarative sentences. I also believe He taught this way because stories are memorable. The images of His stories are burned in our minds as we think of the father running toward the wayward son and kissing him, the beaten man being bandaged on the side of the road by his sworn enemy, the beggar Lazarus being carried to Abraham’s bosom. These are the pictures that the Lord Jesus left us to provide a glimpse into the heart of God. Over and over again, Jesus reminds us that God does not love the way we do - based on conditions, status, or favor. He accepts us unconditionally regardless of our position in life and regardless of how we will respond in return. All of us are equal at the cross. And His expectation is that we, who call ourselves His disciples, will love others the same. Let’s begin today.

Defining the Abundant Life

In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Throughout Scripture we find Jesus often speaking about the abundant life that He offers to all who follow Him. But this begs the question, what exactly is the abundant life? Is it more money? More possessions? More vacations? More status?

Just last night I was speaking to my brother about the Lord and he was saying that the world tells you to go to school, get a good paying job, save your money for retirement and then retire. But what about after retirement? What do you do then? The world never discusses life after death and what we should do to prepare. Of course, this is based largely on the fact that the world does not know God and is not concerned with the things of God (Romans 1). But this still does not change the fact that the one thing all of us are going to experience regardless of age, stature, or success is death. Yet, we spend so little time preparing. So much of Jesus’ teachings were based on the kingdom of God and designed to get men and women thinking about things of eternal value versus temporal value. God tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that He has set eternity in the hearts of men. But, so often we push the things of eternal value to the back burner even as Christians, don’t we?

When Jesus gave His most profound sermon in Matthew chapter 5, He spoke of a way of life that was counter intuitive to the world’s system. The selfless principles He outlined that pictured the kingdom of God were too difficult for many to comprehend as He begins each point by naming a group of people normally thought to be unblessable and pronounces them blessed because of the presence and availability of the abundant life in God's kingdom to everyone, everywhere, regardless of status, circumstances, or condition. And this is the key. It is not based on what you have or don’t have or who your parents are but on a person – Jesus Christ. To further underscore this critical spiritual reality, Jesus told us in John 14:6 that He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father but by Him.”

The abundant life Jesus is offering is attained on the inside not the outside. He is extending to us an internal peace that it is not found anywhere else. This is why the Christian is able to live above his/her circumstances because the focus is on the One who has overcome the world and ensures us we will too (John 16:33). Man is preoccupied with circumstances, God is preoccupied with character. And it is within the person of Jesus Christ that we are able to cast off the old man and put on the new man in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Eternal life as opposed to this life is not determined by duration but by a relationship with God. This is why the Scripture tell us that once a person accepts Jesus as their Lord and personal Savior that he/she possesses eternal life already (1 John 5:11-13), though not, of course, in its fullness. For you see a Christian's life revolves around “growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). This teaches us that the abundant life is a continual process of learning, practicing, and maturing, as well as failing, recovering, adjusting, enduring, and overcoming, because, in our present state, “we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:12). One day we will see God face to face, and we will know Him completely as we will be known completely (1 Corinthians 13:12). We will no longer struggle with sin and doubt. This will be the ultimately fulfilled abundant life.

The true abundant life will display the fruits produced by the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23), not an abundance of “stuff.” It consists of life that is eternal, and, therefore, our interest is in the eternal, not the temporal.

If you do not know the Lord, it is my hope and prayer that you will spend some time exploring the abundant life that Jesus is offering right now. His Word tells us that “today is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) And Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to be saved, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

The Heart of the Issue

The NFL has been in the midst of a labor dispute for months now. Just a couple of weeks ago, the owners locked out the players and the players union decertified in an effort to get a judge to overrule the lockout next month. The media has been covering both sides of this debate ad nauseam since the football season ended in early February. What I wanted to focus on though is the larger implications of this dispute from a Biblical perspective.

As I read the quotes from the owners and the players, I keep seeing the same phrase repeatedly over and over again, “This is a business.” This phrase usually comes on the heels of an owner or player asserting their case and then trying to apologize for sounding like a kid in a candy store by quicklly declaring, “this is just part of the business” as if that magic phrase makes their "me first" diatribe acceptable. What they are really saying is, “I want what is mine.” And this really is the heart of the issue as the heart of the matter is always the heart.

Jesus said all the issues of life spring up from the heart. Jeremiah 17:9 tell us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” The NFL labor situation is really just a microcosm of society. That is why people are always so quick to want to take sides. You have some people who look at the owners as filthy billionaires who are trying to cheat the players out of their money and then you have the other group of people who say the players should just keep quiet and be thankful that they make millions of dollars to play football.

God has something much different to say on the subject. He tells us to not put our trust in riches of this world for “riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:5).

For many years I worked in corporate America and was shocked and often saddened to see the type of deceit and cruel behavior that took place as companies scrambled to get their piece of the pie. What they failed to understand then and now is that the pie is not reality. The pie will be gone one day as we all stand before God and give an account for our lives. Only one thing will matter on that day, did we put our faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. For those of us that have already trusted the Lord, the Bible tells us that our works will be tried by fire and we will be rewarded or lose reward accordingly (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

I have also found in my own life that the riches of this world really do not bring the happiness and contentment that people expect. Just listen to some of the wealthiest people of their day:

- "The care of $200 million is enough to kill everyone. There is no pleasure in it." - W.H. Vanderbilt

- "I am the most miserable man on earth." - John Jacob Astor

- "I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness." - John D. Rockefeller

- "Millionaries seldom smile." - Andrew Carnegie

- "I was happier doing a mechanic's job." - Henry Ford

When our Savior preached the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 many thought He was insane. The selfless principles he outlined that pictured the kingdom of God were too difficult for many to comprehend. It is easy to see why upon hearing this sermon, His listeners were shocked. Jesus begins each point by naming a group of people normally thought to be unblessed or unblessable and pronounces them blessed because of the presence and availability of the abundant life in God's kingdom to everyone, everywhere, regardless of status, circumstances, or condition.

