Life on the Vine

The Enemy of Best

2009-05-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently what which should not be done at all. Peter Drucker

Everyone at sometime in their life has found themselves at the end of a long and arduous process. Completion in hand, victory only a joy away, only to find out that the project was unnecessary. Perhaps it was poor planning, perchance it was ultimately unwanted, but for whatever reason it was superfluous. There can be no greater defeat. Yet for many it is a way of life. The reason; they have chosen what is good over what is best. John Wooden said, "Never confuse activity with accomplishment." Many times we are just being busy, accomplishing nothing. The enemy of the best is many times what is good. We fail to take time to find our if what we are doing is the best thing we can do, or just something good.

Life on the Vine has but one purpose, to please the Father. Obviously only what is pleasing to Him is what is really best. There are many other things that are good we could be doing, but doing what He desires is best. The only way to know that is to hear it from Him. Fortunately prayer offers us that path. The believer will find it best to spend time in prayer seeking what is best over what is good.

Idealized Past

2009-05-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past. - Robertson Davies

A Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor, Robertson Davies was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters." Also a knowledgeable theologian he left the Presbyterian Church for the Anglican Church in a disagreement over Calvinism. He was not however a pastor, but from the quote above showed the insight of a one who leads a congregation.

The Apostle Paul addressed the same issue in Philippians when he said, “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” It is hard for us not to think that the “good old days” were not better than they were. We easily idealize those days and think of them as more simple, more moral, and more wholesome. Whether they are or not is not the question for Paul. For him there is only one way and that is forward. What lies ahead is the only thing of any matter.

In churches it is much more common to look to the idealized past. A time, when seen through rose colored glasses, was the epitome of the best of times. But Paul cautions us not to dwell on the past, but to look to the future. The Lord’s work is always before us, not behind. “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The Gospel According to Lynda

2009-05-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke.
- Lynda Barry

As a remarkably successful cartoonist Lynda Barry is able to bring humor to a hard life. Her clear understanding of the outcast and the underdog brings a realistic look at life. Through artwork full of words and deep thought she brings out the pain and occasional successes of those she has created from a life of observation. Her words, as noted above, are as full of pictures as her art.

In this wonderful quote Lynda expresses the true picture of love. Not a fanciful romantic naive love, but the love that every person desires for their own life. It is a love that demands a risk and reward that are both attractive. She paints a picture of a love that is worth the effort. In this love the venture is on the part of the smoker, not the cigar. No return of that love can be assured. It is the great leap of faith. Faith the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen. True love is a love that can be unrequited, unreciprocated, completely unreturned. True love does not depend on the response of the one loved, but is the action of the one who loves.

This is the love of Jesus Christ. It is described in these words, “Greater love has no one than this; that one lay down his life for his friends.” The love that Christ demonstrated was “while we were yet sinners” not after we cleaned our lives up and came to Him. His love was not conditioned on our response; it was totally dependent on His love for us. This is the love that His followers are commanded to love others with. How different would your relationships with others be if your love were not predicated on the response of others? It would make you free to love all, not just the ones that love you. Indeed love is indeed the exploding cigar that we all should willingly smoke. Thanks be to God that His Son willingly went to the cross.

World According to Man

2009-05-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite. John Kenneth Galbraith

The intellectually as well as physically imposing (6’9”) Galbraith had a great knack for statements intended to be both profound and amusing at the same time. Certainly no one individual has more influenced the modern economic history of the United States. Serving in the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; author of four dozen books, countless articles; awarded the highest civilian awards of three nations, and professor at Harvard University there are very few people who can boast such an impressive array of achievements and influence. Certainly he would be an authority on economic realities of the world of man.

His statement reveals the deepest motives of men who have given themselves over to the systems of the world. You can substitute any world system for capitalism and communism in the statement and the results are the same. Democracy and Socialism, Republics and Monarchies, Religions and Humanism, Monetary and Bartering, Management and Labor, Pragmatists and Intellectuals, Conservatives and Liberals, Libertarians and Dictators all are human systems. These systems are intended as substitutes for what really is needed. They are the best that humans can design and implement, but all are far cries from the truth. Why? Because each one is constructed in such a way that control is in the hands of men. They are ways of saying that I will be in control and you will not. Therefore I am free to exploit you for my own purposes. Though said in a humorous way, the man who understood the world of man better than probably any man, stated the truth. The end result of any human system is the exploitation of other humans. It is nice when those who understand best do understand. Yet it is sad when they do have not answers from their understanding.

One of the joys of Living on the Vine is an intimate relationship with the One who created the world and all that is in it. Included in His design for man was a system of unique qualities that is the only system that will work. It was included in the Kingdom of Heaven that His Son introduced to the world when He arrived. The Kingdom of Heaven is a theocracy where God is in control of all things. “Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done” is the prayer that most often uttered by His followers. Instead of supply, demand, price, government intervention, labor availability, capital and myriad of other factors there are only two principles that have effect in the Kingdom: (1) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and (2) your neighbor as yourself. Exploitation of humans by humans is an impossibility in the Kingdom. When mankind embraces the Kingdom and its theocracy then man will no longer exploit man.

Proof of Love

2008-04-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

Passage for Today: John 8:41-42

"You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.

How many people believe in God? I would guess that close to 98% of the entire worlds population believe in a god. It might be a god or a group of gods, or a god consciousness, or even a single God. The God’s name could be Allah, Brahma, Jehovah, or any of a pantheon of names. But the bottom line is that there are very, very few people in this vast world that do not have a deity knowledge or even belief.

So how could we know that our God exists, that our faith is valid. Well Jesus simply answers this question for us. “If God were your Father, you would love Me.” He can say this because He came directly from, proceeded forth from God. The essence of God is Him and you would certainly love the essence of the God you believe in. Jesus shows this logic again in John 14 when He says, “You believe in God, believe also in Me.” It would indeed be impossible for someone to know God as their God, and not love the one that is in everyway like Him, and is in fact Him.

But in back handed sort of way it is an indictment against the Christianity we see today. If we are of God then we love His Son. The proof of our faith in God is the love of His Son. Well you may say I love Christ. Then he makes this statement. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) He takes the proof to the bottom line: do you keep My commandments? In fact it is unnecessary to say whether or not we believe in God or in Jesus. The very fact of whether we keep His commandments says it all for us. If we keep them, we love Him and God, His Father. If we do not keep them, we do not love Him and God, His Father.

So the question for me today is not do I know, love, acknowledge, appreciate, follow, embrace, worship or even care about God. The question is do I keep the commandments of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Does my life reflect in behavior, speech and thought the obedience that He asks? Talk is cheap, thoughts are even cheaper, but performance and behavior are the great evaluators.

Light of Life

2008-04-26T08:03:00.001-07:00

Passage for Today: John 8:12

"I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
Have you ever had friends help you out with your problem? Of course you have. Their heart is good, but many times they don’t understand all of your problem. Yet that does not preclude them from giving their advice. Such was the problem with Job. Most of Job’s problems were easily seen, but the cause of those problems was not. So his friends begin to share what they thought the source of the problem was. They conclude that it is because he has sinned. But Job refuses to accept that he has sinned.

The youngest of the group of friends is Elihu. In his first speech his anger with Job’s unwillingness to confess his sin is very clear. Then at it conclusion he draws the portrait of an angel who would come to men, canceling their death sentence and setting men free from the sin that has trapped them. “Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life.”
(Job 33:29-30) God enlightens with the light of life. God gives truth to men about their condition and solution through the light of life.

It is said of Jesus in John 1, “In Him was life, and life was the Light of men.” This light is the truth about who we are and where we are, but it is also the solution to that condition. Jesus is the light that gives everyone who follows that light, life, true life. What we see around us is a shadow or darkness of life. But when the light shines we see and can receive the true life, the kingdom of heaven.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” How many are still in darkness despite a shining light? How many have accepted darkness for light even though the true light has come? It is heart breaking how many will accept a form of light, which is no more than darkness, rather than the light. Lord I pray today that you allow me to live more and more in the light of life.

Solitude

2008-04-25T05:55:00.000-07:00

Passage for Today: John 7:53-8:1

Everyone when to his home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Ever wonder how Jesus was able to always be on top of His game? He is never caught off guard, never fooled, never even made to look in anyway like He was not completely in charge. And how is it that He always had something new to say to the people? Think of the countless times that He taught and how on every occasion it was fresh and enticing. He never wanted for a crowd, which says that it was never stale or boring. What gave Him that constant focus that would be required to continue with His word despite the distractions?

It is only a Sabbaths day journey (1/2 to 3/5 of a mile) from the temple to the Mount of Olives yet it measures the vast gulf between an interested participant and disciple. It is the same distance between a person who seeks to devote their life to one ideal, one cause, one course and someone who just lives life. The same thing is said of the gym rat like Pistol Pete Maravich. When everyone else went home, he was still playing basketball in the gym. The same thing was said of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. The same thing was said of Hudson Taylor and Adoniram Judson. Each and every person who has passionately sought an ideal, cause or course, would have the same thing said about him or her - “They were always alone with their passion.”

Jesus was like this. When everyone else went home He went to the solitude of the garden to meet with His Father. No books, no group of followers, no fanfare, no distractions, just alone with His Father. That is why He could claim, “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 5:30

Solitude is a passion for intimacy with God. It differs from prayer and Bible Study, though includes both. It involves meditation, but includes dialog and monologue. Though being alone it does not mean inactivity. In fact there is an activity that involves every fiber of your being that is required. It forces you beyond your limitations, takes you further than your imagination, it is indeed a desire to reach a union with our Lord that produces only His will your life. It bends the body, soul and mind in the direction and object or our desire. It allows for the consuming of the follower by the Master. It eliminates all things that would corrupt, confuse, or change what the Lord would desire the pupil to know.

Dear Lord take me aside. Lead me to a time alone with you that will place a discipline in me to be like your Son.

The Day I Almost Died (conclusion)

2008-04-09T04:51:00.001-07:00

When I awoke I realized this was not heaven. I had indeed survived, though without any knowledge of how. Dr. Schultz was present with the other wonderful nurses and attendants, my family and friends. It was a very good feeling not to hurt anymore and see all their faces. The doctor showed the video that explained the collapse of the artery. When I had arrived in the Lab there was no blood flowing, my heart rate was dropping and my heart was in severe distress. Had I been anywhere else in the world I would not have made it. The Lord had me right where man could be instrumental in my remaining alive. Without being in the hospital, right after a heart procedure and no one in the Cath Lab all this would have been in vain. I am so wonderfully thankful to the Lord for His graciousness. I am so thankful for the wonderful people of Catawba Hospital, and of course for my family and friends. I am here today because of a great God who loves me enough to allow me to continue to serve Him.

So today almost two weeks later I am on way back to the hospital for another heart catheterization. We will be going to Frye Hospital in a few minutes. I have had two heart episodes since that fateful day. The doctors have determined that there is something wrong in the same artery as before. It is very disappointing, but yet we are very confident that the Lord has good things planned. We decided on Frye since they do open heart surgery and that is something we feel is a possibility. I thank you for your prayers and hopefully I will be writing tomorrow about the great success of today. Again all glory goes to my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.

The Day I Almost Died (con't)

2008-04-08T05:31:00.000-07:00

Pain is a very relative event. You measure it by what you have experienced. When asked what my pain was like when I had the episode at church I said, “Well probably a seven or eight.” I can remember it really grabbed my attention and left me with no other thoughts but, “What is happening to me.” Well if that was seven or eight I was about to experience 25 or 30. The pain began to build in my chest. At first an uncomfortable indigestion that brought to mind my previous event. But it quickly passed that feeling and began down my left arm. I tried to remain calm, but had to admit I was not feeling it.

It didn’t make any sense. I had the stents put in, why would I be having this feeling? Well whether it made sense or not, it was happening and it was growing fast. The nurse arrived and began to ask me questions about the pain. I tried to remain calm and explain the pain as clearly as possible. All the time it is growing in intensity. She calls for some help and some nitro pills to give me. Vanessa, my daughter in law, is beside me encouraging me. Now more people are filling the room and a male voice, the head nurse on the floor is asking me questions. They give me the nitro without any affect. Then there is suddenly a little relief. I feel it subsiding and tell them so. But almost as I get the words out of my mouth the pain comes back stronger.

Now there is a greater flurry of activity. Many more nurses fill the room. Another pill is given and morphine is administered. But all have no affect, the pain continues to build. Now it is up in my neck and down either arm. I am breathing easily, but air seems to have no affect on the pain. I continually talk about the pain giving them all the information I can given. Now it seems they are a bit worried. Tiffany Philbeck takes a blood sample and they continue to work on me. Her kind face and confident look give me hope, but the pain continues to build and hope begins to slip.

The decision to take me back to the Cath Lab is made and they begin preparations. At this point I would agree to anything. The pain continues to escalate. I have lost all sense of humor. They rush me down the hallway to the elevator, in the elevator, then out to the Cath Lab. Pain is growing more and more and now it feels like my arms and chest are going to explode. I have already been through this twice so I know how long it takes to get ready. But this time everyone is working more quickly, yet without rush, and I am moved immediately to the small table. The pain is so great I am unable to help them and I get awkwardly on the table. One of the nurses grabs my head and holds me on the table. The pain continues to rise and yet there is confidence in their professional manner. Yet now I have passed the point of confidence that I will make it. I think what is the most important thing I can say to these people besides what I am feeling. The only thing that comes to my mind is that I am unafraid to die, but this pain is scaring me to death. So I say that out loud. Then I look up at the x-ray machine above my head and I don’t remember another thing.

The Day I Almost Died (con't)

2008-04-07T04:01:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately the procedure could not be done until Thursday. So I was stuck at home, doing nothing until then. It was a nightmare. Constantly talking about this non-event and planning what to do was driving me insane. Connie, of course, handled everything well and correctly. She planned and re-planned everything so that it would all go exactly according to schedule. She got my son to drive us, people to be there, folks to get us home, and contingency plans to stay in the hospital. Every conceivable problem was investigated and taken care of. I on the other hand knew it was much ado about nothing.

This was my first time to be “in the hospital.” All the other times I was just visiting those who were there. It was so strange. Of course everyone at Catawba was very nice and professional. Deb, my preparation nurse was excellent. She was so very kind and above all very careful with the IV line. The timing of things allowed me to see everyone who had come and it all went very well. We didn’t have to wait long before they came to get me for the procedure.

The Cath Lab is cold, I mean cold. If germs could live in that environment then Antarctica is not a safe place. The table you are placed on would be the right size if I were 100 pounds lighter and few inches shorter. Everyone was scurrying about with great purpose but a very cheerful attitude. Any question was immediately answered without hesitation and my comfort was always first. The thin pad under me on the hard surface of the x-ray table was not much comfort, but certainly of no great discomfort. When Dr. Schultz arrived all was in place. He had already done two of these earlier and appeared very comfortable and unhurried.

Although you are given a wonderful little medicine to relax you, I could hear and see everything that went on. The only pain was same prick of the needle as I was numbed before the cath was inserted. The entire procedure I would say lasted about 20 minutes, but honestly thanks to the medicine, I didn’t care. All was done with little fuss and fanfare.

When Connie and the family came in Dr. Schultz had already removed the cath and I was completely sure that he had found nothing. All a big waste of time and money. My first words to Connie were, “Well I’m sure that he hasn’t found a thing.” Dr. Schultz calmly turned on the video of my heart. It was amazing to see my heart beating. He showed the dye being released and it was quickly evident that all was not well. He pointed out a major blockage on the back of my heart, and three more on the front of my heart. The only comment that I remember clearly was, “I am not sure whether we should proceed with the stent process, or transfer him to Frye for surgery.” At that point my son indicated my heart rate and blood pressure on the overhead monitor jumped. Frye for surgery meant open heart surgery. I was in absolute shock. I don’t remember another word said. Open-heart surgery, you have got to be kidding.

Because Dr. Schultz wanted to speak with the surgeon, Dr. Carlton before making a decision I was going to have to stay in the hospital. Immediately I was whisked to the fifth floor and placed in a room. Shock did not wear off quickly and prayer became the major source of my thoughts. I did not want to have open-heart surgery. Quite honestly in looking back I don’t really know why. Every person I had ever known to have the surgery did very well, but the thought of having that surgery produced great fear. Oh how I prayed through the evening. Then late in the evening Dr. Carlton came in and told me that he did not think the blockages in the front of my heart warranted the procedure and that they would proceed the next day to place a stent in the back blockage. Praise the Lord! We were all so happy that it could be done quickly and without the major surgery.

The procedure did not take place until after lunch. The delay was not bad except for the wait. All the same players were in place in the Lab and all were equally as professional and kind. I was much more confident of no pain and quick solution to my problem. All went the same as the day before except for a drop in blood pressure that at first scared me then ultimately subsided to a faint memory. All in all it took very little time and I was transferred back to my room. Smiles and prayers of thanks were offered by everyone. Chris Schofield my good friend had stopped by and gave a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving. It was good to see everyone smiling. The relief of having it over was great. I looked forward to something to eat and drink. The nurses who had been so kind seemed even more joyful. A sleeve of peanut butter crackers was brought and I eagerly ate a few. At that point a strange feeling began to come. It was the feeling that came that Sunday morning between the two services. At first I thought it was just indigestion from the crackers, but the pain began to grow and I realized it was not indigestion.

The Day I Almost Died (con't)

2008-04-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

Arriving home that Easter Sunday afternoon I tried to decide how I could tell Connie that nothing was wrong, but that something was wrong. My strategy, so as not to upset her, was to slip it into the conversation about what happened at church. It went something like this, “Well I saw such and such, and you know who was there, and I had a little chest pain, and what are we going to do this evening?” Well it didn’t go too smoothly because she jumped right on the “I had a little chest pain.” I said, of course, that it went away quickly and besides I have an appointment with Dr. Lee on Tuesday and I will mention it then. That was, of course, not good enough. Before I realized what was happening she had an appointment with Dr. Lee for Monday and I was to rest and not exert myself until we went on Monday afternoon. This was followed by many, many, many questions of which I replied that there was nothing wrong and all this was much ado about nothing.

The appointment seemed pointless because I was feeling just fine. This was a complete waste of time and money. Now Dr. Lee had been on me for sometime to take a cholesterol medicine because of the particle size which I never understood and wasn’t about to take. Therefore I knew this was going to look bad when I came in for chest pains. My blood pressure was up, but not greatly when we first went back to the examination room. But when Dr. Lee arrived it had dropped back to a more normal level. He began to ask me several questions about the episode and I tried to put the best face on it saying that it was not very long and I felt fine now. He asked about any relatives that might have heart problems. Well between my last visit and this visit my mother had open-heart surgery. When I told him that he nodded with a look of confirmation that the last piece was in place for my susceptibility to heart disease. Right away he decided to do an EKG. This would be another expensive test that was going to show nothing.

The test took no time at all which surprised me. I thought it would take a long time of lying still, but within a few minutes Dr. Lee was back with the results. It was an absolute shock to me, but he showed three different readings that indicated my heart was not operating well. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t feel any different than I ever felt other than getting tired more easily, which I attributed to getting older. He felt that I needed to see a cardiologist and he would call for an appointment. Before I knew it he was out of the room and there we sat with the new information. Connie was of course glad that he “found it” but I wasn’t so sure. It was probably a false reading and all this was going to lead to more tests to find nothing.

When Dr. Lee returned he indicated that Dr. Alkoutami wanted to see me today and we were to go to his office right a way. It was 4:00 then and I couldn’t imagine that he wanted me to come this late. Dr. Lee reiterated how serious this was to which I replied that it was probably nothing. He told Connie that I was in denial. Denial! What was there to deny, I was feeling fine, I have never had anything seriously wrong with me. Denial! Well all this was going to do was make us late getting home, get Connie all upset and ultimately find there was nothing to be concerned about. He said I was in denial.

Dr. Alkoutami’s practice, Piedmont Cardiology was not far from our home. A very nice new building with a huge lobby, which surprisingly because of the late hour, had a great deal of people still waiting. Well I knew this was going to take way too long.

However it wasn’t long before a nurse called me to the back. She repeated all the steps Dr. Lee had and then asked me to wait until Dr. Alkoutami was available. After a short time we met with the doctor. He was a very nice gentleman who asked all the same questions. At the end of his questions he said, “Mr. Clark all indications are that you have had a serious episode with your heart. We could take time to do a stress test but it would only show what we already know. I propose we go ahead and to a heart catheterization process to determine the exact nature of your problem.” Heart catheterization! You have got to be kidding me. There is nothing wrong. I feel fine. He ignored my thoughts and said he would have it set up for Catawba Hospital as soon as possible. He then told my wife that I was in denial. Denial, the psychological process by which human beings protect themselves from things which threaten them by blocking knowledge of those things from their awareness. Like it or not, that was me.

The Day I Almost Died

2008-04-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

The next few days I will recounting for you the journey I have had as a testimony of what the Lord has done in my life over the past two weeks.

As I stepped down the padded steeps of the platform, it came, a sudden tightness, as indigestion, up in the left side of my chest. Clearly I was having heartburn from the Easter morning breakfast of sausage and biscuits. Every Easter morning, men led by Kim Isenhour and Dennis Martz deliver breakfast to the congregation at the conclusion of the Sunrise Service. This bright and cold Easter had been no exception.

Moving quickly to the front pew, my normal resting place between the two services, I sat down with an increasingly uncomfortable feeling. Though having indigestion from the consumption of too much food, or the wrong foods was common for me, this was different. It was in my chest, not my stomach, or esophagus, but in my chest, more particularly the left part of my chest. As I settled into the seat it did not subside, but began to increase. All about me people were moving to their seats, as the second worship service was about to begin. I was thankful for the lack of attention because I was becoming uneasy. Now the pain began moving down the inside of my left arm.

Every person in America can describe what a “heart attack” feels like because we have heard it from so many sources. The most common way is from someone who has had a heart attack. But even if we never heard it from someone who has experienced it there is no doubt from television, radio, newspapers, magazines or any other of number of sources we already know what it is supposed to feel like; chest pain that runs down your left arm. Yet I am equally sure that every red blooded American male who has experienced this pain for the first time said along with me, “This is not a heart attack, this is something else” while going on to tell himself all the other possibilities.

Since I was certainly not having a heart attack, but was in a pretty good amount of pain I thought it best to get out of the service for a moment, go to my office, get a drink of water, relax just for a while and then I would be fine. I had already preached two services, Sunrise and the first service, so maybe I needed to just let that breakfast settle a minute. As I walked past the singing congregation I looked downward so as to avoid the stares of people. If they saw I was in distress they would make a big deal and disrupt the service.

As I cleared the last pew I motioned for Brent Huffman, our chairman of the deacons and audiovisual minister to accompany me. Through his walkie-talkie he contacted the deacon on duty, Todd Jones, to meet us in my office. I wanted Brent to know where I was going, not so much to do anything, but to know where I was so the service would not be disrupted, knowing I would be back before my time to preach. He and Todd met me in the office as I dropped heavily in one of the high backed chairs in my office. They immediately wanted to know what was wrong and proceeded to get me something to drink. I told them of my pain and the concern could be seen on their faces. I knew they were thinking heart attack, who wouldn’t, but I had to convince them otherwise. If not they would have dialed 911 and off the emergency room I would go.

Brent quickly got Jonathan Hefner, and elder and intensive care supervisor, from the band where he was playing guitar. Jonathan asked me the normal questions and I answered him adding to every answer a long list of reasons I thought were necessary to prevent being sent to the hospital. He took my pulse and found it about normal speed, but somewhat irregular. He felt that this was something rather serious and let me know that it was nothing to be trifled with. His concern was alarming to me, but not as alarming as the prospect of leaving the pulpit and going to the hospital. During all this time I was so thankful that my wife Connie was not present. She had gone to the first two services and my son, Adam, had taken her home because the day had been very taxing. If Connie had been there she would have forced me to go the hospital for this “little” matter.

Well as suddenly as the pain had come, it left. I was feeling much better. The pain gone, a little rest, and just as I thought the indigestion had gone away. I was ready to preach. Jonathan warned me again that this was serious and that going to the hospital was a better idea. But now I was OK, no pain, the service must go on. Yet Jonathan wouldn’t let up. He had me sit a little longer explaining to me the seriousness of the situation. I of course gave grudging agreement that it was serious, but like everything else in life it was probably nothing and that I really needed to go preach. With reluctance he allowed me to go, but elicited the promise from me that I would tell Connie as soon as I got home.

Back to the pulpit I flew and preached the message without further incident. I really never thought about it much except to think how I could tell Connie without making it sound so serious. The service ended, I greeted folks as they left, answering a few questions with, “Oh, it was nothing, really, just some indigestion.” But in my mind I was concerned, though I would never admit it publicly.

Right Faith

2008-03-27T04:55:00.000-07:00

Passage for Today: 1Corinthians 15:17

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

In the Christian life "faith" is always the optimum word. By grace are you saved through faith and that no of yourselves, without faith it is impossible to please God, or go, your faith has made you well. The centrality of faith is without question the focal point of a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is unusual that "faith" is only translated "faith" four times in the Old Testament, yet 228 times in the New Testament. Why? Because "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless."

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the centrality of our faith. Apart from Christ being raised from the dead any type of faith would be worthless, because we are still dead in our sins, separated from God. Paul clearly wants us to understand that misplaced faith is no better than no faith. This is so true when you speak to people about Christianity. They believe that their faith in God is enough. The fact they believe in God is all that is needed. Jesus even says, "You believe in God, believe also in Me." Why? Because belief in God is not enough, just like belief in a Savior who is not alive is no faith at all.

Today there is great concern over the historical Jesus. Countless shows on TV and articles in magazines carry the question, "Did Jesus really live?" But the real question is not did He live, but does He really live? If indeed He is alive, resurrected from the dead, then our faith in Him is life giving. My prayer today is that people will turn their faith toward the living Lord, not only a sacrificed Savior. It is because He lives that I can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone.

Religion or Relationship

2008-03-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

Passage for Today: John 17:3

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

According to the Lord Jesus eternal life is the personal relationship with the only true God and His Son. That seems to be a far cry from the picture that religion paints for us. Religion is about a ceremony of attendance, appearance, and adherence. But Jesus says it is relationship, knowing another intimately. This confusion between the Christian religion and the relationship with Christ I believe has led many to misunderstand what God wants from them and thereby missing the point of the true faith.

One of the, if not the smartest, and certainly the wealthiest men in the word, Bill Gates made this comment illustrating this very point. "Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning." Now certainly Bill Gates has the ability to understand the difference between religion and relationship. His humanitarian efforts are legendary. He by no means would consider a publicity event displaying the efforts of his humanitarian efforts as the effort itself. It was just a display of his devotion to the cause. The real work of distributing the medical supplies, food and clothing needed to people that was the actual service. He is far more interested and desires to be a part of rightly relating to the people than he is in celebrating the cause. So I know that Mr. Gates understands this concept.

The question is why does it escape him when he speaks of Christianity? Why does he just see the religion and not the relationship? It seems to be tied up in the "doing". He says, "There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning." Now he wouldn't say that if on Sunday morning he could clothe the poor, heal the sick, feed the hungry, attend to a relationship. So why does he think that on Sunday morning Christianity doesn't do the same thing? I believe it is because in American Christianity we don't display relationship on Sunday we exhibit religion.

Luke 4:16-21 says, "And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. (17) And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, (18) THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, (19) TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD. (20) And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. (21) And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

The real problem is that on Sunday morning it is not fulfilled. What people see is weakness of religion, not the power of relationship with the God and His Son. They do not see the gospel going to the poor, the release fo the captives, the recovery of sight to the blinid and the setting free of the oppressed. Unfortunately we have settled for religious display rather than relational dynamite. The incarnational power of a personal relationship with the Lord is what is needed. Lord may the power of that relationship, that eternal life, be evident on Sunday morning and every other day of the week.

Unexpected Good News

2008-03-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

Passage for Today: I Corinthians 15:3-4

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

Everyone has received a message that was both unexpected and life changing. Something out of the blue that had a profound affect on our lives. For me it was a time in my life when I was so caught up in myself that I couldn't love another. My wife and I were having a very hard time because of my selfishness and were in danger of splitting up. She came to see me at work and we were walking downtown to get some lunch. As we walked down the street she handed me a little card that read, "So you're going to have a baby!" At that moment the love of Christ, whom I had abandoned, the love for my wife, whom I had neglected, and the love for a child that I did not know, rushed over me. I jumped for joy at news I never even considered. A good news I never thought could ever possibly happen. That day 28 years ago literally changed my life.

Well that is what Paul speaks of in this passage. The Good News that Christ died for our sins. Every person concerns themselves with that ultimate question of, "What do I do with my sins?" We are consumed with solving that issue of feeling good about ourselves. We answer it with right living, good habits, healthy bodies, right philosophies, self help books, joining religious groups, helping other people, giving ourselves to noble causes, but in the end realize that we still have our sin. Jesus unexpectedly sends this life changing message through someone who cared enough to share with you Good News.

For while you were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for you, the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward you, in that while you were yet a sinner, Christ died for you. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, you shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while you were an enemy you were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, you shall be saved by His life.
(Romans 5:6-10)

It Ain't Over Til Its Over

2008-03-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

Passage for Today: Mark 16:14

He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart

The disciples had been told by others that Jesus was alive, but they failed to believe their report. Why? Had Jesus not told them on many occasions that He would rise? Had Jesus ever lied to them before? Had He not personally raised Lazarus from the grave? So why the unbelief? Why the skepticism?

The answer is fairly simple and as Jesus would often do it is answered with a question. Why don't you or I? There are countless promises made by God's word and by God's Son in which we show no belief. God's power to heal, to preserve, to provide and yet we deny them all and usually end up looking for answers in the world. Why? Has Jesus ever lied to you? Has God ever been unfaithful?

Well in truth we think He has. We have prayed for people who died. We have prayed for provision that did not come. We have trusted that things would change and they didn't. We have asked for jobs and none came. We have prayed that sons and daughters would come home and they haven't. Then we are left standing their with our faith in shreds and our belief shattered and say, "What's the use." Just like the disciples. There Master had indeed been killed and buried and all hope was lost.

But just as Yogi would say, "It ain't over til its over." Faith is a spectacular gift that never fails. Oh yes it does produce results that we were not considering or even asking for, but it never fails. On Friday it looked bleak, but on Sunday things were quite different. During the whole process there will be valleys of despair and swamps of doom, but "It ain't over til its over." And when it is over faith will be the champion. John who was there that day says, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith." (1John 5:4)

Sowing and Reaping

2008-02-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Mark 4:26-29

The imperative of evangelism is so strong on our tradition that a believer can come to a place where they believe that the future of the kingdom is on their shoulders. It can become a burden that even the strongest could not bear. But our passage today is a great reminder of the difference of our responsibility and our accountability as followers of Christ.

Verse 26 shows our responsibility, "And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil." As citizens of the kingdom we are to scatter the seed, the gospel of the kingdom, in the soil, the world. It is not optional, it is an imperative from the Master Himself. The message of Jesus Christ to the world is the prime directive for all His disciples. However verses 27 and 28 follows this by saying, "and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows--how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head." The sower is not accountable for the harvest produced. In fact is it occurs while he is asleep and without his knowledge. So then as a disciple we are responsible for the sowing, but not the production. It is not our work to make the seed work, it is our work to sow the seed. God alone is accountable for what happens to the seed that has been sown.

However it does not end there. When the seed produces and the harvest is ready our responsibility returns as we must reap the harvest, assimilate those new believers, making disciples. As Jesus states in verse 29, "But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

This process of discipleship is so important to understand. The results of how many are saved, how many are baptized is greatly accounted for by the church. However the number of times the message is sown or the number of disciples made is rarely accounted for. It seems a little backwards in that we are keeping tabs on what God says He does alone, without our help, while totally disregarding our accountability for that which we are supposed to do. If counting were important, which is probably is not, we should be counting how many times we share, and how many times we disciple others to accurately account for what we are supposed to do and leave the rest to our Lord.

The Messiah

2008-02-27T07:17:00.001-08:00

Passage for Today: Psalm 24:7-10

From my childhood my parents instilled in me a love for the classical music. Each year one of the greatest treats was to go to Charleston and hear the symphony perform the Messiah by written by George Fredric Handel. It was always magnificent. I would consider it the greatest composition ever, in my unlearned opinion. I have a copy of it in my office and listen to it. In fact the words have become so ingrained in my memory that when I read them in the passage for today it immediately took me to the momet I first heard them. How inspiring are the Scritpures set to this powerful music. Handel was a master at text painting, or matching the movement of the text with the score. It makes one think that the Bible should have been sung rather than read.

As my love for the Messiah grew and I began to investigate its authorship I was amazed to find that it was composed in 24 days. Twenty four days and the the greatest composition honoring the Lord was written. It takes over two hours to perform. It is told, but cannot be confirmed that Handel wrote it in 1741 at Gopsall Hall the home of Charles Jennens. But what surprised me most was that Handel wrote only the music and not the lyrics. The lyrics, which is the real strength because they are only word for word from Scripture, were composed by Charles Jennens. Jennens's own explanation of Messiah, printed and distributed to his contemporary audience, can also illuminate a modern audience. It explains Jennens's thought process in taking seemingly random scriptures from the Mosaic Old Testament and the more benign teachings of the New Testament, reconciling apparent paradoxes, and enhancing our appreciation and understanding of Handel's musical settings. But more importantly the Gospel message. If you should take time to listen to this wonderful composition you will gain a tremendous insight to the unity of Scripture in the coming of our Lord and Savior and His sacrifice and ultimate glorification.

Now the point of all this is, for all these years I was praising the wrong person. Charles Jennens is the real hero here. It was his libretto, lyrics, that are the power of this composition. It is the Scripture, researched and placed in wonderful unison that convey the great message of the gospel to the world. I am certainly thankful and impressed by Handel, but the servanthood and insight of Jennens really light my fire. How wonderful it is that we can sing back the Scriptures to our Lord and Master in such magnificent praise. It is a great reminder that the least servant in the world is the greatest in the Kingdom. Possibly those least remembered by the world are most remember by God.

Confession

2008-02-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Numbers 5:6-7

Then he shall confess his sins which he has committed

Early in the life of God's people the instruction to confess their sins was instituted. Now I have to admit in an Old Testament confessing was very risky at best. This confession could result in a variety of options the very least of which was making restitution plus 20%. In other words confession carried with it a fairly high price. The ultimate payoff was breaking even. By confessing you made it even through penalty or payment. You then were right back at even with God, not better than before. The good thing was that it did set a precedence for what would occur under the New Covenant.

Contrast Numbers with 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Confession under grace rather than the Law is quite different. Not only does confession bring forgiveness it brings a new beginning, a new start. Not only was your sin forgiven, you no longer have to pay the penalty, but it also was wiped completely away, never to be remembered or brought up again. The Old Covenant could only break even, where the New and Better Covenant, brings a new life.

I am so grateful that I live under grace rather than law. How wonderful it is to have an advocate with the Father. I can't imagine the hopelessness that my confession would only bring me to break even. Now with Christ it opens a whole new life. Thank you Lord for Your great sacrifice for my sin, that I might have that life in You. May confession be a way of life and a way of freedom for me.

Rich Man

2008-02-20T07:48:00.001-08:00

Passage for Today: Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:43

Jesus once said in Matthew 19:23-24 "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." As a result of this statement many, even the disciples that day, have thought that it was impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom. But remember Jesus said it was hard, not impossible. Joseph is the picture of this.

Rich is a standard that Jesus applies regularly to indicate a group of people who are not only well off financially, but who find their wealth a source of strength and comfort. It is something to be protected and preserved. However we see Joseph here using his wealth and influence for the kingdom, even to fulfill prophecy. We see him being willing to risk it all for the Savior. His reputation, his finances, his position, and his influence were all put on the line for Christ. Did he cease to be wealthy? No. Did he give up all that he owned? No. Did he serve the Master with all his being? Yes. Therein lays the difference between a rich man seeking the kingdom and rich man seeking his own.

Why is this important? Because every person in the United States falls into the category of rich. We are rich beyond comparison with the rest of the world. No matter how impoverished you are in the US you are rich in the rest of the world. No matter what standard you use we are wealthy beyond compare. So the question is are we rich men seeking the kingdom or rich men seeking our own? I pray today that I am always the former. I pray that I will always use my wealth, my influence, my position, my life for the furthering of the kingdom. I must always remember that it is “hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom.”

Last in Line

2008-02-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Numbers 2:31

They shall break camp last

Last in line. Not a bad idea I guess. In fact in the south it would be what we would do naturally. “No you go first, I’ll wait.” This is common because it is polite. It doesn’t really say we are humble, but it certainly doesn’t look prideful, which is the key to politeness. To be last doesn’t say you are the worst, or that you are even the least it is just where you are in life, last. It is strange, if I put myself there by choice it is polite, if I am put there by someone else it is a put down. The old saying is true, “Everyone would choose to be a servant, but nobody wants to be treated like one.”

It is interesting to note that in the Revelation when the tribes are listed in chapter 7 verses 5-8, Dan is not even listed. Maybe the curse of Amos 8:14 means they lost their place. There are other conjectures, but just maybe they got tired of being last. The Lord told us the last will be first, but we don’t always believe that. How many of us chafe at having to serve others. We say with our mouth, sure I want to be a servant, but after awhile we don’t want to be the least or the last. The last are always left to clean up, fix the mess. They don’t get to get to the party first they just get to clean up the mess. How many times did the tribe of Rueben leave a message to pick up something or fix something they left behind? “Oh Dan will take care of that before he leaves, we’ve got to get going, we are leading the parade.”

Yet this is what Jesus taught; servant hood of all. Why is it when I choose to serve it is OK, but when I am told to serve I rebel? More than likely it is that old word, PRIDE. The problem remains that unless I can serve with a servant’s heart willingly, regardless of why I am in that position, I am going succumb to pride. Lord I pray today that when I am placed last, when I am told to be the least, when I am put in the lowest position, let me be there with a right heart attitude. As Christ laid down His life, let me willingly lay down mine.

Denial

2008-02-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Matthew 26:69-75

I do not know the man!

I often wonder if this moment haunted Peter the rest of his life. Did others always bring it up when they talked about him? Was he always anticipating that someone was going to mention it wherever he went? You know how it is, you make a big mistake that everyone knows about and you live with the jokes and jests for the rest of your life. How many times have we seen a person remembered in the media for the one thing they did wrong. They are vilified forever with no hope of forgiving, let alone forgetting. I think of Bill Buckner a great first baseman that will always be remembered for the one bad play of his life.

So what do we do? Do greater things so no one remembers the one moment? Do we ignore it and maybe it will go away? Do we just act like it was no big deal and downplay it whenever asked? Or do we slink away and never show our face again? Maybe we grab that old cliché and say, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” Or possibly we just pray every time an opportunity comes for someone to say something, they don’t.

Well what did Peter do? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Never one time in Scripture do we see a hint of any embarrassment or apprehension. As far as we know he continued to serve as one of the leaders of the disciples and the early church with great distinction. Were there more mistakes, oh sure, going fishing when he was supposed to be feeding the sheep. But when the moment of truth came he stood forward and proclaimed a great message at Pentecost. Surely someone in the crowd yelled, “Hey aren’t you the one who denied you even knew Him?” Possibly some reporter from the Jerusalem Journal asked during an interview, “How can someone who denied their relationship with Christ now be proclaiming Him to everyone. Isn’t that a bit hollow and hypocritical? While He was here you denied Him, now that He is gone you talk like you were His best friend.”

Forgiveness is a marvelous work of God. It sets us free to serve Him again and again after failure and denials. Apart from that grace it would be impossible. Now of course the world doesn’t understand and will continue to ask those questions, but not believers who have experienced the grace of forgiveness. Galatians 6:1 says is best, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.” I believe Peter knew that forgiveness and it sustained him the rest of his life. I thank my sweet Lord for the same gift in my life.

Pride and Prejudice

2008-02-12T05:51:00.001-08:00

Passage for Today: James 2:1-4

My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?

H. L. Mencken lamented, "Criticism is prejudice made plausible." Our prejudice runs deep and we work very hard at making it anything but a sin. In the south we do it by being outwardly kind and inwardly outraged. We see someone who doesn't measure up to our standards and we hold the door, say "Hey, how ya doin'?" and help them with their groceries. However inwardly we have wondered why in the world God would allow someone like that to live. In the south, “Bless your heart” is the hypocritical phrase for “You stupid idiot.”

Sad but true that prejudice is rampant in the Christian community. We not only judge others but carry out the sentence. The sentence is being found guilty in the court of my mind, refusing to see them as a real person deserving of God's love, and suitable only for the prayer that would convict them that they are not like me. James says that I have become a "judge with evil motives." Unfortunately because the only prejudice the world sees today is that of color and culture most Christians look pretty good. But the truth is the prejudice of class, education, hygiene, or a million other standards is just as deadly.

Lord today I confess that I have held prejudice against people. It is so ingrained in me that I don't even realize that I do it. Is it harmful if I don't act on it? Jesus said, ""You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." (Mat 5:21-22) This sin is unto death for the people I judge.

Lord today I confess that I have prejudice and am in need of Your forgiveness. But no only that I also need to be cleansed by the renovation of my mind not to allow such thoughts. Lord I pray that I would see people through Your compassionate eyes, not my eyes of judging standards. I pray that this change will be immediate and lasting.

Persumption

2008-02-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Leviticus 10:1-3

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

Presumption: To seize or occupy without right to take upon oneself more than is warranted or authorized. Nadab and Abihu found out the hard way that presumption in dealing with God the Father is a dangerous proposition. Because on the New Covenant side of things we are blessed to have an Advocate with the Father we believers can feel that this type of reaction from God the Father is not possible. How quickly we forget Ananias and Sapphira. God says clearly that those who come near to Him must treat Him as holy. This holiness does not tolerate and must punish sin. Thanks to Jesus Christ this sin never is brought near to God, or is it?

Hebrews 10:26-27 says, "For if we go on sinning willfully (presumptuously) after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES." When we decide to take upon ourselves this sin instead of confessing it and having it removed by the blood of Christ we commit presumptuous sin. We basically say that our own personal righteousness will stand for our sin. Just as Nadab, Abihu, Ananias and Sapphira found out, we too find that God takes His holiness very seriously. God will not be mocked.

I am sure there are many Christians who continue to say of their sin, "I can control it, I can take care of it, or I will work this out." Let me just say, I have been there and done that, and "No you can't." Confession is your only hope; you cannot control your sin. You will continue to presumptuously deal with God and eventually you will suffer the terrifying expectation of judgment. I know.

Today Lord I ask You is there any presumptuous sin in my life? Anything that I am saying that I will take care of rather than confessing and repenting? I thank Lord that I do indeed have an Advocate with the Father.

Wait Five Minutes

2008-02-05T06:06:00.001-08:00

Passage for Today: James 4:14

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

In my family there is a saying, "Wait five minutes and everything will change." Over the years I have found this to be true. It seems that if you indeed will just wait five minutes and all that we are stuggling with or worrying over will change and whole new set of cirucmstances emerge. I just recieved an email that shared some good news with a prayer request for more strength, when in the middle of the email the person said, "In the middle of writing this email I just got word that a friend of mine died last night. They think it was suicide." Where are this person's thoughts now as opposed to when they began the email.