In other words, Jesus’ sermon was the antithesis of the culture 2,000 years ago. Not much has changed today. I recently read how the market has been flooded with New England Patriot championship rings from the early part of this decade when the team won three championships in four years. Apparently, the hard economic times has forced many players to sell their rings to pawn shops for ten percent of what the ring is actually worth.

Jesus is offering something much more valuable today than a championship ring or an executive promotion or a new house. He is offering Himself and within that offer comes the abundant life. For you see the abundant life that everyone is pursuing on Wall Street and within corporate America and on the sports field is a mirage. It offers nothing lasting, nothing of eternal value in this life or the next. The true abundant life exists within the life, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is here at the cross of Calvary that you find what you have been looking for – unconditional love, forgiveness, and self-worth. It is Jesus Christ who is the key to all that fulfills and truly satisfies. If you do not know Him, I pray you come to know the Savior today, Romans 10:9-10.

Christianity Characterized in a Word

During this past week I have been studying Biblical love. Most people know 1 John 4:8 “God is love” and the fact that Jesus commanded us to love our enemies. In addition, many people are familiar with portions of 1 Corinthians chapter 13, also known as the great love chapter of the Bible, as it is often quoted during marriage ceremonies.

But what does Biblical love look like in action?

I believe one of the best examples in Scripture that pictures the type of love Jesus has for His children is found in the life of the Disciple John. He is referred to as the disciple Jesus loved and it is said of him that he loved Jesus. This of course begs the question - did the other disciples not love Jesus? Or did John simply love him more?

According to John MacArthur, when we read John’s gospel account, “we enter into the most sacred holy place of all, the holy of holies and we see God in person, God in flesh. And so the fourth gospel is the gospel of all gospels. It is the holy of holies of the New Testament. It is almost as if we ought to take off our shoes for we stand on holy ground as we approach this gospel because it presents in the most magnificent glory the deity of Jesus Christ. It talks about His humanity, it talks about His servant hood, it talks about His kingship, but it presents primarily His deity. It is behold your God that John is trying to get across.”

It would seem based on John’s writings that he had an intimate knowledge of Jesus unlike anyone else. Of course, John was the only disciple at the cross. Even Peter who when told that Jesus would suffer many things and be killed, bolded declared, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:22)  We also remember that when the Lord was carrying His cross to Calvary, Peter was busy denying Him three times.

But John was there, wasn’t he? He was at the cross as Jesus told him to take care of His mother. John, unlike the other disciples, was not fearful of losing his life or ashamed to be associated with Jesus because he loved him. Because he LOVED Him. Love compelled John to follow the Savior anywhere – even to the cross. And as a result of this great love, when John was isolated on the island of Patmos for his faith, cut off from civilization on that small, deserted island. Shut off from everyone. He was shut up to God and there received the most extensive revelation of future events ever shown to any writer in the New Testament.

Unfortunately in today’s word, love is associated with a feeling or an emotion. The Greek language, which is the language of the New Testament, uses two different words to describe and define love. The most commonly used Greek word translated “love” in the New Testament is “agape.” This love is represented by God's love for us. It is a non-partial, sacrificial love probably best exemplified by God's provision for our rebellion as found, by no coincidence, in the Gospel of John chapter three, verse 16, “For God so loved (agape) the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

In contrast, our love is usually conditional and based upon how other people behave toward us. The Greek word “phileo” defines this kind of love, often translated “brotherly love.” Phileo is an emotional kind of love. It is something that can be experienced by both believers and non-believers. This is in contrast to agape, which is love extended through the Holy Spirit and requires a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This kind of love gives and sacrifices expecting nothing back in return.

As we walk with the Lord and become conformed to His image, agape love should be apparent in our life. It is this type of love that makes the world sit up and take notice because it is only possessed by believers. It is agape love in action that magnifies the message of the gospel for it is the very center of it – God loving us while we were yet sinners! It is a statement we should never get over. It is a love we should never get over. And it should compel us to follow the Savior, as it did John, all the way to the cross.

"Every Christian would agree that a man's spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God." - C. S. Lewis

The Marriage/Jesus Relationship

Last week I had written a blog about humility as the Lord has been teaching me quite a bit on this subject recently. In fact, just the other day I heard John MacArthur say on the radio that the only people that are able to forgive are humble people. This statement could not be any truer. Forgiveness is impossible if a heart is full of pride. Actually, I would go as far as to say that it is impossible to please God in our daily walk if humility does not permeate our lives and attitude.

With that being said, David Jeremiah has been preaching a series of messages on the Book Song of Solomon. His main theme is marriage, love, and sex as you might suspect if you have ever read the Song of Solomon.

As a quick overview, Song of Solomon has two primary characters or narrators. There is a woman called the Shulamite and a man who is King Solomon. It is a poem that moves the reader from the couple’s courtship to marriage to consummation. Its imagery is powerful and its lyrical content is beautiful.

While there are many wonderful spiritual jewels contained in this short book on marriage and love, I wanted to focus on the one thing that I think makes a marriage all that it is intended to be from God’s point of view. This critical aspect is the relationship of the wife and husband to Jesus Christ. I realize this may seem elementary but as I look at my own marriage, I have come to realize over the years that the most important facet to my overall happiness and contentment is based upon my relationship to the Lord and my husband’s relationship to the Lord. For you see if either my relationship or my husband’s relationship with the Lord is not where it should be then we will not treat each other as the Lord has intended and the Lord says our prayers will be hindered as a result (1 Peter 3:7).