Life changes so quickly. Yesterday as I began the day my only concern was the holiness of my life and my relationship with the Lord. Fervent prayer ensued and then without considering I answered the phone. In that conversation an event was conveyed to me that changed all my focus. The event was so horrible in its nature, so painful in its outcome, that I was forced crying on my face seeking the Lord in intercession. In five minutes everything I had dedicated my day toward changed becasue of one event.

James is right in what he says. We are not in control, we don't know what our life will even be like five minutes from now. Isn't it comforting to know there is One that never changes, One that is always there, One that is absolutely rock solid? I am thankful that the Lord has control and that we can trust Him in all circumstances. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A Word from the Lord

2008-02-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

In July of 2007 Maxie Hellman was directed by God to quit her job with the City of Hickory. He was calling her to a ministry that He did not reveal. On November 14th He awakened her and told her to share a particular message with the pastors of Hickory starting on January 9, 2008. She began that process and on January 29th she shared the message with me. I was the 44th pastor to hear the message. Below is verbatium what she told me.

"Life as we know it is about to change. If there is anything that you need to repent of, anything at all, between you and God, you need to take care of that and call your congregation to do the same thing."

After comfirming the message with prayer, God's Word, and godly counsel I felt led to share this message with the congregation. The challenge I sensed the Lord would have us make is to begin to fast and pray this week examining our lives in relation to God's Word. Repentance and confession are to follow as God reveals those areas of our life that are need of change.

I thank the Lord for trusting this message to Maxie and her willingness to share. I am equally grateful that the Lord had been preparing New Life for this time for several years. The emphasis has been on holiness and now the reason is clear: "Life as we know it is about to change." What that change will be is left to our thoughts. But whether it is for better or for worse the people of New Life will be ready. God's Word is always true, Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets."

Lust

2008-01-29T05:57:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: James 1:14

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

The word in Greek is epithumia and is defined as a longing, especially in Scripture of what is forbidden by God. But in our experience it is the power of the flesh. The flesh, that unregenerate part of us that forces Paul to exclaim, "Wretched man that I am." It is the part of us that, no matter how good we feel about ourselves spiritually, forces us to deal with our earthly surroundings. Just when I thought I was doing great in the divine relationship with Christ the lust of the flesh rears it's ugly head and I'm really human again.

Now the great joy that James brings to light is that the lust is an important part of our relationship with God. Sounds really odd, but lust plays a key role in the perfection of our relationship with Him. When you want to catch an animal you have to entice it with bait. Then when the animal strikes then the hook that is hidden in the bait entraps the animal and they are caught and removed for your purpose.

The trials of our lives work in the same way. The trial of our lives produces in our flesh a lust that God wants to remove. Enticing the lust to show itself is the key. Most of the time we don't even realize the lust is there. We don't consider it, until it rears its ugly head. Now comes the tricky part. Once the lust has reared its head and gets ready to strike the believer has to act according to the will of God, not the lust of the flesh. If the response is good we resist the lust of the flesh, taking every thought captive and over time the lust comes under the control of our spirit. If handled badly then it conceives sin and produces death in our fellowship with Christ.

The important point is that without the lust of the flesh being more than willing to show itself when a trial is placed before us it we wouldn't even aware of the problem in our life. Satan is the master of deception and tries very hard to keep these lusts under wraps. But God's wisdom gives us a way to bring these lusts to the surface so that we can deal with them.

Lord help me to be constantly on the lookout for lusts in my life. When the trials of my life expose these lusts let me deal with them effectively to remove them from me. Thank you for Your kindness to provide a way short of destroying me to destroy my enemies.

The Rope

2008-01-28T08:19:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Psalm 62:5

My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him.

My soul, the nephesh, my vitality, my life, must keep silent and still for God only, because my cord or rope I am holding on to is from Him. (my translation) If you have ever been spelunking you have probably had to be lowered in a hole to get to another tunnel. When you take a hold of that rope, shut your light off and are lowered into the darkness that will never lighten you know what this passage means. There is no need to yell instructions to anyone because you can't see. There is no need to struggle, which might pull the rope from the holders hand. There is only a need to be in silence and remain still in the hands of the ones holding the other end of the rope.

For me I yell and struggle a great deal in life. I am hanging on to the rope that God is holding, but I'm shouting instructions in my own darkness and struggling to take control. Why can't I learn to be quiet and still? My desire for control is to great at times and I make life very difficult. It could be much easier. The Lord said it could, "My yoke is easy, my burden is light."

Lord today help me to just hold the rope, be still and quiet. I pray that I am easy to lower to the exact place you want me to be. I thank you that you are patient with me. May I learn from Your example.

Power of Belief

2008-01-24T07:28:00.001-08:00

Passage for Today: John 9:18

"The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight."

Isn't the power of believing amazing? Now I say power of believing but by insinuation also the power of not believing. In a world of "seeing is believing" the truth is we don't. We don't believe even what we see, we believe what we believe regardless. Our paradigm is that all the world has to fit in our belief system and if it doesn't we don't believe it. Now at first we would say that is illogical but then we realize that what we really say is, "I believe I'm right and if I didn't believe I am right I would change my mind, and then I would believe I am right again." In other words reality and truth have little affect on the mind, it is really whatever we believe that is true to us. The Jews believed it was untrue that the young man was born blind and then received his sight from a miracle of Christ. The fact he was standing there, they more than likely knew him, they had seen him blind and now they clearly could see that he could see did not overcome their unbelief.

Now before bashing these men's unbelief I must realize that I and everyone else in the world have the same problem or blessing. All men are created with the power, independent of reason, truth and reality, to believe whatever we want to believe. Not just that we believe or disbelieve based on our own feelings, but in essence create our own reality. Now of course consequences from our disbelief of the truth will arise, but just as the Pharisees disregarded the reality, the consequences became not their reason for belief, but unbelief.

The power of belief is enormous. Jesus said that a small amount of faith can move a mountain. History is full of faith that changes the course of history. Every great leader in history has changed history by faith in what they believed in. Belief then is the single greatest strength in all the world. No power is great enough to overcome it, no amount of truth or logic will displace it, and when applied it will literally overcome any obstacle. Likewise unbelief will stop anything in it's tracts. Nothing moves without belief, nothing is discovered, nothing is revealed unless belief is involved. The power of belief and unbelief is far greater than truth, reason or logic.

So today what is it that I believe or do not believe that is contrary to the truth of God's word? Since I believe that God's word is true, what areas of my belief system are in contradiction to what God says. Could it be that I could allow a "little" sin in my life and it won't hurt me? Could it be that I don't have to devote my entire life to Christ to be his disciple? Could it be that I don't believe that I have to love others to love God? Just because I say I believe the Bible to true, does not say I believe that I should obey its words. "I believe I'm right and if I didn't believe I am right I would change my mind, and then I would believe I am right again."

Lord since you have given me the power of belief and unbelief and I know they are the greatest to powers on earth available to me, let me use them well. Let me say yes to what you say is truth and let me say no to everything you say is not true. Though I have the power I do not have the wisdom. So I am asking you to give me Your wisdom to use the power of belief for the glory of Your kingdom.

The Calling

2008-01-23T06:26:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: 2 Timothy 4:1-5

This passage was the call to ministry for me 22 years ago. I remember the day very well because it changed my life forever. "Preach the Word!" grabbed my very soul that day in the Charlottesville Public Library. It has never left me. Have there been times I wanted to quit, oh yes. But that call has never left me or allowed me to leave. I can say today that my hunger to preach the word is as strong if not stronger today that it was 22 years ago.

When I failed morally in my life and felt like I would loose the ministry, the call never left. It was just as strong and the thought of loosing that precious gift was terrifying. Without the support of the church, the elders, my wonderful wife and family and the forgiveness of an Almighty God, I would never have been able to fulfill that calling again. I still shudder at the thought today. I cannot imagine having this great calling and being unable to fulfill its driving in my life.

Today I am thankful more than ever that the calling burns hot in my life, but I am much more thankful for the forgiveness and restoration that I have received in my life. Without it I would surely be in misery unimaginable. I pray that if there are other pastors who have had this happen in their life that they will have the same experience of a loving congregation and faithful leadership that they may be restored. If you have experienced it and need someone to talk with about it please respond to this. There is a calling after failure, there is a forgiving God, there is hope in the face of all loss, and my life has been proof of that.

Lord I pray today for all those who have fallen and are unable to return to their calling. Please help them to seek You and those who can restore. Galatians 6:1 says, "Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted." That verse has the greatest impact in one that has been restored and been given back his calling.

They Did Not Fear God

2008-01-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Exodus 1:15-17

Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.

The great shame of America is that the medical profession did not fear God and have murdered children for pay since the sixties. Millions and millions of children have been murdered by those who were given the wonderful ministry of delivering children. The highest education, the brightest thinkers, the highest paid profession, became the greatest mass murderers in history because they did not fear God. The shame is more than a nation can bear and will always be an unwashable stain on the land.

We gasp at the geneocide in Africa, the starvation in India, tusanmis in Bangledesh. The deathtoll staggers the imagination. But it is nothing compared to the mass murder that the medical community has perpetrated on the American public becuase they did not fear God. Many want to blame the mothers of these children and certainly they bear the ultimate guilt, but what of the one who committed the act for money. If every doctor feared God and refused what would the death toll have been? The blame lies squarely on those who should have known better, who were sworn to protect life, and who were being paid to do so.

Today there is great celebration that the rate of abortion is down to 1.2 million this past year. Can you imagine celebrating that only 1.2 million people were murdered this past year. 250,000 people have died in drunk driving accidents in the last 10 years, or 25,000 a year. We now have laws and public outcry against the henious crimminals who take life without regard. But our medical profession not only murders 1.2 million a year, they charge for it, and then live behind a false defense that it was the mother who chose this proceedure.

The midwives of Israel feared God too much and the abortion doctors today fear too little. There is no danger that this will go unnoticed by a just and holy God. But the real question is why? Why would a doctor who has given their life's work to preserve life take it so indiscrimminately. The answer is that they feared no retribution, no legal downside, saw only financial gain and ultimately thought that God didn't care.

But God does, Psalm 106:38 And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood. Psalm 106:40 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against His people And He abhorred His inheritance. There will be retribution against the nation and against those, who for their own gain, murdered the innocent. But it doesn't have to be. God is merciful and will forgive if we repent.

Lord today I pray that those who have murdered the innocent, who do not fear God will repent and turn to you. You are gracious and longsuffering and will in no way cast them out. Lord send your Spirit throughout the medical profession and convict them of this great sin. Thank you Lord that You do continue to save to the uttermost.

A Beautiful Little Lady

2008-01-20T03:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome Home Isabelle! There is nothing in life that feels as good as holding a little baby. Isabelle Renee does not disappoint. What a beautiful little lady she is. Quiet, sleeps constantly, and loves to be held. For grandparents this is truly a touch of heaven. Momma and I feel quite satisfied today and look forward to many more days of holding her.

The little apartment is quite full with Charles, Amanda, Charlie, Isabelle, Momma, Magnum and Frog, but it feels wonderful. This morning as I am writing this Momma is asleep on the couch with Isabelle asleep on her chest. Charlie is sleeping in my bed. We only have these days for a short while. Thank you Lord for the gift of life.

Unto Us a Child is Born

2008-01-18T17:51:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Proverbs 23:25

Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

Today we rejoice greatly in the birth of our GRANDdaughter Isabelle. No greater joy can come to a grandparent than the birth of a grandchild. She is so precious. We feel greatly honored that the Lord blessed us with such wonderful children. Mom and child doing well. To Amanda, "Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all." (Proverbs 31:29) You have made your parents very proud. We look forward to having you and Isabelle home soon.

Making Mention

2008-01-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Genesis 41:9

Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I would make mention today of my own offenses.

How hard is it to "make mention" of our own offenses. I believe that this is one of satan's greatest tools. If he can convince us the we don't need to make mention of what we have done to God or fellowman, we are trapped. That sin just keeps hanging over us and beating us down. The true freedom is in the confession of sin. James 5:16and I John 1:9 share with us the importance of confession.

No good came from the cupbearer keeping his sin a secret. He had been so ungracious, so unthoughtful, so selfish, that he had never mentioned the plight of the one who had given him hope in the midst of hopelessness. But when he remembered he confessed and God worked in a great way. The course of all history was changed when a wrong was righted.

Now of course we don't think that our confession would have near the impact that the cupbearer had on history. But that is the great lie satan tells us. It won't make any difference and we believe it. I would have to say that no sin I have every confessed was inconsequential. If not in my life, in the lives of others. Confession to me is one of the most powerful tools that the believer has to impact the world. Unfortunately we are often unable to "make mention" of it.

Lord I pray that any unconfessed sin that is in my life would be confessed. I pray that you will protect me from the wiles of the evil one and give me true freedom to be honest about my sins. I realize that only when I can confess can I truly be free.

Test Me Lord

2008-01-16T06:18:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

The phrase that jumps out at me today is "Try me and know my anxious thoughts." The word translated try me is the Hebrew word for test, as in testing metals. "Anxious thoughts" is the Hebrew for thoughts that disquiet or upset me. I tried to think of all the times in my life that I requested that someone test me. How many times did I raise my hand in school and say, "Oh, Teacher, I want to have a test today to show you how much I don't know." How many times in gym class did I request to test me physically to see how out of shape I was.

It's not natural unless you are driven to succeed. Those who are driven to succeed test themselves daily and in every way. The desire to get better at what you do forces you to be tested. Therefore as believers we are to seek testing so as to improve our walk. James in Chapter one reiterates this idea by say, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

God's pattern of improving us as disciples is marked by testing. We can resist and not grow or we can embrace it, request it, and enjoy it and it will have it's good work. Thank you Lord for the tests of life for they reveal the areas of improvement I need to better serve You. Test me Lord and find me faithful.

How Stupid Can I Be?

2008-01-15T05:44:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Numbers 32:23

"But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out."

The story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38 is a sobering example of this very passage. I'm sure we have all had a sin that we have tried to keep secret only to have it brought to light. The moment it happens we think, "How could I have been so stupid?" Yet all along we were. In fact it seemed a good thing to do at the time. The problem is that sin blinds us to the danger and the disobedience. Within time we have rationalized that it is no big deal, no problem, I can handle it. But God knows differently. It is hindering, even destroying our fellowship with Him.

For me is was always a thought that I could control it. I could stop it anytime and that is was just a little indiscretion, it didn't hurt anyone. However I found that I was lying in each case. I couldn't stop whenever I wanted, it was a big deal in my life and in my fellowship with Christ, and it was hurting everyone I loved and served. When my sin found me out I did say, "How could I be so stupid?" The truth was quite easy when I allowed sin to control my thoughts rather than the Lord.

2 Corinthians 10:5-6 says, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete." This has become very true in my life. Until I take every thought, I mean every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, I run the risk of "how could I be so stupid?"

Lord I know that Your economy always results in my sin being exposed. Please give me the wisdom to make sure I take every thought captive so that it may never progress to that point. Certainly I realize I do sin, but when I do make me so sensitive to Your Spirit that confess right a way and do not attempt to hid it.

The Leg

2008-01-14T07:12:00.001-08:00

Message for Today: John 14:5

"The Leg" A fictional story.

Sitting on the uncomfortable plastic seat of the bus station the sight came as a pleasant escape. Across from me was a man with a wooden leg, a real pirate wooden leg clearly exposed below a jaggedly cut pant leg. I wouldn't have noticed if had not been for the sound of his stomping across the filthy tile floors. It was not just a wooden leg, but a bejeweled wooden leg. What appeared to be diamonds and sapphires dotted the leg in the fashion of child's effort to decorate. Even in the dingy light of the florescent lights the gems sparkled drawing my vision without effort. I found myself starring and quickly closed my eyes in an effort to break my concentration. But when I opened my eyes there is was again. I sat transfixed. We were the only two people in a small lobby, waiting for probably the only bus, and I was mesmerized by this man's peg leg.

Well I couldn't resist but start up a conversation, "Where you headed?" "No where," the reply came with the clear intent of ending the conversation. Not to be defeated I pressed, "Where you from?" No response. "Where you from?" I asked again raising my voice pretending he didn't hear me. "Around" without a glance my way. I noticed the jacket he wore was likely a faded and dirty letter jacket from a high school with the school letter for football a big SA. "So I see you played football at SA is that Saint Albans?" A startled look came across his face as he glanced down at the letter jacket. "Say how did you know?" he said with a quizzical look. "Lucky guess, I went there, graduated in 1969."

A smile came across his face, he introduced himself as Paul, and he went on to tell me that he was there in 1981. We shared a great number of stories about living there and things we had in common. Before long the we were talking like old friends. The time was quickly going by and my bus would arrive in few minutes. I still had not gotten to ask him about the bejeweled peg leg. At a lull in the conversation I asked Paul, "It is hard for me not to ask what happened to your leg." A scowl came over him and he quickly returned to face the that greeted me at the beginning of our conversation. I apologized, but was still dying to know. It was like the leg kept drawing me. I was no longer interested in Paul, it was his leg that fascinated me. Curiosity, my father said killed the cat. Well the this cat was dying of it and would pass away in the next few minutes if I didn't know the answer.

How could he have a real peg leg? What had happened? Why the jewels? Where did it happen? What was the story? Why not a real prosthesis? All this muddled my mind and I was running out of time. So I said abruptly, "Paul, you've got to admit that is a pretty different looking prosthesis, and I was just curious about what happened." "You and everyone else," he said with grumpy reply. "Well the fact you have covered it with jewels and wear it exposed has to lead everyone to ask." I said with more confidence than I felt. "Yeah I guess" he agreed.

An awkward silence followed. Then Paul turned to me and said, "You want to know what happened?" Without thinking I blurted out, "Sure!" He turned to face me directly and without hesitation he said in clear calm voice, "It got bit off." Got bit off, got bit off, the thoughts ran through my mind screaming. I was stunned for a moment trying to make sense, grasping for the logic. In that moment Paul stood up swiftly grabbed his bag and headed toward the bathroom without another word. I was so stunned that I didn't cry out to stop him.

When I finally got back on track I realized my bus was coming in. I knew I had to have more information and couldn't leave without it. I ran for the bathroom throwing all decorum aside and burst through the door. It was a small room with only one stall and one urinal. Paul was nowhere to be seen. I searched like a fool like someone could hide in a eight by eight room. As I turned perplexed I saw the note written on the mirror. Written with a dry erase marker all it said was. THAT ANSWER NEVER SATISFIES ANYONE. PAUL

It makes me think, did Jesus' answer satisfy Thomas. I have shared the same message Jesus shared here at many, many funerals, in front of thousands of people over the years. From outward appearances "That answer never satisfies anyone." Why is that? Is it so cryptic that people can't grasp it, does it seem so unbelievable, or is it impossible to understand? I can't say I have ever had anyone come to me and say, "I want to know more." They just get up and leave and seem to never change. To me it is one of the most powerful passages in all of Scripture, but either it does not satisfy the curiosity of hearers or there is very little curiosity. My fear is the later is true in our society today.

Lord let us by our lives build the curiosity for Christ in others. Let my life be so unusually lived that people are curious as to why. Because I know there is only one answer that ultimately will satisfy, Jesus.

Hope and Help

2008-01-10T04:54:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Psalm 42:11

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

This is a question that every believer at one time or another has to ask. Why am I in such depression, such hopelessness when I am saved and secure in Christ? The stunning fact is that many Christians suffer at times from such emotional distress. In fact I would say it is so common that it might approach a normal part of the Christian life.

The problem is not the reality of the feelings, but the mindset that puts us there. That mind that is not experienced the transformation that Paul speaks of in Romans 12says that there is no hope. We think that God doesn't care and that our position is without solution.

But the later part of the passage is a renovation of that thought that hope and help are with my God. It is seldom a solving of the circumstances, or a change in the events, it in a renewal of the thoughts of our mind. When we change our mind that without one change in the situation all things are new.

Lord today I pray that I place my hope in You alone and not be controlled by the circumstances. Today the help that is going to come it is going to come from God. My trust must remain always in You and not in my abilities to figure out the problems. Verse 6 says, "O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You."

Dead Seed, Live Fruit

2008-01-09T03:56:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: John 12:24

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

This illustration could be seen as a biology lesson or a kingdom lesson. Certainly we have all buried seeds in a little cup and seen the seeds decompose only to burst forth with a new plant. Certainly we all realize that this is an illustration of God's kingdom at work in our lives. We die to self and a new life comes forth. Everyone is pleased with the new life part and the producing of fruit. In fact the producing of fruit comes so automatically that it seems to have been the norm. But, it is the dying part that comes hard.

If dying were just lying down one night and God transforms us and we had no memory of the previous day then all would be well. Unfortunately that isn't how it happens. Dying to self is a daily thing. Oh sure all has been done by the Lord that is necessary for it to happen in your life, but giving up that final will is not as easy as falling asleep. All those old habits, all those old way of seeing things, and all the influences of the world that still thinks that way tend to muddy the water. Yet only in death can new life be produced.

For me dying to self is still a conscious act. I know for many mature believers it may have become a way of life that unconsciously occurs. But not for me. Now fortunately I don't have to deal with every aspect of my life every day, but there are new challenges all the time. Seemingly each day presents circumstances that require that I deny my will and take on Christ's will. In one way I am thankful for that because it let's me see God work in my life everyday. On the other hand it is quite frustrating to realize I have not progressed very far. This is especially true when it is the same test over.

Lord today bring about my death so that You might live. Enable my will in conjunction with Your Holy Spirit die to itself. Replace my will with Yours that Your kingdom come, Your will be done. You are the potter, I am the clay.