As I mentioned previously, humility is the foundation for all other virtues to flourish in the life of the believer and this is also true in marriage and all of life’s relationships. It is so easy to be offended, isn’t it? Whether it is our spouse, our kids, a co-worker, or a friend. I have found in my own walk that the closer I am to the Lord, the less offenses bother me and the more I am able to focus on the things that the Lord says are most important – loving Him with my heart, mind, and soul and loving my neighbor as myself. It is within the servant’s attitude that we find the abundant life, but so often it is hard to not put ourselves first in everything.

Marriage by nature puts us into subjection to another person as 1 Corinthians 7:4 states, “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” Pretty powerful text. But if we are to truly live it then we need to be at the cross daily, realizing who we are before Christ. Otherwise our marriage will begin to come apart at the seams.

It is staggering to think that we have such power when it comes to our spouses but we do. We can either use that inherit power to build them up or tear them down. On this note, a couple of years ago, I heard a speaker at a marriage conference say that God has given us our spouses in order to mold us into the image of His Son. He said this in reference to all the annoying things that we dislike about our spouses that we wish they would change. While the audience chuckled, his point was valid in that the Lord always has the same purpose for us in life as His children and that is to bring us into greater conformity to His Son. What better person to use to accomplish this task than our spouse whom we live with and interact with every day?

My hope and prayer is that my own testimony before the Lord would be an encouragement to my husband in His walk and vice versa. Please feel free to comment to let me know how the Lord is shaping you into a picture of His Son in your relationships.

Humility 101

I hope this blog post finds everyone well. I have not been able to update my blog in a few weeks due to a bad case of the flu which has run rampant through my family. I can’t remember the last time I was that sick but I am on the mend now and happy to be back writing.

Over the past several weeks, the Lord has been teaching me much about humility and harmony. I read a book by Andrew Murray called Humility: The Beauty of Holiness that was a little gem. In it Murray explains that the one characteristic that dominated the life of Christ was humility. He goes on to say that humility is the foundation for all other virtues to flourish in the life of the believer. This makes sense when you think about the insidious nature of pride and how it can ruin a life.

As I thought about humility and all that it encompasses, I came quickly to realize that there may be no harder lesson to learn or virtue to possess than humility. Ben Franklin, who spent most of his life exploring the role of civic and personal virtue, had this to say about humility, “In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.”

So, how does one actually attain humility? It certainly cannot be found in text books or within the walls of our most learned institutions. It can only be found in the schools of Christ. It is only as we allow ourselves to be captivated at the foot of the cross and realize who we are before Christ that the seeds of humility are firmly planted. For you see humility does not consist of thinking meanly of ourselves as some believe, but in not thinking of ourselves at all. If humility speaks of itself, it is gone.

It was this aspect of not thinking of Himself at all that enabled Christ to fulfill his earthly mission. He was completely and totally satisfied with the Father and as a result was completely obedient all the way to the cross.

Once we are able to subtract ourselves out of the equation than we become vessels perfectly suited for the Mater’s work. This is not easy and I do not pretend that it is. I need not look any further than my own life to realize how much pride creeps at the door of my heart almost constantly. It takes much discipline to bring myself to the cross not just daily but many times daily to be cleansed and fitted for God’s purpose.

As with any virtue we seek to see demonstrated in our lives, we must feed on the Word of God in order to see it manifested. The Word is the life blood of the soul and the fuel to conquer sin, the world, the devil, and our own flesh. If you have some time this week, read Psalm 119. It is referred to in Hebrew by its opening words, "Ashrei temimei derech" ("happy are those whose way is perfect"). It is the prayer of one who delights in and lives by the Word of God, the sacred law. What makes Psalm 119 unique is the way that these requests are continually and explicitly grounded in the gift of the Law and the psalmist's loyalty to it.

I hope to continue to write more blogs on the subject of humility in the coming weeks as the Lord leads. Until then, God Bless and please feel free to comment and let me know what God is teaching you.

Misplaced Priorities

I was watching HBO’s “Real Sports” television program last night and Bryant Gumbel and his panel of reporters were recapping the biggest sports stories of 2010. There was one story in particular that caught my attention and it was about Lane Kiffin, the former football coach of the University of Tennessee who abruptly quit his job in January in order to coach the USC Trojans. The story garnered national attention because his departure upset many students and fans of the University of Tennessee. As a result, hundreds of students rioted on campus causing the Knoxville police and fire department to be summoned after students blocked the exit from the Neyland Thompson Sports Center and started several small fires.

While I could spend the next several paragraphs detailing the less than admirable actions of Kiffin who has quite a history of poor behavior, I wanted to talk about the powerful reaction of the students instead. This is a college football program and while Kiffin’s decision to leave and coach another school would understandably cause ill feelings, the actions of the students speaks of a generation of young people who have their priorities sorely misplaced.

One of the panel members on the show said he was amazed the students rioted in such a manner over Kiffin’s departure, and yet there was not so much as even a small demonstration when the US went to war. It used to be that the younger generations were passionate about the things that affected their country and their future. This is sadly no longer the case as apparently who is coaching the football team trumps all else.

America at heart is a sports crazed nation and has been for a long time, but with the emergence of lucrative contracts, million dollar endorsements, and Internet exposure, not to mention Sports Center running 24x7, the fixation is at a fever pitch. As a result, priorities shift and values are recalculated in the wrong direction, leaving us with college kids rioting over the departure of a football coach.

Of course, the Lord warned us that His return would be near during an age of great apostasy and general lawlessness (2 Thessalonians chapter 2) and it would certainly appear that we are in that time today. America as a nation began to step away from God in the 1960’s and has continued to move further away as each generation passes. Given this, it should be of no surprise that sports teams are now more important to Americans than the state of the nation, foreign policy, and moral issues.

No one sees America’s political and economic decay tied to its moral decay and yet God says the two are inextricably linked. You can’t serve God and mammon at the same time. When a nation promotes hedonism, greed, and self-rights above the good of society, the results are disastrous.

As Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian once said, "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Tocqueville lived during the 1800’s and he made it his personal mission to figure out why America had risen to such prominence during the 19th century. In his quest, he had researched American’s government, schools, and homes but did not find America’s greatness there. It was only when he went to America’s churches that he understood the root of her greatness and made his famous quote.

I am still hopeful as God continues to delay his judgment that we can turn back and save our nation. This will become a reality only if we as His people put into action 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Precious Things Are Saved Only by Sacrifice

During the past two years the Lord has taught me much about sacrifice. Sadly, in today’s “me first” society, sacrifice has lost its true meaning. Most think of it only in terms of sacrificing one thing in order to attain something bigger or better. We gladly sacrifice a little here or a little there as long as we are sure the outcome will be in our favor. But true sacrifice, the kind that fuels the passion of the soul, has no such expectations.

The abundant life that Jesus offers is one that is based on sacrifice, but of course this message is not one that today’s world wants to hear much less live by. Jesus said that you would know His disciples by their love one toward another. He continually admonished His followers to love their neighbor as themselves and to even love their enemies. He lived the life of a servant and told His disciples when they asked Him who would be the greatest in His kingdom that “if anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).

So, it is no wonder that the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. We can conclude then that the key to spiritual victory is not getting all you can get, but giving all you have. Many people flock into churches and seek spiritual experiences to get more of God when the issue is not what they need to GET but what they need to GIVE.

I don’t pretend that this is easy but as John MacArthur has skillfully said, “This [presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice] is absolutely necessary if we are ever to know the fullness of the blessing of God and be able to render to him the service that is due to Him and bring Him glory. Most Christians never really come to that place fully. They flirt with the world, they flirt with the flesh. They flirt with their own personal indulgences and desires. They become victims of the philosophy and psychology of the world around them. They buy into the world's bag. They entertain themselves with the world's mode of entertainment. They think along the lines the world thinks. And so they never really come to the place of total commitment that is discussed in these two verses and therefore they forfeit the fullness of the blessing that God would have for them.”

I think for many of us we meet a need here or help someone over there and we feel pretty good but God is asking for our mind, body, and soul. When He is in possession of us than we are most suited to serve others as He did and experience His full blessing in our lives. In other words, if our vertical relationship with God is where it should be than our horizontal relationships with others will also be in harmony.

I think so often we have this backwards. We work on our horizontal relationships in our own power and then feel like a failure and wonder why our walk has become a burden when the key from the start is to fill up on God and let his power flow through us. Of course, this takes much sacrifice, doesn’t it? It means turning off the TV, the radio, the computer, and communing with the Living God in His Word and in prayer.

What is even more frustrating is that when I have truly committed myself to the Lord my Christian life feels effortless and full of joy but soon, for whatever reason, I revert back to doing things myself and in my own power and soon the drudgery resurfaces.

I think it is important as we seek to know God more and to glorify Him within our lives to remember that anything worth having, anything that truly endures is always attained by sacrifice and the Lord is asking us to be a living sacrifice unto Him. Surely, this is not too much to ask by the One who sacrificed His own life for us so we may obtain eternal life.

“The Christian life is never measured in success but in sacrifice.” – Leonard Ravenhill

Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Out of Prayer

Each week I update the bulletin for my church. Earlier this year, we began to include updates on the efforts of our missionaries on the back page. I typically update this section every month as we receive prayer letters. This past week, I received a prayer letter from our missionaries in the Dominican Republic/Haiti. They are Wesley and Melina Lane and I wanted to include a portion of their prayer letter as their battle to share the gospel in this area of the world is fierce and they need prayers desperately:

“Dear Friends, Psalm 91:5,6 says, "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday." The whole Island of Hispañiola needs the comfort of these verses right now. Earthquakes, hurricanes, and disease continue to take their toll on the population, the churches, and the Christians here. Hurricane Tomas passed far out to the west of Port-au-Prince, giving mostly heavy rains, with the worst affected areas on the far western tips of the peninsulas far away from any news crews. There was local flooding in Port-au-Prince and the mud made the tents camps miserable. Fortunately the high winds and heaviest rains mostly affected sparsely populated areas.


As of this writing, the death toll in Haiti from the cholera outbreak has topped 1000, with more the 14,000 hospitalized and the epidemic has now reached the Port-au-Prince area. Thousands are hospitalized and no one really knows what the future holds for this outbreak. In many areas sanitation is very primitive or non-existent. The cholera outbreak has caused the frontier areas to be subjected to violence and new restrictions. This affects our ministry because we cross the border on a regular basis. I personally know the official in charge of the Jimani crossing and he has informed me that if I take my truck into Haiti, I cannot bring it back until the outbreak is declared over. In spite of reports like these, there is still some cross border traffic.


Fortunately, none of our church people have been directly affected so far. This outbreak is expected to take as long as a year to contain and some people feel that it is inevitable that is will spill over into the Dominican Republic. If it does, the political/social results will be unpredictable, but they won't be good in any case. These two countries have a long history of strained relations, sometimes escalating to armed conflict. Most Haitians living in the Dominican Republic are illegal and the situation parallels the illegal immigration problem in the USA in many aspects. In past times of stress, there are two recorded massacres of the Haitians in which thousands were simply slaughtered. There are still occasional outbursts of anti-Haitian violence in which dozens are killed, usually triggered by an act of crime by a Haitian against a Dominican, but these are generally kept out of the media.