Follow Me

2008-01-08T03:44:00.001-08:00

Passage for Toady: Matthew 16:24

One of the great places for the Lord to teach me things is on my morning walks. Since my daughter and GRANDson have been here I have had their dog Magnum to walk with me. Now Magnum is a wonderful dog, trained to be a therapy dog which can go into hospitals and nursing homes, but he is a dog nonetheless. So when we walk he always is in front. Whether on the lead or off he is always ahead of me. As he walks along either from lack of confidence or to see if I am still there he will turn and look back at me, but at the same time continuing on with his pace. Now I can assure you that he has no idea where we are going. I take a different route almost everyday. But there he is out there in front leading and without a clue where we are going and constantly looking to see if I am still with him.

Well you have already guessed it, he is me. As we passed the old Circuit City store the Lord said Steve look at that dog. I did. And then He said, "That's you." Then this verse came to my mind. The last phrase is "follow Me." But I am like Magnum, I'm out in front just leading and leading with no earthly idea which way to go. Oh, but I am constantly looking back (praying) for the Lord to see if He is still with me. Now wouldn't it be a lot easier if I was to follow the Lord instead.

The last step in the discipleship process listed here is to follow Christ. Deny yourself, take up your cross and take off and do whatever you feel good about? No, follow Him. In fact if you do the first two then the third should be automatic, for now He lives through you.

Lord help me today to follow You and not be so stupid as to lead myself. My desire is to do the will of the one who sent Me, You. Please Lord allow me to bring glory to Your name as I follow You in my daily life. Thank you for Your kindness to teach Your child the meaning of discipleship.

Your Cross

2008-01-07T03:42:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Matthew 16:24

We now reach the second step of "coming after" Christ. Denying themselves the believer now must "take up his cross." The most obvious and possibly terrifying thing you notice is that it is a personal cross of the believer. Jesus had His cross to bear and now so does the believer. It is amazing in a time of unprecedented preaching of the health, wealth and prosperity gospel of today that the Bible would have such a horrible thought. Take up my cross? You've got to be kidding me. When I accept Christ I merely need to claim the promises of God to have everything I need, every problem solved, every wish fulfilled, every hurt healed. But Jesus said that I must take up a personal instrument of torture and death and bear it myself. Not a very encouraging picture, unless you are a truly devoted follower of Christ.

Paul says things like this, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Rom 8:18) And "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions." (Col 1:24) Or "And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."(2Co 12:9-10)

These are hardly words of comfort that life for the believer is going to be good by the world's standard. Jesus is warning us to count the cost before "coming after" Him. The life a believer chooses is not one of health, wealth and happiness. It is one of suffering and persecution. A far cry from what is experienced by the nominal Christian of America today, myself included. The call to take up my cross today is going to church without air conditioning, or unpadded pews, or, heaven forbid, a boring sermon. I believe it is next to impossible for the American church attender to have any concept of taking up his cross.

The cross was not just an instrument of death, it was a magnificently efficient instrument of torture and humiliation. Death was a sweet blessing to those who were crucified. Nothing could have been better than to have the pain and suffering end. Humiliation involved three aspects. 1) A person who was to be crucified had to carry his own instrument of his death. The cross was normally in two parts, the cross piece upon which the arms would be nailed or tied was carried from the place of imprisonment to the place of execution. 2) Those who saw this person as guilty or an enemy then could mock and abuse the convicted as they trudged toward their end. Public ridicule and spite hurled on them at every step by those who despised them most. 3) The condemned was then placed on the cross and left there for as long as it took to die, often days. All alone, exposed to the elements, the scavengers and the ticking clock of death. Not I pretty sight or thought.

Does this mean that we all are going to die on a cross? No, it means that the cross that we bear will produce in us the same things that it produced in Jesus. Suffering, humiliation and ultimately our death. Now the death I speak of here is not a physical death, but a spiritual one. In embracing the cross we will die to ourselves. As Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Gal 2:20) Our desires and our wants and wishes all die as we pick up the cross fashioned for us by our Father in heaven.

Paul says of this life, "And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God." (Act 20:22-24)

Today Lord I take up my cross in joy knowing that it was designed for me by You that I might bring glory to Your wonderful name. I realize that I am unable to carry this cross, that I must die to myself and let Christ live through me. Fear does grip me as I think of what may happen, yet my love for You compels me take up my cross. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit." (Psalm 51:10-12)

Deny Yourself

2008-01-05T04:20:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Matthew 16:24

The first step that Jesus lists in order to "come after" Him is that a person must "deny himself." This is of course the exact opposite of the message that our American culture would list. Our society would rather say, "Indulge yourself." But we know that the world is always going to offer the exact opposite of God even if it is the poorest places on earth the world, the flesh and the devil always say indulge yourself, feed your needs, get what you want.

But now Jesus comes along and says "deny yourself." In fact He doesn't just say "deny" He says "utterly deny" a far more strengthened form of the word to deny. In addition to this form He adds an imperative making it say that if you are going to come after Me you "must utterly deny yourself." The point being there is no option and no limit to the denying of yourself.

A good picture of this was Moses in Hebrews 11:24-26 it says, "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward." Moses denied himself in not indulging himself in the power and wealth of the world. He chose to take the path of serving the Lord which was not to indulge the flesh.

It is impossible to live life and not make choices. Because of this there are always alternatives. The twist in denying yourself is not always saying no to everything that would benefit you, it is saying yes to everything that Christ chooses. Because the world hates Christ, generally this is going to be a way of suffering rather than comfort. But don't be confused there is great satisfaction and joy in serving the Lord. Denying self is not harmful to yourself in all ways. In fact if you look at Moses life he ended up with more power and more influence than Pharaoh ever had. In fact today Moses is remembered by almost every person, and the name of the Pharaoh who opposed him is known by almost no one.

So to me denying your way is choosing Christ's way. I can't make every decision in life by saying what is worse for me. I must make every decision in life by choosing what Christ says is right for me. It is the denial of the fundamental right given every person by God at creation to choose. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. Denying my right to choose and giving over my life to Christ is clearly the first step in coming after Him.

Lord today and every other day I deny my right to choose. Instead I place my life at Your disposal. Do with me as You wish. I no longer have any need to consider my life, for it is You that lives within me. Help me to become so attune to hearing Your voice that it becomes the only voice I hear.

Come After Me

2008-01-04T03:48:00.001-08:00

Passage for Next Few Days: Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

Over these next few days I want to examine this passage. The context of the passage is very important. Jesus has just told the disciples that He is going to go to Jerusalem and be killed and then on the third day be raised up. Peter of course has to jump to what he thinks is Christ's defense and says this will never happen to which Jesus responds, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." The next words are the verse of our passage.

The first phrase of the passage deals with the willingness to come after Jesus. It says "if any man will" with the idea that not all will. Isn't it surprising who does and who doesn't. Now we are not just talking about church attendance. I see many who attend church that never are willing to "come after" Jesus. The volitional aspect of the disciples life is the starting point of faith. Every person was created with the free will to choose. Without it we would be robots. Yet with that free will many will choose not to do what is right. However some do choose to "come after" Jesus.

"Come after" is defined by those to whom it was spoken. If Jesus had been addressing those who had not been with Him He would probably had to say, "if any man choose to be my disciple." But because He was only speaking to disciples He spoke as a rabbi to His talmudin, His students. To become a disciple of a rabbi meant leaving everything and following Him wherever He went. It was more that apprenticeship it was a immersion of the students life into the Master's. Not like going to school, but living your total life at the feet of your Master.

Our Americanism makes this idea of discipleship a very difficult thing. Instilled in Americans is the idea of independence and freedom. We take the free will of man to the ultimate level. We may be willing to "come after" for Sunday, even Wednesday night, quite possibly even a devotion every morning and prayers at night. But our whole life? Now there's a stretch. What about work, and family, and social responsibility, and recreation? Everything in balance, everything in moderation, and everything in convenience is the motto of American Christians.

I do believe that Jesus wants disciples here. Fully devoted followers of Christ. Those who are living His life rather than their own. But because this is so outside our paradigm it is even difficult to imagine. For Americans it sounds cult like and denies the freedom of the individual. Christ is always held at arms length. Embraced and yet not immersed. It is a big word "if" since it involves the giving up our freedom to choose again. One choice that leads to no choice. Once following Christ, becoming His disciple, then it is His choices from there on out.

I am thankful that I have chosen to come after Jesus. It has been fulfilling, frustrating, full of failure, times of great victory and ultimately humbling. Each day I realize that there is more to "coming after" Jesus. More to give up, more to learn, more to do. But it all began with a choice.

Dead Body, Live Spirit

2008-01-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Romans 8:10

If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

Steve Phillips, sports director of WBIR-TV in Knoxville, TN offered this wonderful illustration of this passage in Open Windows.

Lifeguards are taught to retrieve victims in the water who are sometimes bigger than they are stronger than they are, or who have panicked and threathen to drown them both. That is a picture of the battle ongoing in all Christians between the body and the Spirit. Our carnal natures are dying, drowning in their own sin. But our spirits are jointed with the Spirit of Christ, and we are continually learning how to pull those bodies toward the shore without letting them take us under. Just as a lifeguard couldn't carry many victims without the buoyancy of the water, we couldn't contend with our carnal selves without the power of the Spirit of Christ. Lifeguards are continually trained, tested , and certified for the dangers they could face at any moment. That's how we should be as Christians, striving to please God, putting aside the worries of the world, and swimming for the shore of Christ's redeeming love.

Just as any natural illustration struggles at points to accurately portray the spiritual truth, so indeed will this one if you press it real hard. But there is a great picture of what Christians feel. Having been a lifeguard I remember those struggles in trying to save a drowning person while all they seem to want to do is drown you. It seems like everything you are trying to do to bring them to safety they are trying to undo. The strength of a drowning victim is unbelievable as it seems are the sins that seem to so easily beset us. Thank the Lord there is victory. Even over the greatest of sinful behavior.

Lord I thank you for not only Your salvation, but Your continuing love. Thank you that you give us Your Holy Spirit to guide and direct us all things. You have done a wonderful work in my life and I am most grateful for your loving kindness.

A Hardened Heart

2008-01-02T05:11:00.001-08:00

Passage for Today: Psalm 95:8-11

It seems from the people I counsel with that the truth of this passage is still very true today. A hardened heart equals no rest. The passage warns the believer not to harden their hearts and concludes with "they shall not enter My rest." A hardened heart may not be the only reason that we do not enter the "rest" of the Lord, but it is a major reason. A hardened heart can come from unfulfilled expectations, difficult circumstances, unfair treatment, but it is always an outgrowth of broken relationships. Not just relationships with others, but with the Lord. In the passage the Lord was the object of the peoples hardened heart. He had not fulfilled their expectations, He had led them into difficult circumstances, and it was He who had unfairly treated them, or so they believed.

I had a note from a young lady one time that described this perfectly. She was in a relationship that was not wholesome or holy. It ended as she began to be drawn to the Lord. At first the excitement of the new relationship with the Lord was very fulfilling and there was hope. But over time it was not as rewarding as the perceived relationship with the man would be. As a result she hardened her heart to the Lord because He was not now fulfilling her expectations. This led to no "rest" in the Lord and the cooling of her relationship with Him.

Whenever I attempt to get my rest, my contentment from the relationships of the world, even the church, I find myself with a hardened heart and the spiral downward begins. The relationships of the world are strengthened by a "rest" I have in the Lord. When they become the focus inevitably I find myself at odds with the Lord. My relationship with Him must be first, it must be strong, and it must not be predicated on circumstances. The truth must be the the truth apart from the outcome of events.

Lord I pray today that my relationship with You is the number one priority. Let all other relationships grow out of my relationship with You. Thank you for the rest You bring to me as I place my heart in You. As the previous two verses of Psalm 95 say, "Come let us(me) worship and bow down , let us(me) kneel before the Lord our(my) Maker. For He is our(my) God, and we(I am) are the people of His pasture and sheep of His hand."

So You Want to Teach

2007-12-29T04:49:00.001-08:00

Passage for Today: James 3:1

James 3:1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

One of the most sobering moments in life for a man is when he becomes a father. In one moment everything changes. One aspect of that change is that you are no longer just making decisions for yourself. Another is that you become a teacher. Everything you do will be seen and imitated by your child. Every wise thing and every foolish thing you say and do is recorded in the mind of that precious little child. The vast majority of what your child learns will be taught by you. Then one day he or she grows up and begins to live out what you have taught.

The responsibility to teach others is tremendous. You are not just sharing opinions and thoughts with no consequence. The Lord wants to know that with setting yourself up as a teacher of others the responsibility is far greater. Look at what He says in Matthew 5:19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Then look at Mat 18:6 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

The Lord quickly dismisses the idea that as a teacher we are only sharing thoughts that other people are responsible for. He clearly states that a teacher is directly and harshly accountable for what he or she teaches. A teacher can never say that the accountability for what is taught lies with those who are taught.

Over and over again the Scriptures warn of false teachers. The sad thing is that the thought is that only includes religious teachers. False teachers exist in every walk of life. The education system is full of those who teach what is clearly false without judgement or apology. They are in athletics, business, government and social services. All of them living under the assumption that they are just teaching what they thought was best and the use of that knowledge is on the student. But the truth is the accountability is on them.

Lord I pray that in every aspect of my influence in others lives that You hold me clearly accountable. Make me aware how of every aspect of my teaching affects those that I teach. Let me never consider that what people do with this knowledge is their business alone. I thank you for calling me to be a teacher. Guard my thoughts and words that what I teach is always truth.

Out of the Cage

2007-12-28T04:19:00.000-08:00

Passage for Today: Romans 6:14, Hebrews 4:1

The freedom from not only the penalty of sin, but also he power of sin are two of the great gifts of salvation. These two gifts are complete and require no additional effort on the part of the believer apart from the belief. Unfortunately that belief can be in short supply when faced with the lies of the world, the flesh and the devil. The lies and deception of the unholy trinity can overwhelm the believer leaving them frustrated and condemned. A believer may think that there is no way out of the bondage of the sins that so easily ensnare us. The truth is that we as believers are already free. The cage door is open and we are free to fly away, but years and years of sin keep us flying around in the same patterns as if we are trapped in the cage. I certainly know I was one.

Lord I thank you for having set me free long before I ever realized it. I thank you for Your great grace that was given in spite of my sinfulness. Lord give me the awareness to always know that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Remind me often that the body of sin is done away with, that I should no longer be a slave of sin.

Quotes to Ponder

2007-06-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

During my studies of forgiveness I came across a quote attributed to Karl Menninger, author of the Human Mind and The Crime of Punishment. As I researched the famous psychiatrist I found some additional quotes that really made me think. I thought you might like to respond to them also.

"Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it."

"Money giving is a very good criterion of a person's mental health. Generous people are rarely mentally ill people."

This is my personal favorite and I believe has proven to be true in light of the murder of children through abortion. "What is done to children they will do to society." Words to ponder deeply.

Save Your Money

2007-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

The old saying is that the more you do something the better you get. Well apparently that is not true for moviemaking. The third installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean is dreadful. The Director, Gore Verbinski, has seemingly learned little from the previous dismal production. However, if the purpose of film is the making of money, I am sure, based on the number of cars in the parking lot, he has a bounding success. Apart from the musical score and the wonderful special effects the film lacks in every area. It seems there was only one picture worth making in the trilogy, the first installment. Unlike Peter Jackson who skillfully built to a resounding crescendo in his final installment, Verbinski went from good to bad. If the film and the actors could be understood there might have been some redeeming quality. But alas, even in this endeavor failure abounded. Rule number one of a good movie is to have a good story. "Written by" Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio should be "botched by" because if you had read the screenplay first the movie would have never been made. There is no story line, not plot, no value. Save your money.

Nehemiah

2007-05-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Our Men's Leadership Group just finished the study of Nehemiah. What a wonderful study it was. I am so thankful for all the men who met each week just to study what it meant to be a Godly leader. The most important concept I found in the life of Nehemiah was the ability to have a vision and stick with the vision. So many times we get tired of the valleys and barriers of carrying a group to a vision and we give up. But Nehemiah never did. I am thankful that God provides us with such great examples to follow. Like the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews. Men who attempted great things for God and expected great things from God, like William Carey. May we all be such men. Life on the Vine involves carrying out the vision that God places in your heart regardless of the obstacles and disappointments. If this sounds kind of "rah-rah" it is. Even the writer sometimes get's tired and doesn't want to go on and needs to get out the vision, look at the purpose one more time and say, "Yes, Lord!"

Deep Storm

2007-05-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

Connie and I enjoy ready novels to one another. This has been a wonderful time for us while traveling. Our favorite writers are a tandem, Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston. They have given us countless hours of wonderful stories and we highly recommend them to everyone. This past year Lincoln Child has written a techno-thriller, Deep Storm. It is a classic in the tradition of Michael Chricton and Dan Brown. We enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it to you highly. The quality of the story line is quite excellent. It has all the twists and turns you come to expect and along with all the mystery that challenges the reader. Give yourself a treat and take to read this really good book.

In the Defense of a Baptist

2007-05-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Former President Jimmy Carter has come under fire of conservative Christians for his position on the War in Iraq, his criticism of the lack of a peace process between Israel and Palestine, his condemnation of the Faith-based initiative of President Bush, and now his direct attack on the Bush, Bush and Reagan leadership of the country, describing the current administration as the "worst in history" in foreign policy. Unfortunately because Carter is a Democrat and in our political society the sworn enemy of all Republicans the condemnation rings rather hollow. It seems that when a person, even the quality of Jimmy Carter, puts on the label of one party or the other they have no choice but to bash the other person regardless of their position. It is a shame that political affliation discredits what a person really espouses.

President Carter has never presented himself as anything but a Baptist Sunday School teacher from Plains, GA. Even as president of the United States he gave this same humble personality to the most powerful position in the world. He continued to teach Sunday School without apology and serve his fellow man believing that all should live in peace. His attitude has always been of loving your enemies as his Lord and Master Jesus Christ has taught him. So when the issue of the lack of peace talks in the Middle East emerges how else would he respond. His entire life has been about bringing peace to the land he has studied from his youth. Righteous indignation over the lack of peace in the land that Christ called home would seem to be no sin in the life of Baptist Sunday School teacher.

However his concerns over the Faith based initiatives of President Bush seem rather paradoxical on the surface until you realize once again he is a Baptist Sunday School teacher. There are several imperatives for the traditional Baptists; 1. Radically living out your faith in Christ, 2. Personal relationship with Jesus Christ, 3. Baptism by immersion, 4. Priesthood of the Believer, 5. Autonomy of the local church, and 6. the absolute separation of church and state. No matter how much you may think any of these unnecessary or even wrong, this is what a traditional Baptist Sunday School teacher knows to be true. These beliefs are to be lived out in everyday life and I believe if you hold his life up to these measures you will find him consistent. The state has no place in the church and the church has no place in the state.

The issue of Iraq is one that would also be completely understood if you looked at his Baptist tradition. Being a Baptist the souls of men, women, boys and girls are at the heart of his faith. Being a traditional Baptist he also believes that a person has the absolute right to determine his own relationship with whomever and whatever he wishes. The Armenian theology of this system places a high priority on the freewill of each man. To take it upon yourself to impose your will, your government, your religion, or your values on someone else because you think your way is better is inconceivable. So for Carter to endorse the forced removal of another government without the imminent danger to your country was equally unbelievable.

So I think that despite the fact that Jimmy Carter is a democrat, despite the fact that he is a former President of the United States, who never criticize a standing president, he is merely stating what he would believe as a traditional Baptist Sunday School teacher from Plains, GA.

As a pastor I would be honored to have Jimmy Carter teaching in Sunday School. I would not agree with him on any of these issues, but I am always blessed by men who live out their convictions. We need more Sunday School teachers living out their convictions before men, women, boys and girls. We need more to be Christ to those in the world. I do believe that as his pastor we would have many, many long discussions on our beliefs and in the end we would come to this conclusion, we disagree on many but we agree on many. Life on the Vine is not one of lock step unity, but of unified service of the Lord Jesus Christ and our fellow man by people who are different. The Word of God being our instruction and the Holy Spirit our guide.

Novel #1 con't

2007-05-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

It was one of the few voices that I could recognize by sound. Johnny Robertson was the chairman of the pulpit committee and the first person to contact me concerning the pastorate of Oak Hill. His voice was as calm as it was the day he called me at my part time job. I was working at a finance service in North Raleigh collecting loans. It was a great way to help pay for school and work in the evenings. Johnny to me, but John to his wife, had called to ask if I would consider interviewing with Oak Hill. Careful not to act too anxious, but at the same time never thinking I wouldn’t, I agreed to meet with the committee. He told me they would like to meet at another church because the furnace had some problems at Oak Hill and they were going to have to renovate due to smoke damage. I wanted to know how much damage and so forth, but better leave it until later. I agreed to meeting with he committee and now here I am.

“Down here Johnny, just looking around.” I replied to the unseen voice.

Johnny cruised around the corner as he did everywhere he went. A slow lope that seemed to always exert the least amount of energy and yet always seemed to achieve its goal. He was taller than me and for the world reminded me of Abraham Lincoln minus the beard. His dark hair and dark eyes gave him an intimidating look, but was far from his warm and encouraging spirit. Johnny was a retired storeowner and part time farmer, as was everyone in Mount Hope. He owned a large farm on the main highway, which he bought after retirement. As best I could tell he was admired and respected by everyone. I had enjoyed very much dealing with him during the interview process.

“Are you finding everything in good order Preacher? Johnny said with a slow deliberate tone, “The bathrooms upstairs.” He throws in with a hearty laugh.

“How are you Johnny, I’m sure glad to be here today, but I must admit I am a little nervous,” I say more lightheartedly than I mean.