I am sure upon reading this letter your reaction was similar to mine – we have no idea what suffering for the sake of the gospel means in this country. The Lane family is putting their life on the line every time they share the gospel in a place that has been recently leveled by natural disaster, further perpetuating the internal conflict that has been raging between the two countries for a long time. But still the Lane’s press on and urge us to pray for them and their ministry.

So often, it is easy to forget our missionary brothers and sisters because they are so far away which is why we decided to include updates in our bulletin and also on our church website. These people have truly counted the cost of the gospel and have deemed it worthy to sacrifice everything for the sake of Christ. Their reward will be great and we can have a part in that reward by supporting them, not with just our money but with our prayers and time. At our church, we encourage the body to send letters and emails to the missionaries to let them know that we are thinking of them and praying for them. It means so much for them to hear from us.

I wanted to encourage you to do the same. I know if I was in a foreign country battling even just a few of things that the Lane’s face every day, my spirits would be lifted tremendously to know my fellow Christian friends were praying for me and fighting the battle alongside me. Let’s enter together into their labors and reap eternal glory, "Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest?’ Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” (John 4:34-38)

Mount Sinai or Mount Calvary?

In 1 John 1:9 we read the following statement in regards to how a Christian is to deal with sin in their lives, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I have come to realize over the years that the times in my life when I feel the most distant from the Lord or my prayers seem like they are rising no higher than my ceiling, are the very moments when I have unconfessed sin. This may seem rudimentary, but for a long time in my Christian walk I used to try to fill my life during “spiritual dry times” with more spiritual things or activities in an attempt to feel closer to God when in reality I needed to confess and repent of sin.

It is the sin battle that so often defeats us in our walk but John gives us the solution – just confess. Seems simple on the surface, doesn’t it? I have found that to practically live this verse is the most challenging aspect of my Christian life.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss in her profound book on revival called Seeking Him says that when we sin we immediately have two choices. We can go to Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments and try to live by the law in our own strength and self-righteousness or we can come to Mount Calvary and bring our sin to the foot of the cross and receive the forgiveness and victory over sin that is ours in Christ.

The Bible tells us that after Jesus rose from the grave He went and sat down at the right hand of the Father and is there today making intercession for us when we confess our sins (Romans 8:27). This is an amazing thought to comprehend. Jesus Christ is actively working on our behalf to apply his blood atonement sacrifice to our sins. All we have to do is confess them and repent or turn from our sinful behavior. Jesus Himself has already bore the penalty and the judgment for our sins. What a wonderful spiritual reality to contemplate and allow to shape our walk!

I heard a preacher once say that the key to a victorious Christian life is to keep short sin accounts with God. In other words, when we sin is the best time to confess our sin. I think the frustrating part is so often as soon as we confess the sin, we are committing it again. But still the scripture urges us to keep confessing because I believe the very act of coming before God and agreeing with Him that we have trespassed against His law is the only way we can achieve victory even if it takes time for the sin to be completely removed from our lives. This is why the confession part is the most critical.

When David sinned with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel chapter 11, and then basically ordered to have her husband killed in the war by putting him on the front lines, he never confessed these sins before God. In fact, if not for the prophet Nathan coming to tell David that God was extremely upset over his sin, there is no reason to believe David would have ever confessed. This is a sobering thought given the scriptures tell us that David was a man who was after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). This is a prime example of the deadliness of unconfessed sin.

We have to always be on guard in our lives to ensure we are not deceived about sin and the best way to do this - the only way to do this - is to confess our sins daily before the Lord.

“Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.” - George MacDonald

Adjusting Perspective

August marks 18 months since I left the workforce. Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about all the Lord has taught me during this time about priorities and purpose. Up until I left the field of Public Relations, I would categorize my life as one that was intensely focused on money. While I certainly was never one to dream about being a millionaire, thoughts of money pretty much dominated my life. I justified these thoughts by clouding them in a sense of fiscal responsibility toward my family. After all, in this economy a family needs two incomes just to survive, right?

As I felt the Lord prodding me to stay home for more than a year before I was laid off from my job, my first thought was how everything would get paid based solely on my husband’s salary, even though his income was more than enough once we subtracted out the weekly daycare payment. But, even more frightening than the money, was wondering if I would be truly satisfied with just being home with my two daughters. I had erroneously told myself for years that I was a better mother by working part-time. My logic was based on the premise that my work was something for me and the days I did not work were for my husband and daughters. Of course, I worked in a profession that was deadline oriented, which meant my laptop was always on even on my days off.

When I stopped working, the change in my daughters, who were two and four at the time was dramatic. While they have always been happy children, they sensed that I made a choice to be with them and that feeling of security turned their world around. Within a few weeks, my husband commented on how much happier and content the girls appeared to be, and how he was feeling more peace at work knowing that I was home with the girls every day, and would not be waiting for him to come through the door so I could login to check emails. I have come to realize that we really do not need the Lord to convince us of the benefit of staying home. We only need to observe our own children.

As the weeks turned into months, I began praying for the Lord to help me not begin submitting resumes because of a sense of diminishing self worth. For so long I had tied so much of who I was to what I did, and how much I got paid, that I was almost unable to see myself in any other terms. Then, something wonderful happened. The Lord provided opportunities for me to serve others. And this, I believe, is really the whole key to the abundant life that Jesus promised would be ours if our lives were lost in Him. All of our talents, abilities, and desires are God-given for the explicit purpose of serving Him and others. I often joke with former colleagues that the trick to performing meaningful work is to not get paid.

There is a great book by Max Lucado entitled, The Cure for the Common Life that addresses the issue of people’s discontentment in the work place. Lucado explains that most people from an early age realize they have an innate talent or ability, but many never pursue it because either they do not see a way they can make money from it, or they get promoted out of their sweet spot in life. The Bible is clear that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and that the Lord even knows how many hairs are on our head (Matthew 10:30). His desire is to have each of us use the abilities He gave us in service to Him and others (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

I know what you’re thinking. What about making enough money to support our families? We have to pay the mortgage, buy food, make tuition payments, etc. The two ideas are really not as divorced from each other as you might think. The Lord promises in Matthew 6:33 that if “we seek His kingdom and righteousness first, all these things will be added unto us.” These “things” in this verse are in reference to the basics of life – shelter, food, clothes. And this really is the key. If the Lord is our focus, then we stop trying to keep up with the Joneses, don’t we? Having the biggest house or newest sports car takes a back seat to serving the Lord and ministering to others.

Randy Alcorn has written a brilliant book on this subject of serving and sacrificial giving called The Treasure Principle. Alcorn speaks about storing up eternal treasure in your life as opposed to earthly treasures that will fade away. But more than just storing up treasures for eternity, your life today - right now - can be changed if you choose to seek the Lord. If you have never come to know the Savior or the abundant life which He offers, it can be yours  this very moment. Romans 10:9-10 tells you how - “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Ode to a Rose

A few years ago, I had to take my youngest daughter to an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) to have her eye sight evaluated. Over a period of a few months, I had developed a close relationship with her doctor. After much discussion and prayer, my husband and I decided to go against his recommendation for eye surgery in favor of seeing a vision specialist. It was a very difficult decision to leave his practice. Upon notifying him of our choice to leave his care, I sent him a gospel tract in the mail and explained to him that our decision was based on much research and prayer as we sought the Lord's guidance. A few days later, I received a letter in the mail from him thanking me for my letter and gospel tract. He went on to explain that his father was a Methodist minister who had recently passed away. He mentioned that his father was “the most decent man I ever knew.” He then enclosed a poem that his father had written which was read during the Memorial Service. I have included the poem in its entirety below. It may be one of the most poignant poems that perfectly captures the beauty of God in creation. I hope it blesses you as much as it has me.

"Ode to a Rose"

Gazing at a rose today—
No—
Rather contemplating a rose—
I wondered-
Why is it beautiful?
What is beauty?

I enjoy the rose.
No—
More than enjoy.
I share the joy of God
That is in the rose.

It has
Beauty
Symmetry
Color, rich and full—
Balance—and yet—

And yet – not quite symmetrical
Not quite in balance—
Titled a little to one side
Like a flirtatious school girl—
Smiling wickedly, mischievously.

I say it is beautiful. I love to gaze at it. Contemplate it,
Drink in every “word” it says to me—
For it is saying something. I don’t quite know what—
But that’s because I’ve never taken the time to learn
The language of a rose.

It speaks to me of Joy – of completeness, wholeness, of excitement of the undiscovered.
Man can make a rose of paper and wax – but it’s not the same.
It has the outward form, but lacks the charm, the spell, the mystery.

Mystery. That’s the word.
For if a man had never seen a rose, he could never imagine one.
Man can imitate, with paper and wax, what God has created.
But the rose, its beauty, its mystery, its charm, comes from God.

No—
It is of God.
The rose is saying, “The beauty which you find so interesting, so charming, is the beauty of God.
The fragrance, so gentle, so peaceful, so quiet is the gentle peace of God.

The rose says to me—
Be gay
Be full
Be joyous
Be just what God made you
Then your life will radiate a charm, a mysterious gentle peace
For you too are God’s precious possession.

-Paul O. Reese (1914-2007)

Tribulation is the Appointed Path to the Kingdom

First, I am hoping that the title of this blog does not scare anyone away from reading further. I debated much about changing it but decided to keep it as I think it most accurately reflects the context of this post. It may sound familiar to you as it is a quote from Sir Walter Scott as he was discussing the Christian life. He too, did not intend to scare anyone away, but his choice of words was also quite deliberate as he wanted to make sure no one believed that once they put their trust in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior that their life would be all sunshine and rainbows. It would seem that this type of prosperity gospel, where God is viewed as a sugar daddy just waiting to answer our every heart’s desire, was prevalent during Scott’s day, and also permeates our day too within the Pentecostal and faith movements.

But what does the Bible have to say? As you read through the Word of God, there is a theme of tribulation woven throughout the very lives of the writers of the Bible. Moses wrote the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) when he was in the wilderness. David wrote the majority of his Psalms when he was running for his life from King Saul. Ezekiel wrote while he was in exile. Jeremiah, who is often called the weeping prophet, lived a life that was characterized by trial and persecution. Peter wrote his two letters just before he was martyred. Paul wrote many of his letters while in prison and John, the beloved apostle of Jesus, was isolated on the island of Patmos when he penned the Book of Revelation. Speaking of John, I heard a preacher once say that when John was cut off from civilization on that small, deserted island. Shut off from everyone. He was shut up to God and there received the most extensive revelation of future events ever shown to any writer in the New Testament.

It is amazing to ponder that thought, isn’t it? John, who was put on the island of Patmos (a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea) for preaching the gospel, saw Christ revealed in all his glory and was given the awesome task of not just witnessing the Second Coming of Christ, but writing down the event for every future generation.

While there are many purposes for suffering – to glorify God, to reveal our spiritual condition, to chastise us for disobedience, to refine us to make us more like Christ, to develop within us the fruits of the Spirit – I think many times trials and tribulations are there just to bring us into the quite place where we can hear from God and know Him in a new way.

So often in the Scriptures we are admonished to spend time alone with the Lord, “Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). “Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision…” (Daniel 10:8). Jesus, Himself, often rose early in the morning to spend time alone with the Father, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He [Jesus] went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Sir Walter Scott said that tribulation is the appointed path to the kingdom because we only get to the kingdom in the patience of Christ. Herein lies a marvelous truth. So many people claim to want to really know the Lord but they do not want to have to go through anything or give anything to truly know Him. A relationship with anyone has a cost, and so too with Christ, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it” (Luke 14: 27-28).