“Don’t worry a bit, Preacher, everyone loves you, Allison and Abel. You’re going to do just fine this morning. Don’t give it a second thought. Come on, let’s go meet some of the folks,” he says as he walks on up the steps assured that I will follow. The truth is right now I’m not sure I want to follow because I know there will be a lot of folks, none of which I can remember their names.

As I shuffle off after Johnny my heart races a little faster. I think I would have liked a little more time to get myself together, but too late now. Before we reach the top of the steps I see faces staring down at me. However I recognize none of them. The small hallway is now crowded with folks coming in from the outside. As I shake hands and smile walking behind Johnny he makes no attempt to introduce anyone. But of course all them know me, but none call me by name, only Preacher. I wonder how Allison and Abel have fared. I know Allison never met a stranger, but Abel could be a bit shy. As we clear the last doorway into the sanctuary I am relieved to see Allison holding court meeting folks and looking right at home. Wish I felt that comfortable.

It is almost nine o’clock and time for the Opening Assembly to take place. Johnny directs Allison and Abel to sit beside me on the front row after rescuing them from the press of folks wanting to shake their hands and introduce themselves. I’m thinking at this point nametags would have been a good idea. Fortunately facing forward from the front pew I am unable to see their faces and feel guilty that I don’t remember their names. Most I have seen at the other church when I was voted on, but for the life of me not one name comes to mind. I’m a real piece of work, pastor of a church, and can’t remember anyone’s name.

A rather stout man scampers to the pulpit to lead the Opening Assembly. Apparently everyone who would be going to Sunday School arrives for this time. They told me that once a month there is a business meeting during this time, but today it is all about singing and introduction. The little man without a name is unfamiliar to me, even from the previous meetings. He round features and modest smile seemed very comforting. The tie he wore did not appear to be something he normally wore. The collar way to tight to be comfortably buttoned. I lean over and ask Johnny his name and why I hadn’t seen him before. Johnny says without looking at me, “Oh that’s Mark Reed, he works third shift and isn’t able to come to evening meetings. But he never misses Sunday. He’s our Sunday School Director.”

As Mark speaks you can tell public speaking is not his forte. Although he is very calm, he is also very disorganized. His notes scrawled too small on a piece of paper help little in his presentation. “As you all know . . . we have with us today . . . our new Preacher. Brother Aaron Price.” There is small applause. “His wife Addison, I mean Allison and his son Abel.” After a bit of laughter at his guffaw they all politely applaud. “I’d like to ask Aaron, I mean Preacher to come and share a few words with us.”

Well what do you say? Something spiritual, something encouraging, something challenging, or just something. No classes ever prepare you for what to say, all I could think was to be myself. I stepped up behind the pulpit and thanked Mark, who seemed surprised I knew his name, and looked out over the congregation. I paused just taking in the sight of the people. I would guess that there were about fifty people there, hard to tell with the children. Every eye was on me as they waited for what I was to say. The moment was truly breathtaking for me, but I knew they had seen many pastors come and go. The church was 112 years old and when I looked at the history only one pastor had ever lasted for more that six years. He was Pastor J. C. McNeely. Served from 1936 to 1961. Most of the churches in the area were used to student pastors who would only be there a few years and move on to “something better.” Would I be any different? Would I be here a few years and then go on to “something better?” No of course not, God called me here and here I would be ‘til He called me somewhere else.

“It is great to be with you today. A real honor for my family and me. We have looked forward to this moment for a long time. Looking out and seeing you here is encouraging to me. I know it will be a while before I know all your names so please bear with me. I look forward to preaching during the service so I won’t keep you here any longer. Thank you and God bless.” Was it enough? Did is say too little? Was I friendly? As I stepped off the platform Johnny took my hand firmly saying, “Good job, not to long, not too short, just right.” I took my seat as Mark returned to the pulpit. “Wendy come play us a hymn, number 323. Let’s all stand and sing. Brother Ken come lead us.”

Wendy was a pretty young high school student who played the piano. She dutifully came and began the introduction to “Blessed Assurance” as Ken came to lead the song. Ken was very animated, but not a particularly good singer. His voice seemed to know the right notes, but as it tried to hit them it usually missed the mark on the ones that stand out most. But nonetheless no one else was going to stand and lead so he led with gusto. We sang first, second and last verse, as is tradition. With each verse the rests got quicker and the holds got longer and volume increased until all were singing with an enthusiasm that surprised me. Upon completion Mark led us in prayer and began to make the morning announcements, which was probably the soul purpose of the assembly.

“Right after preaching today we are going to have a cover dish supper for the new preacher and his family. Everyone is invited and we got plenty of food. On Tuesday night you that are on the Nominating Committee are supposed to meet at . . . What time is that meeting Fred? Seven o’clock. Yeah you all need to be there we got a lot to do. Finally I want to remind everyone that next Saturday we are going to have a cleanup day at the church to finish everything. Now you are dismissed to your classes.”

“Preacher let me take your wife and the boy to their classes. Then you and I can talk a minute. Unless you want to go to Sunday School.” Johnny quickly said as the assembly began to empty out.

“That will be fine, but I know Abel will not want to go by himself. Maybe he could go with Allison and we will work on that next week.” I said apologetically because of my knowledge of my son. It would be disaster to put him in a class cold turkey.

“No problem, I’ll take care of it, you just wait here. I’m sure some folks would like to meet you before they go to class.” And off Johnny went with Allison and Abel in tow. I hope it goes well. Allison’s not too big on Sunday School either, unless she is teaching.

As I reseat myself on the green pad of the pew I catch a glimpse of folks standing to my left. As I turn I see about four or five people. The first is a older couple, probably in their 60’s. Both are dressed well above what I have seen from the others in the congregation. He is dark haired heavyset with large shoulders and hands that wrap around mine. She is smallish with grey hair done up very nicely. A very expensive neckalsce graces her neck. Her rings and jewelry speak of a very prosperous lifestyle. As he squeezes my hand he shares clearly, “I’m Hannibal Black and this is my wife Milicent.”

“Pleased to meet you both. I remember seeing you at the meetings. It’s nice of you to introduce yourselves. Let me make sure I’ve go your names, Hannibal and Milicent. Right?”

“Why you sure are. I understand that you were in finance before the ministry so I’m looking forward to talking with you. Never can know to much about investments.”

“Well that’s true.” I say a little off guard. “But I haven’t had a lot of time recently to keep up. But I do look forward to visiting with you.”

“We’re glad to have you and your family. We have a good little church here and we’ve done very well over the years. We’ve been able to build a really fine cemetery, have you seen it?”

“Well no this is my first time at the church building. But I’m sure I will see it before the day is over.”

“Well we’re really proud of it. Quite historical you know. I’m in the Kiwanis locally and I’d like to take you as my guest next week. Always looking for good young men. We won’t keep you any longer. Good to have you.”

“Thank you.” I think, but I’m not sure.

“Hi, I’m Betty Lou Miller and I’m going to be your next door neighbor.” The smallish grey hair woman announced with a soft voice. Here hair tight to her head and dressed in a dress that smelled amazingly like mothballs. “I have some things I need to discuss with you when you get a chance.” And with that she was gone, off to some class that I was sure was glad she took this extra time to talk with me.

The last were two ladies whose smile was the most inviting I had seen. They were not similar in anyway but for some reason you knew they were related. They had been at every meeting I had with the church leading up to coming. “I’m Dot and this is my sister Hillary. We are the head of the WMU and we were so excited to here that you are interested in missions. We have a mission night every fifth Sunday and have a mission’s speaker in for dinner and program. We have been waiting a long time for a preacher to come who has an interest in missions. Welcome and we look forward to working with you. By the way I am the treasurer so you will need to tell me how you want to get paid.”

“I’m really glad to meet you and I am interested in missions, and I would like to get paid.” I say trying to cover everything they have said. “I will call you this week and set up a time that I can meet with you if that would be alright?”

“Certainly, we look forward to hearing from you.” And off they went to class as I slipped back in my seat, catching my breath and starting to look over my sermon.

Remembering Dr. Falwell

2007-05-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

There are very, very few Baptist pastors that are not influenced by Dr. Jerry Falwell. Even if you did not agree with him on issues you had to agree with him on Christ. Every time I heard him speak I was moved by his devotion to my Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever he might have been to the world, he was the champion of Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. The theme of every message I ever heard him speak was Jesus Christ and Him Lord. I have been personally challenged by his life and words in the areas of evangelism, perseverance, and giving. Today I am thankful for the heritage that he left in my life.

Get a Life

2007-05-15T05:25:00.000-07:00

For me, comedy and laughter are a big part of Life on the Vine. From the family of my youth to the family of my children, to now, with just Connie and I, laughter has played a great role in handling life. But the biggest gift we have is the ability to laugh at ourselves. When you do something stupid you've got to be confident enough in yourself, to laugh at yourself. Now I have done some pretty dumb things in my lifetime and if I took the ridicule or fun that is poked at me seriously, I would be pretty miserable. Sometimes I say or do things that in my mind are things that are good and well thought out, but when they are done and seen by the people around me they wonder, "What was he thinking at the time?" That's when real comedy comes in, observing what others do, or I do, and saying it out loud. Mannerisms, remarks, actions that, when they are seen in the light look pretty ridiculous. Just get out some old pictures of yourself and show it to your children or grandchildren. They will howl. Do they hate you? Do they want to violate your civil rights? Are they bigoted against every person who wears polyester leisure suits? No of course not, you just look very funny. Everyone is responsible for what they do or say because everyone is free to criticize or make fun of them. The price for being free is to take the heat for what you have done. You can't act stupid and not expect someone to point it out. Freedom doesn't mean the absence of ridicule, anger, or even being laughed at. Freedom is being willing to say and live like you believe, without fear of what people will say, but in light of the fact they will say things about you. We have no freedom if we are not free to be criticized. The first amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech. Today it seems that people want to live their lives with no commentary from anyone else. They seem to think there is a law somewhere that prevents them from being ridiculed for doing dumb things, shelters them from the opinions of other people, and that they should never suffer being made fun of for the things they do. They feel like because they belong to some group, or part of some race, or live a certain lifestyle that they don't have to endure what others think of their lives. There is no such law. Get a Life! There is no defense from being laughed at or hurt in life. If you are observed doing anything; others are going to share their opinion of it. Saturday Night Live was a great picture of freedom. No one, no group, no gender, no race, no segment of life was safe from their comedy. And oh how we laughed. But now that freeing laughter, as we took a comical look at ourselves, is no longer available. Any fun poked at others is subject to the sensitivity police investigation. There was always some person you knew that couldn't take any criticism. Now it seems everyone is like this and thinks there ought to be a law to protect their feelings. Get a Life!

Zealousness

2007-05-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

Peter writes to us in his first epistle these words: “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED.” (I Peter 3:13-14) Well as I think about there are a lot of people who would harm you for being zealous for doing good. Zealous to do good led Paul to persecute the church. Zealousness to do good led Eric Rudolph to bomb abortion clinics. Zealousness to do good led William Carey to India. In fact if you study the life of most any famous or infamous person you will find someone who is in fact “zealous for what is good.” The real issue seems to be “what is good?” Every war that ever began started in the mind of the person who was zealous for what they thought was good. At no point in Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini, George Washington, Stonewall Jackson would they every say that what they were doing was bad, they saw what they did as good. The problem is who determines what is good. During the American revolution “good” was determined to be rebellion against the legally installed King. During the Iraq war “good” was determined to be the removal of a leader of a sovereign nation, by another group of nations. Capital punishment would say that the taking of a life was for the “good.” So who or what determines what is “good?” Let me know what you think.

Camelot con't

2007-05-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

As writer in or around late 50’s AD had some observations that may be pertinent to this discussion. He said in a letter to some friends in Italy this, “Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose.” Rather disturbing that someone writing so long ago could foretell that when man quit acknowledging God, all hell would break loose. Now let’s compare that with what we say happen. Up until 1962 every child in America went to school at least through the sixth grade. We had several who made some return trips, but for the most part all of them attended. So everyday during the school year veritably all the children in the United States and those who taught them stood and acknowledged that God was the sovereign of the land. Not just those who believed in Him, or worshipped Him, but every single child. If I were to tell you that all the children of your country were for the first six years of their educational life were going to daily acknowledge you, even those who do not believe it, would that not qualify as a people a nation acknowledging Him as God. I think that even the worst skeptic would say this is true. But then we stopped, and what is the result?

Let’s look back to our first century writer. Did all hell break loose? Not too hard to figure. No educator or administrator today will say to you that the public educational system isn’t in dire circumstances. Oh they may put a good face on it, citing exceptional students. But it is all done under the protection of armed police that are necessary to maintain control. So all hell did break loose? Well that could have been a lucky guess by our writer. He would have to predict exactly what happened for us to pay attention. Well here is what he said, “They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way; stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded.” You can be the judge. You can read newspapers and you can make the call. He also made some additional comments that even make the case more compelling. “They soon didn't know how to be human either—women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love.” Without much question this is our society. The case is strong for this conclusion. Because we really have no argument that our society is just like this we really can only argue about the cause.

How then can we check out the real cause? By doing what we did and see if it can change. Now I assure you that the educational system is today working to cure the problem, but it has only become worse. It is clear that they have not found the cause. So let’s just return to the way we did it before and see if it works.
Well of course we can’t. It is against the law. It is also against popular opinion. It would sound intolerant and therefore unacceptable. So it can’t be changed. There is no hope of change and with that I would agree. We are on the path that many other parts of the same book quoted above tell us that evil will increase, righteousness will decrease, and then Jesus will return, which is good. I am thankful that this will happen and I look forward to that day. However my disappointment is for those children who never got to see Camelot, never got to have the joy of my childhood and never will. They will never enjoy the naïve innocence of childhood, all because the land where they lived would not acknowledge God as God. Not because they did not spend enough money, try hard enough to solve problems, didn’t advance their technology far enough, but simply because they could not, would not acknowledge God.

Camelot con't

2007-05-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Well the summer between my fifth and sixth grades things really changed. According to my parents, “Some idiot judges decided to stop kids from praying in school each morning.” So the next year we went to school and things were different. I started having a home room that year and actually changing classes during the day which was really different. But in my home room we did still have a time for the pledge, but there was no Lord’s Prayer. Some folks seem to make a big deal about it, but my family said it was now the law and we always need to abide by the law. I didn’t really know if that was there opinion or what they wanted me to learn from the decision. It wasn’t always clear when parents were teaching you something or telling you what to do. There should be a little sign so children would know.
Honestly I don’t remember much happening as a result of the decision. Seemed like much ado about nothing. I prayed all I felt I needed at home, and church and when I was in trouble, and, oh yes, before tests in school despite the law. I thought my parents and the government would understand. And you know I can’t say that anything much went different for me after that. In fact I think probably very little was different for me in those times than they were for my father and mother who went to school many years before me. Judging by their stories, other than the use of film strips and a little TV my life in school was the same as theirs. Even the play ground equipment was something that both of us would have used. So I would have to ask again, “What was the purpose and why did we ever have prayer in school.”

One of the things I liked to do when I was a child was shoot a rifle. My father belonged to a club out near Red House, WV. It was way out in the country, far from anyone. It was a real thrill to go out there and target practice. Now I know my Dad really didn’t care much for this, but he did it for me. I could shoot for hours missing and hitting targets like tin cans. Watching them fly up I the air like a jack in the box when you hit them. My Dad would ask me to move farther and farther back from the target to improve my aim. But all it did would make me miss more and more. I made the mistake of asking him why and he took that opportunity teach me something, when I wished he would have said, move closer so you don’t miss. He said in essence that when you are close to the target you can make more mistakes with your aim and still hit the target. When close you don’t have to hold your aim so steady and you can still hit the target. However, when you move back farther from the target you have to be more careful to hold your aim tight. When you are just off a little over a long distance it makes a huge difference when the shot gets to the can. Being off just a little in the starting makes you way off in the end.

Well I would have to say as I reflect upon this idea of not having the time to acknowledge God as sovereign of the land though a small change in the beginning has become a big difference over time. Just by bare observation I can say that the difference in the public education between my Dad and me was small the difference for my son was enormous and between me and my grandson is unbelievable. Oh yes the type of education is quite different, but more the environment is other worldly. I went to the ballgame the other night and passed by armed policeman after I went through a metal detector. My son told me of police dogs coming in to sniff out drugs. Well it is clear that something did change, but did it change because we didn’t start the day with a prayer acknowledging God as the sovereign of the land? Now of course this could be debated over and over again, pro and con, back and forth. Statistics quoted, numbers shown, and reports given, but alas to no avail because it could only be coincidence, or it could be the exact reason.

To be continued . . .

Camelot

2007-05-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

A law was made a distant moon ago here:
July and August cannot be too hot.
And there's a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot.
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot.
By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Camelot, Camelot
That's how conditions are.
The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederic Loewe

Yes it was “Camelot.” For me growing up in Nitro, West Virginia was “Camelot.” Everything a boy could want, hills, creeks, woods, many friends, strong family, all safe and secure with the greatest concern being, “What will we do tomorrow?” My days were filled with fun and my nights filled with dreams of more fun. My elementary school was definitely “old school.” It was as traditional as traditional gets. I walked everyday, picking up friends along the way. By the time we reached the schoolyard, with every conceivable contraption of enjoyment, we were a dozen in number laughing and teasing. Our teachers were both stern and loving at the same time. Our principal was one who could while striking the fear of God in us while at the same time bringing a sense of firm order to our lives. It was the late fifties and early sixties and all seemed right with the world as far as I could see.

Each morning we would arrive in class, move to our assigned desks, and prepare for the morning. No matter how wonderful the surroundings of my life were it did little to organize my desk. Under my seat the books and papers were always jammed in tight with no discernable order. It would take me some time just to get my stuff out and ready to learn. Then with the leadership of our teaching we began the morning ritual. The flag of the United States of America hung to the right of the dull green blackboards strung across the front of the classroom. (It always confused me that a “green” board was called a blackboard. Kind of like parking on a driveway and driving on a parkway.) Without a word we would place our hand over our heart, facing the flag, and saying, “I pledge allegiance . . .” Each and every child spoke out of a memorized mind, with a memorized cadence the memorized words of a memorized pledge. Even in the cadence was a unified tempo that spoke of years of conditioning. Rarely, if every, did it occur to me what I was saying, but say, I did without hesitation and without reserve. On special days the teacher may give a story or example of great patriotic significance that would bring more meaning to the moment, but they were rare and few. I can remember on the days that would watch on a portable TV the launching of another space attempt that the pledge was more meaningful.

Upon conclusion of the pledge we would turn and face the front, bowed or heads and repeated the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father, who art in heaven . . .” I wasn’t sure why facing forward was necessary, but I sure knew that bowing my head was important. We were addressing God and He was to be reverenced. Now I may not have known the entire theological significance of reverence, but I had a healthy fear of God instilled by my mother. When I would complain about not wanting to get up to go to school or church she would always say, “Well what if God didn’t want to get up and decided to cut your air off, then how would you feel?” I’m not sure what that meant I was supposed to do, but it did instill in me the fear that rebellion against the wishes of your mother could trigger a violent retribution of an angry God. Notwithstanding this fear the Lord’s Prayer was a ritual of memorization was done without question and in many cases without belief. Many of my friends, I would later in life learn, never attended church and knew nothing of the Lord. To me that was beyond my comprehension because we always attended church on Sunday. This coupled with the fact nothing was open on Sunday because of Blue Laws, another great paradox of my life (I knew nothing of the puritanical laws of Connecticut), what else would people do but go to church. Nonetheless each weekday morning for my entire elementary life we stood as one pledged our allegiance to the United States and acknowledge God as Sovereign of the land.

Once that was over we were back to work attempting to learn what our teachers were trying to teach. I don’t ever remember us missing this moment of preparation in a day, but I’m sure we did at some time. Yet, I could never observe anything that happened negatively or positively in those days. There is nothing in my memory that saw some being any better or others being any worse as the result of the exercise.

Today, as I look back on that time of naïve innocence I wonder why did we did that? What was the purpose of the exercise, which has disappearing in the public school education process? We now know that for those who did not find it necessary to pray to God each day that it was offensive and downright unfair. There didn’t seem to be any corresponding affirming response from the events of the morning. I never saw anyone or heard anyone give testimony that it transformed their lives. So why was it done and what was it’s purpose?

Con't Tommorrow . . .

Novel #2 con't

2007-05-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

Hiram enjoyed all the finer things of life. He was very eclectic choosing from the varied cultures that mingled in the bustling metropolis that the city had become. It seemed there was always something new coming from one land or another. His philosophy of life, his religion of choice and his way of living all reflected an immense appetite for what is new. This immense appetite for things required great wealth and power. Accumulation was only legitimate for Hiram if it came through gifts given either out of friendship, repayment of a favor, or prizes won in a contest of wills, wits or wisdom. Morality was something that flowed with the tides of fortune. If it resulted in fortune for Hiram it was moral, but if it resulted in loss for Hiram it was clearly immoral. Such a simple code of ethics made Hiram’s life simple to administer. His one Achilles heel was his undying loyalty to those he perceived as friends. Now friendship for him was earned and then bestowed. As those around him would benefit him then they would be begotten as friends and to all his friends his graciousness, though capricious, was great. This had led to many losses from which he struggled to make sense but never abandoned his habit of friendship.

The veranda on which his silk covered lounge laid provided and unparalleled view of the great city. The view encompassed fortress Antonia, the mount of the Temple and the vast marketplaces. Built by his force of artisans and laborers his home was admired by all. The foundation sat upon a small rise, but was not elevated enough to provide the views Hiram desired. Having read of Antipater of Sidon and Herodotus seven wonders he built his interpretation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Each level was surrounded by a veranda of live trees, palms and plants from around the Great Sea. This tropical paradise was topped by a covered patio where he dined, entertained, interviewed, and interrogated those who were brought to him, of which there were many great and small.