If we truly want to know the Living God and all his glory than we have to be willing to be separated unto Him, each of us in our quiet place, stripped of self and the commotion of life, always remembering that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

"No soul can really be at rest until it has given up dependence on everything else and has been forced to depend on the Lord alone… If God is what He would seem to be from His revealings; if He is indeed the 'God of all comfort;' if He is our Shepherd; if He is really and truly our Father; if, in short, all the many aspects He has told us of His character and His ways are actually true, then we must come to the positive conviction that He is, in Himself alone, enough for all our needs and that we may rest in Him absolutely and forever.” - Hannah Whitall Smith

He Will Rejoice over You with Singing

I was spending some time this week reading the Book of Zephaniah. The book is found toward the end of the Old Testament and is only three chapters long but contains many wonderful spiritual truths. Few know of or have spent any considerable amount of time studying the prophet Zephaniah as he was a contemporary of the great prophet Jeremiah, but I think much can be gleaned from this prophetical book.

As background, the Book of Zephaniah attributes its authorship to “Zephaniah, son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Atom of Judah.” It is believed that Zephaniah wrote his book during the time of King Josiah, who ruled over Judah from approximately 640-609 BC. The picture of Jerusalem which Zephaniah paints indicates that he was active prior to the religious reforms of King Josiah, which are described in 2 Kings 23. These reforms took place in 622 BC. Zephaniah was probably the first prophet following the prophecies of Isaiah and the violent reign of Manasseh. Both Zephaniah and Jeremiah urged King Josiah to enact religious reforms, which he eventually did.

The primary purpose of the book’s composition was to alter the behavior (particularly religious behavior) of the author’s contemporary Jerusalemites through the threat of future calamity for “those who have turned back from following the Lord…who have not sought the Lord or inquired of him” (1:6). Zephaniah speaks of the “Great Day of the Lord” – when the Lord will judge all the people of the earth. This coming judgment will affect all of the nations, including the author’s own nation of Judah where God is understood to reside. The book concludes by extending a promise of deliverance to the faithful remnant of Israel.

It is this glorious promise of deliverance that I wanted to spend some time discussing. It is found in chapter 3, verse 17, “The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Jesus said, “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). And Zephaniah tells us that when all those repentant, humble, lowly sinners gather before God, He will not look down upon them, or riddle them with guilt, or pity them but he will rejoice over them with gladness and singing! “As a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5).

John Piper says that in contemplating this verse, we should banish from our minds forever any thought that God admits us begrudgingly into his Kingdom, as though Christ found a loophole in the law, did some fancy plea-bargaining and squeaked us by the Judge. It is God Himself, the Judge, who put Christ forward as our substitutionary sacrifice, and when we trust Him, God welcomes us with a chorus of singing. He puts a ring on our finger, kills the fatted calf, throws a party, shouts a shout that shakes the ends of creation and leads in the festal dance.

Isn’t it a wonderful thought to know that our God is waiting to welcome us with rejoicing and singing? This image often reminds me of the prodigal son who returned home not to find his father waiting to punish him, judge him or make an example of him but running toward him, with open arms to meet him, welcome him and celebrate his return home. Therefore, while the Day of the Lord waits let all of us do as the prophet Zephaniah exhorts, “Seek the Lord all you humble of the land… seek righteousness, seek humility… Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem” (Zephaniah 2:3; 3:14). Amen.

Making a Strong Case for a Pre-tribulation Rapture Position

As a follow up to my previous post on the return of Christ, I wanted to touch on the subject of the timing of the Rapture of the saints, which is a different event from the Second Coming of Christ. My church, as well myself, hold to a pre-tribulation Rapture position. There are other Christians that believe in a mid-tribulation Rapture and still others that believe in a post-tribulation Rapture.

I think it makes the most sense to define our terms up front in order to adequately differentiate the Rapture from the Second Coming of Christ. The Rapture is when Jesus Christ returns to remove the church (all believers in Christ) from the earth. The Rapture is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54. Believers who have died will have their bodies resurrected and, along with believers who are still living, will meet the Lord in the air. This will all occur in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. The Second Coming is when Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist, destroy evil, and establish His millennial (1,000 year) kingdom. The Second Coming is described in detail in Revelation 19:11-16.

It is important to note that while both events involve Jesus returning, they are distinct in purpose. The Rapture, according to a pre-tribulation position, is the return of Christ in the clouds to remove all believers from the earth before the time of God’s wrath known as the Tribulation period or the Day of the Lord, which will last seven years according to Daniel 9:20-27. The Second Coming is the return of Christ to the earth to bring the Tribulation period to an end, and in the process, defeat the Antichrist and his evil world empire. At its conclusion, the Lord Himself and His saints will rule on the earth for a thousand years, which is known as the millennial kingdom period.

As I mentioned earlier, there is quite a lot of debate within the Christian community on the timing of the Rapture and if believers will be present on earth at the time of God’s wrath and judgment. The pastor of my church recently gave eight evidences for a pre-tribulation position. I have read many books and listened to many messages on this topic and these eight evidences are the best reasons I have ever heard that support a pre-tribulation position. My goal is not to persuade anyone’s position on this topic but to offer compelling information straight from the Word of God.

I also want to emphasize something that my pastor mentioned before he gave these evidences. The Scripture does not state in clear, unmistakable terms that the Rapture is pre-tribulational, mid-tribulational or post-tribulational. However, the evidences for a removal of God’s people, both dead and living, before the Great Tribulation is compelling to say the least. The Pre-Tribulation position also answers more problems than the other positions create or answer. So, without further delay, below are the eight strong evidences.

1. Revelation 3:10 teaches that Christ’s promise to the church at Philadelphia was “I will keep you from the hour of testing.” This is not saying that God would preserve them "within" the testing time, but that He would keep them from entering the time of testing altogether.

2. The Bible does not warn believers of the impending Tribulational judgments. It warns of present tribulation or trials, false prophets, and unholy living, but not the Tribulation period.

3. The church does not appear at all after chapter four, verse one in the Revelation (chapters 4:2-19 detail the Tribulation period). This silent witness speaks volumes regarding the absence of the church at this time of prophetical history.

4. The event of a Rapture at the end of the Tribulation offers no hope for the believer’s loved ones or themselves being spared the Tribulation. This was the major concern Paul was addressing in 1 Thessalonians in the first place as the people believed they were already experiencing the Tribulation period and were concerned for their loved ones who had already passed away.

5. If God raptured all believers just prior to establishing the Millennial kingdom, there would be no one left to enter the kingdom in their natural bodies to populate the earth.

6. Revelation 19 does not mention any Rapture, or where it would likely occur if post-tribulational.

7. If it is post-tribulational, then the Rapture accomplishes little at this time. It would make the separation of the sheep and the goats as detailed in Matthew 25:31-33 unnecessary because the post-tribulation Rapture of believers would have just accomplished that fact.

8. The sequence of events as detailed in Revelation chapters 4-19 requires a pre-tribulation Rapture for the following reasons:
a) The Rapture mentions a resurrection; the Second Coming does not.
b) At the Rapture the saints meet Chris in the air; at the Second Coming Christ comes with his saints to meet the saints on the earth.
c) At the Rapture the Mount of Olives is not involved; at the Second Coming it is divided.
d) At the Rapture saints are taken up; at the Second Coming there is no mention of the saints being taken up.
e) At the Rapture the saved are in view; at the Second Coming both the saved and unsaved are in view.
f) At the Rapture Satan is not mentioned; at the Second Coming he is bound during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ on earth.

Even So, Come, Lord Jesus

Over the past few months the pastor of my church has been preaching through the book of I Thessalonians. If you are not familiar with this book, it is believed to be one of the Apostle Paul’s earliest letters and the Thessalonians, to whom the letter is addressed, are believed to have been almost exclusively Gentiles. The Book of Acts, however, does record that there were Jews converted during Paul's initial preaching in Thessalonica. Paul was concerned because of the infancy of the church given he had only spent a few weeks with them before leaving for Athens. His purpose in writing the letter was threefold in nature. First, he praises them for their steadfastness under persecution. Second, he instructs them concerning holy loving, and lastly he corrects their misunderstanding regarding the second coming of Christ.

It is this last point regarding the coming of the Lord that I wanted to spend some time discussing. I have always found it amazing that the people of Thessalonica, who were experiencing intense persecution from both Jewish and heathen adversaries, tied their afflictions to the coming of the Lord. In fact, they actually believed they were living in the Day of the Lord as detailed in the book of Revelation (chapters 4-19). Their eyes were squarely fixed on the Lord amidst intense suffering.

As I look at the world today, it amazes me even more that society at large attributes, so little, if anything, to the hand of God. We are entering a watershed moment in the history of our nation as we move toward a more socialist mindset, and even further toward a one world government and no one seems to give God a second thought. I was actually chuckling to myself as I imagined the Thessalonians living in our world today and their thought process. I am certain that the uproar about the Lord’s return would be so great that Paul would be busy right now penning a third letter to placate their anxieties.

In all seriousness though, heaven is real and Christ is coming. I don’t want to get into an eschatological discussion in this blog post but if you were to study the book of Revelation and prophecy as a whole, there is nothing impeding the Lord from coming today. What a marvelous truth to contemplate and allow to shape our lives. If we genuinely believe He is coming, we should discipline our thoughts accordingly. If we are pilgrims eager for an eternal city, we will be happier, harder-working, more forward-thinking people on earth, whatever our age or circumstance in life. As the thought of the Lord’s return captivates our mind, we begin to realize our permanence isn't on earth as we long for the city whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10).

I heard a preacher once say that the entire Bible could be summarized into three simple statements: Chris is coming, Christ has come, Christ will come again. And therein lies the marvelous hope for the believer. Christ is coming again!

Alas! How we forget that we are but strangers and pilgrims on the earth; that we are journeying to our eternal home, and will soon be there! - Octavius Winslow

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God (Psalm 91)

During the past few months I have been corresponding with many friends and family who are struggling in their daily walk of life. Some are battling health issues, others are trying to make their next mortgage payment and some feel an overall sense of disillusionment toward the government. My first thought whenever I speak to someone who is discouraged is to direct them to Psalm 91, which contains some of the most beautiful words in the Bible. Let’s look at them for just a moment:

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling, For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

At first glance you will notice that this Psalm is filled with wonderful words of comfort. They speak of God as the Protector of those who trust in Him. When we are in closest intimacy and communion with God we may be said to dwell in the secret place of the most High. Those who commune with God are safe with Him. No evil can reach them, for the outstretched wings of His power and love cover them from all harm.

The Psalm goes on to imply that whatever happens in this life, nothing of eternal consequence shall hurt the believer because he is safe in Christ. When trouble or affliction surface, it does not come to hurt the believer but is there for his good, even though it may be grievous to bear in the present moment. Those who rightly know God, will set their love upon Him and the Lord Himself promises to manage all the believer's worldly concerns, and preserve his life on earth until it is time for him to leave and be with Jesus.

What a wonderful thought to know the Lord is in control of our lives at all times and that at the moment of our death we are safe and secure in Him who died for us and purchased for us a place in heaven. (John 14:2-3)

If you feel sad or depressed or have lost all hope, come to Psalm 91 and rest in the Prince of Peace.