Hiram’s income was derived from construction of which there was a great deal. Between the king and the occupiers there was more than enough work. Herod, though never considered a personal friend, kept work steady. Pilate, a man Hiram enjoyed being with, but still a Roman occupier, would also proved considerable work on the fortifications of the city. Because Herod sought to please the Sanhedrin, Hiram had developed a friendship with each of the High Priests. Their desires for the temple and surrounding area were insatiable. So then for Hiram it was the best of times. Money flowed, friends visited, and his personal kingdom grew spectacularly.

Today was like many others. His personal assistant and closest confidant was Bakar, a slave originally, who had worked for Hiram for twenty five years. Bakar was born in the lands of Kush. Tall and very dark he was like an ebony giant. His eyes seemed to burn intensely giving one the idea of great anger. His anger however was only a façade with which he kept men at bay. Though his strength was legendary and fierceness in defense of his master known by all, his real strength was his solomonic wisdom. From the side of his master he would scrutinize every person and every deal offered then with perception and craft he would weave a solution for his master to consider. Although his personal wealth was little his influence was great and of move value than gold. Hiram kept Bakar well satisfied with all he wished. His friendship was valued above all others.

The first visitor of the day was the Emir of Ophir. The Emir was an imagined potentate from a far exotic land. But in reality Buzar was a business man from the northern territory of Samaria. For a Samaritan to be of any influence in Jersualem he could not be a Samaritan. His wealth came from the many caravans he sent throughout the land collecting exotic spices, ointments and most of all slaves. It was in fact that Bakar was one of his earliest sales to Hiram. Buzar and Hiram had been in business together for many, many years. Their alliance had bought them both wealth and troubles. The troubles in recent years had outweighed the wealth. Today, like so many others began with a litany of recitations of past days of glory. His pudgy body moving slowly toward the divan where Hiram lay he recounted in a rather nasal tone a great deal they had concocted that had resulted in the land that Hiram ultimately built his house upon. Reminding Hiram of this would assure a receptive audience, for Hiram never forgot a good deed.

“Oh the look on that old misers face when he realized that he had just signed over the rights to that property,” Buzar muttered with a sly look that a fox would have been jealous.

“Yes those were the good days old friend. But we have not had many of those days lately. What misfortune has brought to me today.” Hiram said with an equally sly look.

“You judge me too harshly, old friend.” He returns with a low bow, almost to the point of losing balance. “I have a proposition that will make us both, uh, more comfortable.”

Hiram replied quickly, “Buzar, pardon, Emir, I am already more comfortable, my aim is to remain there without risking my already shaky friendship.”

“Old friend,” He sighed with pleading motion. “I have an investment that will only require your power, not your purse. There is small piece of property that I have come under the control of through a legitimate contract I had with a man named Hezekiah.”

“Legitimate contract! That would be a new one. Tell me how did this legitimate contract come into your possession? And why would it interest me.” Hiram chuckled with every expression.

“I swear on all that is holy, it is legitimate. Hezekiah was an old man who had, let’s say, a fondness for wine. He lived outside the eastern gates on a small plot of land below the olive grove. This plot of land is situated between two parcels. One owned by you and the other by me. You remember the deal for the camels and gold?”

“Yes I remember. What I remember is that my land was barren and worthless, while yours is a deposit of marble that I have had to buy for the past three years at a handsome profit to you.” A tinge of anger now begins to flush in the face of Hiram.

“Old friend, we have made good money with the marble. When everyone else hauls it from many miles away, you and I can deliver with ease.” Trying quickly to soothe the feelings of his needed partner.

“You are right, we have both profited.” Hiram concedes.

“Hezekiah was a fool and he needed money. I found out and told him that I would loan him money on the value of his property. He agreed and signed this document. Saying that if he could not repay the property would be mine. Well, sadly, he could not repay and now has passed away in a drunken stupor. So now the property is mine, we can expand the quarry.”

Hiram thought a moment as he looked at the contract. All was in order, but there was no seal. For any land to be sold there had to be the seal of the Roman occupiers. But none was present. “How come there is no seal on this contract?” He asked knowing an unscrupulous answer was about to ensue.

“Therein lies my problem. Hezekiah died before I could get the document sealed. Now I do not have him present which the Romans require. That is why I need your influence to get a seal so I can execute the document.”

“So then, is this his actual signature? Or did he pass away signing it with his own blood? This deal smells to high heavens. Not only does it not seem you have any chance of this, it seems that you have used rather unscrupulous means to obtain it. As much as our friendship has meant to me I cannot agree to outright theft.” Hiram now turned his back to Buzar and looked at Bakar for advice.

Bakar agreed with his assessment and offered only a confirming nod to comfort his master.

“Old friend,” the whine came from the forlorn little man, “the problem is this. Your property is actually his. When the deed was made for your property in our deal it included his property. A fact that was overlooked by the, let’s say, rather shady person we had survey the land. Therefore the land, rather your land, is now not your land.”

Hiram jumped from the divan with a great fury. His arms spinning wildly. Bakar swiftly moving with cat like grace between Hiram and object of his anger. With his faithful servant holding him in his strong arms he yells, “Why is it everytime I’m involved with you I find myself short and in a fury? Get out of my sight and never return, you have destroyed our relationship and overstepped even my grace!”

“Old Friend, old friend,” Buzar cringed with fear of physical abuse. “You can’t let the land go it would be a great loss that you do not deserve. Old Friend, calm your fear toward me an regain what is rightfully yours. It would only take a letter to your Roman acquaintances. I have done you wrong, but you do not have suffer loss. Forgive me for my sin, but regain what is yours.”

Becoming weary in the arms of his great protector for his lack of physical strength Hiram goes limp. “I am exhausted by you Buzar,” he spits out the name in distain. “I will not deal with you today, I must think. Be gone now and do not return until I summon you. If I see you again it will not be Bakar’s duty to protect me, but to seek my vengeance.”

Now moving backward with a humble bow, Buzar retreats. But before he reaches the door he stops and with all the humility he can muster he entreats, “But Old Friend, I have one more need in this issue that you are unaware of. A relative of Hezekiah has taken up residence on the land, having, well ah, dispatched some of my faithful workers from the home. If you could send some . . .”

At this point a brass vase crashed into the wall behind him and the threat of another was coming. Buzar continuing bowing quickly as he escaped the physical attack of Hiram. Loud shouting accompanied him as quickly fled from the presence of his “Old Friend.”

Chest heaving, brow sweating, anger swelling, Hiram turns to his counselor, “What are we going to do to rid ourselves of this sorry sack of manure? He is going to be the death of me. He and his lousy deals are perpetually dragging me into one compromising situation after another. Why do I keep dealing with him? What is it going to take to rid myself of his presence?”

“Master, you have always been too kind to those who use you. You must learn to say no to deals where people have no morals. This issue of land is of no consequence. The land was something you never considered and now can not be considered at all. The favors he is asking you to give are much more valuable to you in time to come. Come sit now relax, take some wine, and let me provide you with a few moments of quiet before I summon your next guest.”

Novel #2 - The Abiding

2007-05-07T05:49:00.000-07:00

The orange globe slowly descends behind the golden roof casting long shadows and silhouettes making sundials of every object pointing to a time that has been long awaited. The reflection of this ginger light from the polished tiles gives a glowing aura to each blackened timekeeper enhancing the atmosphere of anticipation. The wall and mound between the house and sun rises mountain like and now in sinister tones stands in as an ominous barrier between light and darkness. The wide dusty road winds it’s way as a serpent below the walls of Zion carrying slow moving travelers to destinations that at this point are only real in their minds. The oven like heat of the day is reduced only by only a few degrees by the ever increasing gloom.

The solitary fired brick home stands silently in the shadow of the great acropolis as it has for more years than its occupants have lived. Not a tree or shrub has protected the little hovel from baking of the sun. The hardened path leads lazily up from the road to the small knoll where the brick oven of a home sits. The earth is strewn with rocks and more rocks, upon rocks which have been placed by time on top of rocks. The sunset reds and oranges illuminate the front of the house clearly the nearly broken down bench in front of a shabbily hung wooden door on dried leather hinges. The leather has loosed to the extent if the jam were not in place it would have fallen into the dirt. The lone window is covered by the completely faded white and blue stripped cloth. The cloth is hiding only the same sparseness of the interior.

Directly behind the square flat topped residence the hill slopes up steeply to the crest of a long ridge. In the shadows of the home the occupiers have begun hoeing out of the rocks a small garden that seems to have little hope of success. Atop the ridge is a flourishing grove of olive trees. Their green leaves standing in sharp contrast to the browns, tans and umbers of the ground leading up to them. A low stone wall surrounds the lush olive trees protecting them from the encroaching deadness of the land surrounding the little domicile.

They had been married only two months now. Originally from the mountainous area famous for the death of the first King they had come south in search of a better life. Aaron was an artisan. His choices were of places for employment were the new cities of the occupying kingdom near the lake or the great city of God. Though gifted and trained in the artisan school of Bezalel. However his hands though roughened with practice lacked the all important quality of experience. As of this day his daily trips into the city had not yielded the prize that he sought. Work on the great temple was ongoing and he felt his gift should be a gift used for the glory of his God rather than the godless culture that possessed his land. The food, flour and meal, along with the money would not last long and his prayers rose daily that the omnipotent One would provide for he and his bride.

Her name was Ruth and she was the light of his life. Each day he had to leave to pursue the illusive vocation the weight of their separation weighed so heavily upon him. She was as frail as he was strong. His arms toned into bronze hammers which with sledge and chisel could split the marble with power and precision dwarfed her small frame. She longed for the times he would hold her with such strength as to make even one of weakness feel as secure as the king in his palace. Even the threat of failure vanished as he engulfed her when he arrived home from a day of inquiry. The home she had made consisted of very little. A small table and two chairs given by her father, a cot which was so small for them tucked to the corner with a curtain drawn for privacy. The cook area with it’s small brick oven vented to the outside of the house had but a few small clay jars and pots and a variety of utensils mostly fashioned by her loving husband. Despite the very clear poverty of their circumstances they felt very comfortable in their little home and the hopes for the future were always high.

The home had belonged to an uncle of Ruth who had passed away suddenly. The exact reports of his demise were not clear. Either he had died to a disease that was not considered to be dangerous to others, or he had died from a broken heart from years of desiring to be a successful farmer in spite of an addiction for wine. Whichever story you believed was dependent on which side of the family you were on. Since all the family lived at such a distance no one was willing to come settle the estate. Aaron saw it as an answer to his often offered prayers. He and Ruth had packed what little possessions they owned on Aarons strong back and off they went to receive their sought after gift. The family would follow later with what furniture they would have.

The excitement of a new home and a new life were short lived. When they arrived at the friend of their uncle who was handling the property they were met with distressing news. A neighbor who claimed the land for himself had moved some of his workers into the little house. His claim was based upon a promissory note he claimed to be in possession of. However no one had seen this document or could remember Uncle Hezekiah mentioning of this obligation. This setback would have discouraged any normal man, but not Aaron. Aaron though not possessing the highest degree of tact, did possess great powers of persuasion both social and physical.

It was a clear and beautiful day for everyone on that second day of the week except the men occupying his future home. The day before Aaron and Ruth had greatly enjoyed a Sabbath worshipping in a large synagogue. It was not so different in content than their one back home, but the teaching was done by one of the great Rabbi’s of the day. His words describing the Scriptures were so inspiring. It seemed to them that these words were God’s confirmation to them that they were where they were supposed to be. So on the ensuing morning Aaron was up with the greatest confidence that God would guide him on his quest.

Even with glowing expectations in his heart when he arrived at the small stuccoed house it was quite disappointing. Not a thing was alive around the small prize including the ruffians inside. There is always a time for explaining, a time for compromising, and then his favorite, a time for action. A time for action was in his mind when he could let go of his reluctance to let his emotions loose. Self control was what his father had taught and seeing this mountain of man in action made everyone around understand why. But this day there was no father reminding him of self control, no tender and kind hearted wife beseeching not to harm anyone, or even a conscience that would dissuade him carrying out his mission.

The largest of them flew unceremoniously through the front door landing with a profound thud in dust before the house, then tumbling brutally down the rock strewn hill. Before the other two could rouse from their sleep Aaron landed squarely on the cot that held them crashing it to the floor. Dropping his right elbow to the back of the heavier of the two he drove the air with an audible hiss from the fat man’s body. Quickly reaching with his free right hand and snatching a handful of black locks and pulling backwards he lifted the other victim up from the broken bed. Now standing he grasped the back of the man’s waistcloth and carried him as a sack of grain to the door. With all his strength he tossed the surprised victim face first on the path of his previous prey. The ensuing screams from gravel and stones scrapping across an exposed face and chest affirmed the excruciating pain he was experiencing. Waiting a second too long to enjoy the misfortune of his perceived enemies Aaron’s back arched under the impact of the third vagrant. Driving his shoulder into the small of his back the third party attempted to drive Aaron on the path of the previous two. However, he underestimated the potency and swiftness of his opponent. Upon impact Aaron spun to his left dropping a thunderous left elbow to the back of his quarry’s neck. With a resounding thud his unconscious foe dropped face first into the dust of the threshold. Aaron, breathing deeply, quickly regained his balance and prepared for the certain attack from the recovering duo. However when he looked up he saw only two still bodies lying in the dirt.

While the three were recovering from their beating Aaron quickly began to toss the few personal effects from the house. The few stools and the frame of bedding landed with a crack on the bare ground shattering with each strike. Finally when the last clay pot had been smashed on the slowly rising bodies Aaron stood tall on in the doorway and announced, “Friends, I would ask that you no longer stay at my home uninvited. My family will be moved in today and we are not expecting any visitors.”

As they rose from the dust, cut and bleeding, the tallest of the three spoke through a gashed lip dripping blood. “You don’t know who you are dealing with.”

“You are most perceptive. On top of that men who take another man’s home without request are not on my list of people to know, let alone deal with.”

“Our master will take care of you and we’ll be glad to be their when he does.”

Aaron, with a great air of confidence replied, “It is clear that without a master the three of you would not be able to function. Please tell a man who would put a yoke around your three necks that I will gladly receive him in my home when my wife and I have settled in. I will inform him of a proper time to call.”

As he stood watching them trudge down the hill to the crowded road below a still small voice taunted his mind with the thought that his actions had been too rash and that there would be more to this matter. Many of the local people who recognized these men as regional bullies silently stared at them as stumbled away. When the trio passed there was a wave of smiles and laughter that burst forth from the crowd at the brigands misfortune. But as the travelers looked up at Aaron their eyes were full of sadness at what they felt would befall this young man and his family.

As satisfied as Aaron was with the little home was Ruth’s disappointment. This dump was not what she had in mind when they moved so far from home. Though Araon had removed any vestigates of the former occupants, had cleaned every part of the square living space and had even repaired all the things broken in the fracus it was not enough. Ruth’s discontent was clear. As he, like someone selling a home, was pointing out the benefits of such a fine home all she could so was stare at the barren landscape and wonder why had her husband brought her to this place from their beautiful mountain home. The moment seemed to overwhelm her. No family, no work, no friends, no neighbors she could see, only debris, dirt, dust and a dump of a home. As Aaron droned on in the background her knees sank just as her heart and she fell to the ground sobbing about their misfortune. He quickly scooped her up assuming her to have fainted from a combination of the heat and her joy for their new home. His assumption was quickly proved wrong as she buried her head in his enormous chest and cried as if someone had died. Even for Aaron it was clear that this was not the blissful day he anticipated.

Since none of the furniture had arrived he had taken the garments and bundles he had carried and placed them corner. He laid her softly on the softened palette and stroked her hair tenderly. She was so beautiful like the flowers that bloomed in his father’s garden. Yet she was also fragile like the fine pieces of pottery his father had brought his mother from his travels. Aaron had known all along that the property was not what it should be or could be, but his imagination had clouded his true vision and all he could see was what should be, not what really was. As he sat their holding his weeping wife with his heart and his arms he could only pray that his God would comfort and bring to reality what He had promised. That day before the Rabbi had read and then explained the beginnings of the story of Abram from the Beginnings. How the Lord said to Abram, “Get out of you country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” From the moment he heard these words that he had memorized so many years ago as a small boy seemed like the confirmation of the prayers he had prayed for his family. Now with a lamenting wife, a crude hovel of a home, enemies already made, and little prospect of improvement, he was not so sure, but he was determined to make the dream come true. As he would subsequently find “making” a dream come true and receiving a promise would be two entirely different things.

Remembering Callie Drummonds

2007-05-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

All the great leaders of the faith do not appear on television, write books, or lead huge churches. Many are simple men of great dedication that build the kingdom one soul at a time. Callie Drummonds was such a man. Church history may not record his name prominently, but there are thousands of men and women who as young people gave their life to Christ under his ministry. Callie was a itinerant music evangelist. He held over 800 singing schools across the southeast beginning in the 1930's. The music was wonderful, but the real prize was souls. He and his faithful wife Leora traveled from church to church by faith alone in a small travel trailer sharing the Good News. Countless testimonies will be spoken in heaven of the man who taught us to sing about and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I was only privileged once to meet Callie, but in his 90's the fire was still burning hot for the ministry. His daughter, Freda Herrell, has given us at New Life the best of both her parents. Her mother's love for music through the piano, and her father's love for people through her wonderful heart. Today Callie will be buried in Morristown, TN at the age of 96. Heaven is brighter for the loss of his light in this world.

Novel #1 con't

2007-05-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

It seems much more than five years ago that my family and I pulled our old Chrysler station wagon into the gravel parking area of the picture perfect country church. Perched on a small hill the quaint white clapboard structure was shaded by a canopy of large pin oaks. The small brick veneered sign with old English letters was hard to read in the bright sunlight. When your eyes were adjusted you made out the worn letters, Oak Hill Baptist Church, Mount Hope, NC. The sign had been built about thirty years ago and if repainted, it was not recently. Underneath the name of the church in those sliding letters, which always seem to hang in disarray, proclaimed, “WELCOME OUR NEW PASTOR – AARON PRICE.”

I read those words, and Lord forgive me, I was so proud. Not because my name was on the sign, but because a long journey had finally come to an end. It was so hard to imagine that after leaving a career in business and coming to seminary that I was at long last going to get to be pastor. The moment was so satisfying, so justifying and so intimidating. You prepare and prepare for this moment a thousand times, but when it comes it’s almost too much, almost. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Today would be my first sermon, my first invitation, and my first impression on the first church I would ever serve.

We, my wife Allison and our son Abel, had just pulled in the gravel parking lot that bordered the church on both sides. As the rocks crunched beneath the tires my heart, which I thought would jump out of my chest earlier on the drive down to the church, began to beat even harder. Because the church had just been renovated I had never preached there. The meetings leading up to my calling were held at a sister church just to our south. But now I was going to actually be speaking in the church I would serve. We were still living on the seminary campus, which left us with an hour and a half drive to reach the church. Just long enough for Abel to be in a deep sleep and have Allison struggling with getting him up. Of course we have arrived an hour early because, “I don’t want to be late. Tardiness is sign of lack of discipline and discipline is the key to service.” I could still here Dr. Hopkins lecture on Hebrews 12.

As I stepped from the car the mugginess of the central North Carolina air struck me with a damp reception. The smell of chicken houses cooking in the sun was unmistakable. Though the heat of the day had not risen to it’s full force, the smell of the houses permeates everything. As I scanned the lawn as it slopped up toward the church building the sun cast a golden glow on the white sidling. It was magnificent I thought, well not really magnificent, but it was beautiful. The blue sky framing the roof made it a picture postcard. The concrete sidewalk behind the pin oaks connected the two gravel lots and led to the Astroturf green carpet that covered the steps. The building was divided into three sections, like an “M” with its base toward the road. The right side of the “M” housed the nine classrooms for Sunday School. The left side of the “M” was a fellowship hall with kitchen. The center was, of course, the sanctuary. I couldn’t wait to get in, get ready, and get to preaching. That’s my calling, that’s my heart, “Preach the Word!”

Allison was now out of the car and staring hard. However, it was not the church building she was seeing. She was looking at the three bedroom white clapboard rancher whose driveway shared the gravel lot on the right of the church. The same type of pin oaks surrounded the house. In fact it was clear that the church and the house were together. I called to her, “Honey, won’t it be great having the parsonage and church side by side. We won’t have far to walk and I’ll never be late.” Almost as I said those words a strange sensation came over me. It was almost like I felt I said something that was quite ignorant. I felt sorry for what I said, and almost even apologized. But, it must have been my nerves. Oh well, let’s get inside and look around.

It never dawned on me until I began to walk up the steps to the front door that it would be locked. I though, “How stupid could you be to not call.” But why admit you ignorance, go ahead and try the door. Thank you Lord, it was open. Little did I know that it was always open. I motioned to Allison and Abel, who was already running around the front lawn oblivious to everyone and everything, to come on in. Oh to be six again. As I stepped up through the door I entered a small narthex. A small chandelier hung from the ten-foot ceiling. I could reach out and touch either sidewall. The area with it’s new green carpet a shade darker than the Astroturf on the steps was thick and soft. There was small table on one side that crammed full of bulletins, mission’s magazines, offering envelopes, witnessing tracts and visitors cards. I wondered how many “visitors” we would have today.

Before me was another set of double doors that led I assumed into the sanctuary. The sun was already heating up the small entrance way. There didn’t seem to be any vent to allow for air circulation. I looked back to Allison and Abel who were now ascending the stairs. I just couldn’t go in without a prayer with my family thanking God for what He had blessed me with. It seemed the right thing to do. “Come on you two, let’s pray and go in.”

“Oh, Dad, do we have to pray now. You take so long and it’s getting hot, Mom, let’s go in.” Abel said with complete confidence in his experience with Dad’s praying.

“Quiet Abel, this is a very important moment for your father and our family. We must pray,” Allison said to my welcome heart.

“Father we thank you so much for this wonderful church. We know it is not the building, it is the people. But this building does represent your great work here at Oak Hill. We thank You for Your kindness to entrust us with the care of this flock and pray we will always serve You and You alone. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

With the closing Amen, Abel pushed open the swinging doors as blast of cool air filled the little room. As the doors swung back and forth with his entrance I could see the pulpit and choir loft directly ahead. As Allison and I step in the sanctuary opened before us. It was green, green, I mean green. The only things that were not green were the white oak pews and the white drop ceiling. The room looked to hold about 120 people if full. The middle aisle of dark green carpet divided the fifteen rows of pews with their pointed ends carved with crosses too fancy for a country church. The pews were covered with a slightly different shade of green fabric. Hymn racks neatly filled with the Baptist Hymnals and pew Bibles. More offering envelopes and visitor’s cards stuffed in holders with small pencils locked in holes on either side. The room smelled of new carpet and paint. A stark contrast to the chicken house aroma we had just left outside.

The Lord’s Supper table, which Abel was now standing in front of, was of the same oak as the pews. Carved across the face of the table in old English, “Do This In Remembrance of Me.” On top of the table colorful silk flowers graced a silver urn. Directly behind and up a few steps was the pulpit. My pulpit. What a sight. My first pulpit. Though stained to match the table and the pews the ornateness and the style of the pulpit indicated it had preceded the rest. Behind the pulpit was the choir loft with organ on right and piano on left. Seats for twenty were nestled in alcove illuminated by faded stain glass windows. In fact as the full sanctuary came into to view the same style of windows lined the side with the names of families painted in the appropriate areas on the milky glass. Everything was old and yet everything was new.

At first I could not locate the baptismal, which is usually directly behind the choir. If not there then where? The only answer could be the green curtain to the left of the choir loft. It could have housed the speakers for the organ, but upon closer inspection it was indeed a curtain hiding the baptismal area. To the left of the choir loft were the “demon boards” as Dr. Caldwell referred to them in class. They wooden grooved boards that announced the daily attendance, total enrollment, daily offering, and building fund offering for each Sunday. Dr. Caldwell seemed to think that they were sent by Satan and often quoted the verses of Satan tempting David to number the people. Yet to me they were the most telling thing in the room. Last Sunday’s attendance was 49 with a total enrollment of 132. Offering was $642 and building fund was $22,459. Then it dawned on me this was the first time they had met in the recently renovated church. No telling when those figures were displayed.

Abel and Allison had turned left to the fellowship hall so I followed after them. To my surprise there were little alcove rooms to the right and the left of the front of the church. These were overflow rooms with accordion curtains that could be pulled to make them classrooms. Shorter pews, which matched the ones in the sanctuary, were lined up facing the pulpit. Stepping down through a door that was shorter than my 6’4” frame I reminded myself that you one day in the dark you would hit your head if you don’t always remember to duck. Once in the fellowship hall it was clear that green was the color of choice. Dark green carpet, pale green walls and flowered green and white curtains graced the tall windows. The ceiling was high with suspended lights, but the sunshine through the windows gave great illumination to the room. At one end was an old upright piano and rough-hewn pews that were obviously from the original church building, built in the late 1800’s. At the opposite end was large serving window open to the kitchen. A small door in the wall beside the kitchen led to the outside. Abel found this room more to his liking. He was running from one end to the other to the chorus of his mothers, “We don’t run in church.”

As I duck leaving the fellowship hall I am thinking why would someone make a door so small. But then I realize the fellowship hall at one time must have been a separate building and that during the renovation the alcove was added to join the sanctuary and the hall. When I looked at the door from the fellowship hall side it was normal size the problem was the step up in the doorway that brought you to the level of the sanctuary. I made a mental note that we might want to change that arrangement.

Traversing the sanctuary I entered the door that led to what I assumed would be a hallway to the educational wing. As I opened the door my eyes were blinded with contrast. Not green, but orange. Orange shag carpet down a long very narrow hallway with walls covered in extremely dark brown paneling. The drop ceiling, barely seven and half feet high gave the impression that the lights were not as high as my head. Directly in front of me was the Sunday School office with a bookshelf, table, chair and telephone. The next room must be the library with some shelves, a few books, and some memorabilia that I would look at later. As I passed each paneled room I could see through the windows that the gravel road went all the way around the building. Each room had the obligatory Sunday School posters placed in various positions on the walls. The fact there were small chairs in one room, large in the next was the only way to tell adult classes from children. Each room though somewhat different was amazingly the same.

When I reached the end of the hallway between the center leg and right leg of the “M” the door led to the outside. As I opened it the blast of hot air came in along with the smell of chickens. Chickens as I was to learn during my stay were the mainstay of the county and the people. Being from the city I had no idea what was in those 450’ long aluminum walled and roofed houses. The lights were always on and yet there was never anyone around them. One night after a meeting with the pulpit committee Allison and I parked near one of the chicken houses. When we were sure no one was around we slipped up and looked in the window. I was expecting cows or something big. Well it was big, but not in size. There were 25,000 chickens eating and drinking in a mess of manure. The smell was enough to kill you, and couldn’t image what they were going to do with that many chickens. We felt so stupid for having to look in, because if you thought about it you had smelled it all along.

As I turned to the right from closing the door to the outside I could see a stairway going up and one going down. The right wing of the church was two stories. Classrooms upstairs and down. All the rooms are equally dark from the paneling and with floors covered in orange shag carpet. The downstairs classrooms smelled damp and musty. There are several bottles and plastic containers of air fresheners that decorated the windowsills. The smell is mild compared to the chickens, but nonetheless would not be something I would want anyone to spend time in. It seems hard to imagine anyone meets in these rooms now. I make mental note number two to question the building and grounds people or whomever is in charge of this sort of thing. As I turn to investigate the last room a voice from the hall above, “Preacher, Preacher where are you?”

Getting Started - Novel #1

2007-05-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

For a number of years I have started novels and never finished them. I have always wanted to write, but seemed to lack the perseverance to continue. So I am going to ask anyone who reads this blog to help me. For the next few days I am going to publish excepts from the novels and books I have started. Based upon the comments of those who read I will determine which book to continue and hopefully finish. Thank you for your comments in advance.

Novel #1

The rain on the window seemed to match the rain in my heart. As the drops would hit the panes it would run first one direction then another, winding aimlessly down the glass only to rest in a pool on the sill. So it was with the rain in my heart. First it would run toward anger, then toward despair, then toward vengeance, and back to gloom, ultimately pooling in the bottom of his heart in a pool of self pity.

It had fallen from the ragged mailbox onto the dirt worn by the postman’s car before I could catch it. The envelope was stained and bent as if someone had tried to mail it many times. The stamp was from a few rate hikes ago and had three one-cent stamps added to make the postage. No return address could be seen and the writing was almost illegible. But it had all that was necessary: Pastor, Oak Hill Baptist, Mount Hope, NC 27312. Harry Roberts the rural postman could handle the rest. I wondered what all he had seen sent through the mail in his career. It was probably best that I didn’t know.

When you get a bill you know is coming you trudge slowly to the mailbox and grateful when it’s not in there you jog back to the house. It doesn’t change the fact you owe the bill, but at least you don’t have to deal with it today. However today it was slowly that I walked back to the house holding the letter up to the sun to see what was inside. There was just something about this letter that made it ominous. Maybe it was the heaviness of the hand that wrote it or maybe it was the heaviness of the heart that sent it, but either way I sensed that its contents were about to make my day.

Allison and Abel were off to town and I was alone it my study now. The rain had started to fall outside and in my heart as I opened the contents. As I unfolded the crisp white sheet that was inside the dirty envelope a small card dropped from inside the folds. It was like the cards that announced the graduation of someone from high school. Scribbled in the same hand as the envelope was the number 888-237-4135 or was the last number a six. Either way there was not anything else on the card other than the smudge of the ink from someone’s finger.

The note began:
Preacher,
It’s time for you to leave. I didn’t want it to come to this. But now it is time for you to take your family and leave. Your secret is safe with me as long as you leave. It’s for the good of the church family and the community. You know I'm telling you the truth because I was there that day.

I looked back out the window as the rain continued to pour and I knew the letter was right, it was time to leave or time to prepare for the suffering. Peter said, “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.” The question would have to be was I suffering unjustly or just receiving the consequences of my sin.

The creak of the old chair matched the breaking of my heart. Every pastor has horror stories of ministry gone bad; deacons throwing the pastor out and pastors throwing the deacons out. Wrongs done and wrongs incurred, but now it was me. I can hear Allison and Abel pull into the carport. The letter and contents go into the drawer. The pastoral smile goes on and the matter is to be forgotten for the moment. But that moment would be so fleeting.

How could it have all gone so badly, so quickly? It seemed like it had been only a short time ago that everything was right with the world, the sun was shining and the prospects so great. But now all I could see was the rain, coming harder now against the window, seemed to be the best thing that could happen to me. Help seems only an illusion, and fear grips my soul. What went wrong? It had started so well, but then doesn’t it always?

Paris in the Spring

2007-05-01T05:14:00.000-07:00

My GRANDson beat me to Napoleon's tomb in Paris. Amanda, Charles and Charles Anthony spent the weekend in Paris seeing the sights with his twin brother, Richard and his wife. Richard is an officer in the Army also and serves in Iraq. How wonderful for them to have this time together and to see Paris in the spring. I am grateful to the Lord for allowing them these wonderful opportunities while serving their country. They really enjoyed their time there.

With revival ending it would seem there would be a let down, but the Lord had much more in mind. We had a charity basketball game for Frontline Youth Ministry our youth program at New Life. It pitted the elders against the youth. The youth won in convincing fashion, much to the joy of the 150 there watching. David Wilkerson had the idea and led the work to get it accomplished. When pictures are available I'll include them, but they must be edited for content. The elders playing basketball is anything but pretty.

Our Men's Leadership League is winding down for the summer. But our meetings this week will focus on collaboration, or as Stephen Covey calls it "synergy." The spirit of this effort is a real key to the success of ministry at New Life. Each person feeling free to contribute to the whole. Just like with David leading the charity basketball game. That freedom to contribute is so important in doing the work of the Lord. The most important aspect of the discussion this week centered on the benefit of the "third alternative." So many times we have my side and your side, but the third alternative is "our" side. I am so thankful that with the Lord's leadership consensus leads to "our" side, it can produce the true Win/Win situation. Thanks be to the Lord for His kindness as we continue our life on the vine.

The Simple Church

2007-04-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

Recently I had the pleasure of reading Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger's new book "Simple Church." This is a wonderful report of their research on the quality of discipleship in the church today. If you are a pastor you are caught in the very first story of the book. Obviously the writers know pastors and use it effectively to catch our attention. Guilty, guilty, guilty I said as I read the first chapter. And truly the discipleship process of the church ought to be easier and simpler than it is now. The logic of the material and the illustrations are excellent. By the time you finish you really want a Simple Church. In fact the logic of their argument for the Simple Church is the most compelling of all the aspects of the book. It almost seems so simple, why wouldn't everyone do it.

However after you finish is where the trouble begins. It sounds right, it fits together, it seems simple, but it isn't what you see in the church and it isn't how people who are in churches become disciples. Many things are logical and make sense, but people don't do them. When I was in college the school wanted to put in sidewalks connecting the campus' buildings. A design was posted logically connecting the buildings together. It met all the architectural criteria. The field was graded out, but instead of putting in the sidewalks the administration left it clear. Over time the students walked to and from classes in an ever clear design. This design did not match at all the architects proposal. It reflected how the students wanted to walk. Ultimately the sidewalks were put in where the paths were created and the grass was never in danger of being walked upon. So it is with people in a church. Though a simple process may make sense and be logical, it is not how people grow in Christ.

The book is really worth the read, and challenging in his observations and proposals, but the flaw is in the method. Knowing pastors you would think they would have avoided proof texting. Proof texting is the habit of pastors who get the topic or idea they want to preach on and go to the Bible and find a text that "fits." Unfortunately that usually results in using a text out of context. The Design Process that Eric Geiger developed is the questionnaire that is the basis for the book. The assumption is that the Design Process is an accurate indicator of how discipleship is to be accomplished. Then churches are surveyed and if they match the criteria then they are successful simple churches. It helps of course that they are what the world today would say is a successful church. It says when I find a church that can answer the Design Process correctly then they are a successful discipling church. You can take get the results of the Design Survey for your church for $10.00 at www.ericgeiger.com.

I do recommend the book to you to read. It is very thought provoking. It leads you to analyze your method of discipleship. It offers a very clear simple process for you to consider in designing the process of discipleship where you are. The only concern I have is that organizations are always interested quantifying and qualifying everything we do in ministry to make us feel better about what we do in ministry. But in reality it is absolutely impossible to measure ministry, or design a box that every believer fits into.

A Relaxing Day

2007-04-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

From the fires of revival to the coolness of the breeze on the porch, such is Life on the Vine. It was wonderful today to spend some time with Connie and sit on the porch and read. I have several books I'm working on; quite eccletic. George Elton Ladd, "The Gospel of the Kingdom", Henry Cloud and John Townsend, "God Will Make a Way", Jack Deere, "Surprised by the Spirit", and Dean Koontz, "The Watchers". Ladd challenges me to understand the Kingdom and the Church, Cloud helps me greatly to remind me to always start with and journey with God, Deere stretches me to study the entire Word of God and Koontz entertains me with the character of Enstein, everyone should have an Einstein.

Thoughts of Revival

2007-04-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

It is often said that all good things must come to end. I am so glad that this is not true with Christ and His kingdom. The joy just continues. Last night was a monumental night with the Lord. Everything was right and full, so full you couldn't take it in at one time. So many times in the modern church "Revival" is really a series of special meetings, but at New Life it was so much more. The Lord really tabernacled with His people in praise and worship and then delivered through His servant powerful words of blessing and conviction. The response of God's people was overwhelming, making you wish the night would not end.

I want to give very special thanks to the Lord for sending and empowering Scott Camp and Victor Thompson to be with us this week. These two men yielded themselves to Christ and gave themselves to us all week. The wisdom they poured into me alone was more valuable that I can express. In a service a few weeks ago we talked about memorials and memories. Memorials are for others to see and remember what happened. They are only in one place and have to be seen to have effect. That is what this article is about. But memories are personal encounter with the divine that are with us forever. They remain with us as the great cloud of witnesses of what God has done in his people. I am thankful that this week will remain a memorial to all who read about the events, but I am more deeply grateful that it will be a memory in my life of an encounter with the divine.

My GRANDson

2007-04-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Being a grandfather is the greatest joy a man can have. My GRANDson Charles Anthony brings the greatest pleasure in my life. Here he is on Easter with his wonder dog Magnum. I certainly miss holding him and wish they were here. His father, First Lt. Charles Telesco serves in Germany. I am very proud of his service and very proud of our GRANDson Charles. Our daughter, Amanda, has done a wonderful job raising our little boy. The Lord has been so good to Connie and me by giving us such a special gifts.

REVIVAL CONTINUES
Last night was again a wonderful evening full of praise and powerful preaching. Scott Camp delivered the best sermon on "What it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit." I would recommend everyone get a copy of that sermon and use it as a guide for their lives. The most lasting image I have of the evening which included baptism, prayer and praise, was a father on his knees praying with his two boys. Oh, that we would continue seek God for a powerful movement of His Spirit.

Revival Continues

2007-04-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

It has been overwhelming how the Lord is blessing. It seems that the worship has placed us in close communion with our Lord. The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people. Well I have found it true this week. Many times we think of worship as singing music, but it is so much more. The foundation of this Revival has been laid in Christ Jesus through intimate and spontaneous praise. Last night the worship filled our hearts for the message that God had and the results were wonderful. A particular special moment for me was a young girl that had been on my heart gave her life to Christ. Outstanding! Then during the prayer time I had the opportunity to anoint with oil and pray for a man who has been more gracious to me than I could ever imagine. It was such an honor. Please continue to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to continue.

Revival Begins

2007-04-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Revival time at New Life is always an adventure. It never goes like you think and thank the Lord it doesn't. We have learned to expect the Lord to do whatever He wants and we will enjoy it. This year our guests are Evangelist Scott Camp (pictured here) and Worship Leader Victor Thompson. Scott pastors Fellowship of Joy in Mansfield, Texas. Victor is a dynamic worship leader who also pastors in Texas. Because we are a multiple sited church Scott will began Revival at our Mt. View site while Victor started at our Conover site. Then on Sunday night the services and both leaders transfer to our Conover site for the rest of our time. We thank the Lord for powerful movement of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Lord during all the services. Worship was very powerful Sunday night and a great freedom to praise the Lord was present. The greatest impact made on me last night was the conviction of my unwillingness to weep for the souls of men, women, boys, and girls. I have found myself in recent years being more concerned for the work of the ministry than for the lost of the world for which my Lord died. How sad, and how easy this happened. The insight I felt in the service last night was "expectation. " Expectation that the Lord wants to do a tremendous work in the life of people and the life of the church in the coming week. If you read this please pray that the Lord will have His way this week.

Read a Book

2007-02-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

Dean Koontz said in Brother Odd, "Yesterday once was tomorrow." That phrase has stuck in my mind for some time now. I roll it over and over again. At times it is encouraging and times it is discouraging. Just as Dickens said in Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the the worst of times."

At times I think of Koontz's statement and it discourages me. Time has passed and I have missed the opportunities to serve. It reminds me that time rushes by and all that could have been has been lost and will not be regained. It is like the road you travel home so often that you don't even remember the drive home. I used to travel from seminary to home across Jordan Lake, the sun was always in my eyes and I'm sure I slept as I drove because the next thing I realized I was home. The drive was over, I was home, but I missed everything I could have seen or done.

At other times I hear, "Yesterday once was tomorrow," and I am encouraged that the dread I had of a day or actions I had to take that day were met and overcome. Here I am today, alive and well, when I was sure the events of the tomorrow I dreaded would would have destroyed me or the ministry. I have survived and in many cases thrived only one day after the tomorrow I feared so much. The power of the written word is so amazing. It provokes emotion, reflection and insight. My encouragement today, read a book. You never know what you might find.

A Wonderful Gift

2007-02-19T07:22:00.000-08:00

Anyone who is a pastor knows the frustration of Mondays. Blue Monday is to ministry what a post-part-um is to new mother. You wish that you had never become a pastor, you wish you were anywhere else, and you feel badly that you feel badly. Every pastor quits on Monday and signs up again on Tuesday. It probably stems from the Elijah syndrome; a great victory over the prophets of Baal, a victory lamp, then depression in a cave. This Monday started no different than the many others. The hot water heater burst in the adjacent room and flooded one of the offices. All the furniture had to be moved out, a cleaning service had to dry up the water, a dehumidifier will hum all day, the stench of wet carpet hangs in the air like the basement of a old house. It could have been another blue Monday, but not this Monday. After many months of not having a church secretary, today we have one. Vicki Burch comes today to serve at New Life. As a staff it is a great victory and we are looking forward to a wonderful time. Thank you Lord of a better "Blue Monday."

A Day In History

2007-02-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

If you ever go to Germany take time to visit Rothenburg. This fourteenth century city, completely surrounded by stone walls and towers is quite a sight. Our day was busy taking in all the sites. It was hard to imagine how many years these towers had watched over the city and how little had changed. Picturesque and quiet, Rothenburg was such a delightful place to spend the day. Let me encourage you to stay in one of he delightful hotels and spend at least two days in this wonderful city.

Approaching the city you cross the moat that forms the boundary of the town. The walls rise up of fitted stones and arrow slits that you could envision reigning arrows down on you as you approach. The narrow passage the tower allows one car at a time. The heavy wood doors hung on iron hinges could be closed in a moment making the city impregnable. What an awesome task it would be to attempt to siege a city like this.

The central square is quite impressive. The Rathhaus dominates the scene along with the cathedral. All around are amazing shops, restaurants and bakeries. It is here that you really feel yourself inside a Medieval city. The senses tell you this is something really special. The movie "Timeline" by Michael Crichton really comes to mind as you stand there seeing the world as it was.

If you go south through the city you come to one of Germany's most photographed spots the twin towers of Rothenburg. The one on the left leads to the lower part of the city. The one on the right leads out of the city down to the river and bridge. During the tourist season they say you can't hardly stand in this area for picture taking. It is a very impressive scene.

As you leave the city the giant towers and stone walls beckon you to return. I think it would be hard to only come once. Shops and bakeries abound so bring plenty of euros, you will want to spend them well. Overall I would have to say this was the most enjoyable place I have been in Europe.

A Trip France

2007-01-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

One of the most enjoyable things in my Life on the Vine is travel. Possibly because my parents loved it, or maybe because of the adventure of it I love to travel. Over the past two months Connie has been in Germany with our daughter and GRANDson. Amanda had torn her rotator cuff and could not handle the big boy. So Connie went over to help. As a result I couldn't stand it anymore so I went over for a few days after Christmas. I am so thankful for an understanding church. It was a great trip so I thought I might share a few portions with you.

Our first day trip was to Starsbourg, France. This fascinating city is built on an island in the middle of the Ill River, a tributary of the Rhine. It was a cold day, overcast and spitting rain. But the excitement of the trip made it wonderful. About a two hour drive from Stuttgart was made in an hour and forty minutes because of the speed of the Autobahn. A little fast for me, but it gets you there quickly. Crossing the Rhine into France you come to the very large city of Strasbourg. It surrounds the old city on the island. There are a number of bridges to choose from to cross to the central city. We parked in underground parking right in the middle of town. As we emerged from the depths we arrived in Guttenberg Square. You guessed it a statue of the great man graces the square. However little Charles thought the carousel was far more interesting.

We turned east and headed for Notre Dame Cathedral. When you come around the corner and are faced with this massive building you are completely overwhelmed. The sheer size of the structure just dwarfs everything around it. Progressing to the square we continued to be amazed at the dominance the church had on the landscape. Built over a 300 year period it looked every bit the model for all European cathedrals.

The girls felt like they needed to see the interior of this great church. The entrance appeared to be in the side tower. At a cost of about $3 a person you could go in. I asked if they wanted to pay that much to walk in a church and reminded them it was 336 steps. But Connie and Amanda insisted that's what we came for, "Why wouldn't we want to go in." Unfortunately they misunderstood and the fee was to climb 336 steps to the top (174 meters, about 550 feet in the air). About the second turn on the stairs going up was when it dawned on them.

Follow the pictures for the story . . .

Yes Chubby was ready to do it again, but not Nana.

The really great irony of this walk was that it was free to walk in the front door and see the interior of the cathedral. It was very big and very cold, both physically and spiritually. They had beautiful stained glass windows, an ornate pulpit, a great pipe organ, an astronomical clock with automated figures, a manger scene with an elephant, but no spirit. It was like looking at an ornate grave. Powerful pictures, but no life.

So the Chubby Monkey said, "Com'on Nana" I'll walk with you. Hey you got any chocolate?"

Our final stop was the quaint portion of the city called "Petitte France." The shops and restaurants are beautiful. You can take a tour of the city by boat which passes around the city. There are small bridges that it looks like the boats will never pass, but of course they do. It was a wonderful day to spend with the family. There is much more to see that we shared here, but hopefully it will whet your appetite to travel more.

On to Rothenberg on our next blog.

A Great Book

2007-01-15T06:18:00.000-08:00

One of the things I enjoy most is reading. Reading for me is can be more essential than enjoyable at times, but not in the case of Dallas Willard. I was introduced to Dr. Willard, professor of philosophy at USC, through an Internet article on kingdom theologians. The first book I read of his and now recommend to you is The Divine Conspiracy. It is a wonderful commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. However its intent is not to be a commentary, but a challenge to discipleship. The book restores the joy of the Christian life, not sin management and sweet by and by that is so often characteristic of many preachers. I found the book very thought provoking especially in the area of building your own kingdom and the kingdom of heaven. It has been a great blessing to me and I hope it will be for you also.

Miracle

2007-01-14T02:57:00.000-08:00

Everyday we are associated with miracles. Some come in small packages which easily go unnoticed, but others of significant sizes that they are hard to ignore. However we are somehow capable of explaining away, rationalizing, and just plain forgetting these powerful events God places in our lives. Such an event occurred at New Life on December 31, 2006. The leadership of the church had, in an effort to encourage members to give toward the Vision of the church, given to each person coming on Sunday, December 3rd, $10 to invest in anyway their desired. The harvest of that investment would come at 3 times over the next six months. The first of the harvest days was December 31st. A series of sermons had been presented over four weeks on accountability which included a message from Matthew 25:24-30 concerning the investment of talents. That message coincided with about $3,200 given out to the congregation. On December 31st the resulting offering from those funds was $142,280. Yes from $3,200 given to the congregation along with instructions from God's word, the result was $142,280. Hard to imagine isn't it? Right now you are trying to explain it away, rationalize it, or maybe even forget it as impossible. But it happened, a miracle of God.

Now lest you think God isn't working in other things. During the singing of "You're All I Need" during the service on January 7, 2007 a lady in the church experienced healing. "The pain melted from my arm and shoulder - I can now apply pressure to the joint without pain." She had suffered with the pain for over a year.

We serve a great God who performs miracles everyday. We must be aware of them and rejoice. Thank you Lord for the kindness you show us in our Life on the Vine.

Contentment

2007-01-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

Just recently the Lord has led me to form a Men's Leadership League for the church. The League's purpose is to encouage and train men for leadership in their families, their work, their communities and their church. Currently we have 24 men enrolled and I have to tell you it has been wonderful. The fellowship and growth have been fantastic. For me personally I have enjoyed every class every day. We have four classes of six men each. We are studying the Book of Nehemiah as our text and it has been a tremendous challenge.

Stephen Covey's principle of beginning with the end in mind has really challenged us to begin to compose our life purpose statements. This tool is invaluable in making life decisions and guiding our families during the coming years.

One passage that has meant so much to me has been I Timothy 6:6. I never realized how much it applied to what we are currently studying. I had taught in on numerous ocassions as God's formula for success. "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment." However as I have studied it this time the Lord has allowed me to see a marvelous relationship for leadership.

Timothy's Triangle demonstrates for us a great principle. Each of these three items is defined by the other two. For example "Great Gain" is defined by "Godliness" and "Contentment." "Contentment" is defined by "Great Gain" and "Godliness" and so on. What does that mean to us? Everything in dealing with a life purpose statement.

So let's ask ourselves then what is contentment. Contentment occurs in man's life when he leads a godly life that results in fulfilling his God given purpose in life. Godliness occurs when a man is content and fulfills his God given purpose in life. A man's God given purpose in life is fulfilled when he lives a godly life and is content.

Contentment is the key. I find very few men today who live contented lives. For the most it is a settled for life. A life that is pushed about like a pinball in a machine or a rut that goes on forever. If you ask them what they would do if they could do anything they want they reply immediately with a long list of "any other thing but this." Why? The lack of contentment. The "rest" that Christ offers seems very illusive today. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Contentment is not dependent on things or successes. It is dependent on walking in godliness and fulfiling your God given purpose. Contentment is not something that will happen it is something that happens now. It is not for the sweet by and by, but the here and now. By developing with the leadership of the Holy Spirit a life purpose statement and commiting yourself to walk in obedience you begin a life of contentment. It is certainly my desire that all of our men are able to have a life of contentment that God intended.

Back in the Saddle

2007-01-07T02:37:00.000-08:00

The new year brings a remarkable number of resolutions that normally fail miserably. But this year I sense that there are new possibilities for success. So this year I am back in the saddle and ready to write some more. Please pray for me that I will be faithful to record what God is doing in Life on the Vine.

Prayer at Caraway

2006-08-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Twice every year the Lord blesses me with a great time of fellowship with an old friend, Chris. Chris and I attended seminary together and have been good friends ever since. His role in ministry is Prayer Evangelism for the state convention. Twice each year he invites leaders who have a deep interest in developing a strategy for our state to pray Kingdom prayers for revival and spiritual awakening to come to Caraway. I am deeply honored to be included with such strong prayer warriors from across North Carolina. During our time we have developing this strategy based upon John 17 and Matthew 6 for churches across the state to encourage Kingdom praying. I thought it would be good to share with you Kingdom Praying from the King's point of view.
John 17 includes six prayers that Christ requests of His Father for His Kingdom. Knowing these requests makes our praying far more effective. The first of the six is for His glory. Jesus requests that the Father glorify Him. The second request is that we, His citizens of His kingdom, would be one in the doing of our work in His name. Then He asks His Father that we be left in the world, but protected from the evil one. Number four is that we be sanctified by His word. Then He requests that be perfected in unity of His love. And the final request is that we are with Him forever and see Him in all His glory.
How then does this affect our praying. First when we pray for His glory we pray for our suffering. When we pray to serve as one in His name we pray for His will, not ours. When we pray that we remain in the world we actually need to be in the world, not in the church and that we be ready for the spiritual attack to come. When we pray that we be sanctified we really need to be ready to be made holy through His chastisement. When we pray that we are to be perfected in unity we must be willing to love one another unconditionally. And finally when we pray to be with Him, we need to understand it is available to those who overcome.
In other words it is an expensive prayer. The church needs to be willing to pray and pay the price for His kingdom to go forward. The question is to those on the Vine, are we paying the price for the kingdom?

The Ninth of Av

2006-08-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

Imagine the worst day in your life. I can certainly remember some. When that date approaches again, even though you are not superstitious, the thought can seem, will it happen again. We often say in the ministry funerals always come in threes, and sure enough, history seems to bear it out. But what if you were a nation? The worst date in the history of the United States, for example Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Who doesn't pause on that day and think could that ever happen again? It gets ingrained in our psyche and makes that day instantaneous remembered in infamy.

Now what if the two worst days in the history of a nation were on the same date? A nation, whose history spans thousands of years, but with two days that will be remembered forever in infamy. Today is the ninth of Av in Israel. On this very day in 586BC the first temple was destroyed and the Babylonian captivity began, then in 70AD the second temple was destroyed by the Romans. There have only been two temples of worship in Jerusalem and both were destroyed on the same date 656 years apart. You could see why on this date Israel might be a bit distracted considering the situation they are in today. Psalm 122 is an excellent prayer today for Israel. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Psalm 122:6

On Being a Grandad

2006-08-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

Yes it is true, I'm sure your amazed, probably thinking he's not old enough to be a Grandad, but I am. I am unashamedly the Grandfather of the most wonderful little boy that God ever graced the earth with. Our Son-in-law Charles and our Daughter Amanda, have blessed us with Charles Anthony. I spoil him as much as possible, hold him whenever I can, and take him with me wherever he wants to go. He's like chocolate, you just can't get enough, until he is ready for bed, then only Momma will do. Unfortunately he has a speech impediment, everytime he tries to say Grandad, he says Nana. Obviously my wife has been working with him when I am not around. I know you are saying to yourself how did he ever get into a Miami Heat uniform instead of a Laker. Well it is in honor of Shaq winning the World Championship, and Shaq will always be a Laker. There is no intent on my part to encourage my GRANDson to become a basketball player. Far be it from me do such a thing. The other three uniforms, the basketballs, the sports shoes are all just to make him feel comfortable as we await the season.

We are so proud of our son-in-law Charles as he serves as a First Lieutenant in the U. S. Army. He leads a great platoon in defense of freedom right now. It is hard for us to be apart from him, but it is his calling. He serves with honor and courage to bring freedom to a people who have never known freedom. We covet your prayers for he and his men as they serve. His wife, Amanda, is staying with us during his deployment time which makes us very happy and brings us back to the Charles Anthony.
I am sure that Charles Anthony is what the Lord meant when he said that children are a gift of the Lord. Nothing is quite like having a grandchild. You love your children with all your heart and you want to instruct them in every aspect of life, make sure they grow up godly and have a great life. But with grandbabies all you want to do is keep them safe and make them happy. Whatever they want, you want to provide. Their happiness is you main objective. So with great confidence I will endeavor to spoil him rotten so that when he hears Granddaddy's voice he will know something good is coming.

Other Branches

2006-08-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

It is a great joy to live on the Vine. There are wonderful moments you see the Lord working in your life and equally wonderful when you see other branches that are enjoying the Lord working in their lives. It is easy however to begin to think that your branch is more important than other branches, or that in your branch resides all the wisdom of God's word. In other words it can become pretty easy to think that all branches should think like you do, act like you do, relate like you do to the Lord and if not, well, maybe they aren't branches at all. We can come to the conclusion that if folks are not relating to the Lord the way we do, then maybe they are not of the Lord.
Fortunately the disciples encountered the same thing. The story is shared in Mark 9:38-40 and in Luke 9:49-50. Jesus' disciples approach Him with a dilemma. Someone else, who was not a personal disciple of Jesus was invoking His name and casting out demons. Obviously this was a big problem, other branches using the Lord's authority were performing ministry, but not following along with His disciples. They weren't one of them. Therefore they attempted to stop these obviously counterfeit followers of Christ from doing this ministry. But what did Jesus say, "Well done good and faithful servants." Not exactly. He said , "Do not hinder them, for he who is not against you is for you." In Mark He elaborates by saying, "For there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able afterward to speak evil of Me."
So what do we do when we see branches performing ministry but they do not follow what we think is true? Is our job to correct them? Is our job to make sure everyone knows they are not doing it right? Can we disagree and still be fellow branches? These are tough questions. I'm afraid that many times we can be more interested in getting other branches right than we are in bearing fruit.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

2006-07-31T08:22:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't be nice if when you lived on the Vine every question was clearly yes or no, right or wrong, black or white? It's the grey areas that really get you. Those decisions that are almost one or the other, but not quite. The question before me today deals with human beings and it is never one or the other. It is one of those decisions that doesn't fall into either camp and yet a call has to made. I am envious of baseball umpires who never change their mind. Once the decision has been made it is what happened regardless of video replays, arguments of managers, or sportswriters who always know better. Tomorrow in the box score in the newspaper it will appear as either an out or not according to what the umpire called and history will score it that way forever. It is now real truth for all who will come after and whether it is a good call or bad call it is "the call." Or what about a defensive back who has just gotten burned for two touchdowns and continues to come up and taunt the receiver with words like "not this time," or "you're mine now." It is like bad decisions mean nothing to these men, so don't sweat it. But for me it doesn't ever seem that easy.
"I have no problems with decisions", says our church financial secretary, "it's the consequences that I can't live with." Well bottomline it is the consequences isn't it. We can and do make thousands of decisions each day, but its the consequences that drive us crazy. When I say a decision is in a grey area it's because the consequences are not something I want to live with. Tough decisions are not tough decisions, they are tough consequences. So I go back to the decision with the knowledge that many times I am not making a decision, but choosing consequences. Is that better? If I make my decisions based upon consequences is that a proper way to make a decision?
The answer is no. The decision has to made not without consideration of consequences, but without fear of the consequences. Look at Jesus in the garden. The night of his toughest decision. He asks in Matthew 26:39, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." The decision for Jesus was not the consequences, "the cup," it was the will of God. His concern could not be for the consequences though He would love not to have to endure them. His concern had to be for the will of his Father. So for us living on the Vine, we have to make our decisions in concern for the Vinedresser, not the consequences of the will of the Vinedresser.
So then my decisions today must be in light of my willingness to subvert my will and concern for what might happen, to the will of my Master. If my Master is pleased, then the decision is right.

Bring on Football

2006-07-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is the worst time of year for me. Basketball has ended and football hasn't started. Nothing to watch. So bring on football. Of course the Vikings are my team and have been since 1965. We have had some great years and have had some big disappointments, but always a joy to see them play. This past year the church gave me tickets to the Vikings/Panthers game. What a joy it was to see them, even if they did get trounced. Culpeper got hurt, but Brad Johnson, a steady winner came in and brought the team back together for the rest of the year.
Well the Vikings are in a new year, new coach, new owner and with new players. For that reason maybe a .500 season would be great. But the key to it being a great season or not is the condition of Matt Birk. If Matt Birk returns to the Vikings, is solid physically, and ready to play, the Vikings will be a hand full. The key to any NFL is the quality and cohesiveness of the offensive line. With the addition of Hutchison from Seattle and the continued effort of McKinnie, this could be an outstanding offensive line ready to do some great work. The camaraderie and the unity of this portion of the team will dictate the quality of the year. I'm looking forward to it, bring on football.

Saving God the Trouble

2006-07-26T05:14:00.000-07:00

As I am reading the Genesis account of the patriarchs I am appalled by the lack of integrity and morality of these father's of faith. Now this is not to say by any means that my life has been exemplary. But, you would think being father's of the faith their lives would have been presented in a more complementary light. Of course all this took place before the Ten Commandments and the Law, but just imagine what a little morality and integrity would do for these men. The word says that God works all things together for good. Wouldn't it be nice to save God some trouble of fixing the circumstances caused by our sin by behaving well. Ishamel and Isaac, Leah and Rachel, Jacob and Esau, all these events could have been handled easily with just a little morality and integrity. Setting aside the arguments about whether they had any choice in the matter, it comes to me that I could make it a little easier on God by behaving well. Peter says, "For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men." If I do what is right, what is holy, what is just, then the will of God has been done and doesn't require Him undoing what I have done wrong to make it "for good."

Grace and Agreement

2006-07-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

On the vine there are some moments that seem to come about too often. Moments of realization that I have started producing leaves instead of fruit. John 15:8 says, "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." However, fruit bearing is many times not what I want to do. I want to put forth beautiful leaves that make me look very healthy and busy, but are really of no value to the vine or the vinedresser. Leaves are work that I do selfishly. It is when I cease to abide in the vine and start to abide in me. It feels good for a season, but produces nothing pleasing to the One I serve. So then it hits me, you fool, why do you continue do this knowing it is displeasing to your Lord? Following this conviction there is repentance and seeking God's forgiveness. The wonderful thing is that,"If we(I) confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us(me) our(my) sins and to cleanse us(me) from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9) This graciousness is so wonderful because it is totally undeserved and yet is freely given everytime I confess. However, today I realized that He never really accepted my producing leaves instead of fruit. It dawned on me that many times I had interpreted His graciousness as approval. I imagined Him saying, as I would to my children, "Oh, that's OK, don't worry about it." But that is not what He says about my selfishness or my sin. He says, "It's not OK, you need to never do that again, but I will pay the price for it." My fleshliness, sinfulness, and disobedience are never acceptable to God. They are disgusting, evil, presumptuous actions that are a affront to a faithful God. God's graciousness should never be interpreted as His acceptance of our behavior. This is true of dealings with one another. When someone is gracious to us we must not make the assumption that they agree with our conduct. Gracious is an act of grace not necessarily approval.

Is God In Control?

2006-07-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

I received a question today that is very thought provoking. I thought it would be a good point to discuss. Here it is:
Do you believe that God is in control of everything? He gives man free will, but He arranges circumstances and knows the choices that people will make; so He really controls the outcome. He knows the end from the beginning, and works all things for His glory. Therefore, if the Lakers lose, has not God planned it and brought it to pass?
Just the thought of the Lakers losing is difficult image for me to get out of mind. But here is my response:
Is knowing the same as planning it and bringing it to pass? I know that if my son has liver placed before him for a meal, he will not eat it, under any circumstances. I also don't like liver and have made terrible remarks about it all his life. He has never tasted liver in his life and was free to do it at any time. Did I plan it, did I bring it pass, of course not, my son can eat liver anytime he wants. But he won't, and I know that, but I do not control it. God is omniscient. He knows everything. God is omnipotent. He can do anything. There are things that He wills to happen, such as the return of His Son. But there are other things he wishes, that all men be saved, but they are aren't. Does God know everything? Yes. Can God control everything? Yes. Does God control everything? No, he leaves us with an absolute free will so we can choose to love and honor Him. But yet because he knows all things, because he created us and knows us perfectly, better than we know ourselves, he knows what will happen even when we freely choose. Therefore the Lakers can play with all their heart knowing that even though God knows who will win and who will loose they are free to determine the outcome, victory obviously, by their own will. For if it were always God's will in their life, how could they ever be judged by Him?

Pruning Time

2006-07-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

I’d love to say that life on the vine is always pleasant. But in reality if we are truly abiding in the vine there are times when, well the writer of Hebrews says it best. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful.” There comes a time that the Bible says, “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes.” Fortunately this pruning process produces more fruit and does not result in the removal of the entire branch. The time has been coming in my life when I knew that pruning was going to be necessary. My wife could have told you, my family could have told you, and those who are close to me could have told you also. Even I knew, but I was constantly trying to “work out the issues.” But it was to no avail. So in my time with Lord this morning I tried to confess and repent and to my surprise I could not. There was a larger part of me still trying to work out the issues. Even when I said the words I could feel in myself the need to work out the issues myself, solve the problem, and continue to be of service. Finally I had to fall to the floor and cry out, “Lord I’m so far from You, I’m so far from You.”
At that point the Lord responded as He does so many times. Go to Revelation and the letters to the churches. Look at the first one. What does it say? To the angel, the messenger of the church of Ephesus. Who is that? It is me the messenger to the church, very specific. As I read he praised me for the hard work, “working the issues out.” But then we arrived at the pruning hook. “You, Steve, you have left your first love.” And the truth was before me. A truth I knew but was unable to admit. I had left my first love Christ and now all it brought me was misery. As I said these words, He was already having me read the next verse. “Remember therefore from where you have fallen,” Steve. And oh how that pruning hook hurt as the tore at the branch I had built. I had fallen so far from the days of revival and fasting. The days where I would hear His voice so clear and share it with His people. The days when the most important thing was to hear His voice. No trying to “work issues out,” but just serving Him. The intimacy was gone. Oh, how far I had fallen.
Then He had me read on, “Repent and do the first works.” Oh how I repented, not complete however, I think there will be many more days of this, but it was clear that repentance for my kingdom instead of His. And immediately he said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” So today I start a journey back to that intimacy with Christ. It is painful to see how far I had fallen and far it was back to God. But, He wasn’t through. Read on He says, “Or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place – unless you repent.” Then it dawned on me that he would take away that which I had replaced Him with, the lamp stand.
There are few things that a pastor loves in life more than his lamp stand, his preaching. When I say few things, for many of us there are no things. You see our preaching is the lamp stand upon which the light is shed to the world. But our lamp stand is not the Light. The Light we preach is always Christ. But unfortunately it is easy for me to fall in love with the lamp stand and forsake the light. Now really how far had I fallen? In language of the vine, I had grown pretty leaves. Beautiful leaves that others could admire and even comment on as to how beautiful they were. That’s what you grow when you abide in yourself as branch. Leaves, beautiful, bountiful, magnificent leaves and puny, paltry and shrunken fruit. Jesus reminded me today that, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit,” not leaves.
So pruning hook is out. The limb is being cut. The pain is great. But as the writer of Hebrews concludes, “Afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Well the training begins. Today I begin, once again, the disciplined life on the vine. Please pray the work will be completed.

The World Cup of Acting

2006-07-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well I've tried it. I actually sat down, well stopped doing other things, well continued to do other things and watched the FIFA World Cup of Soccer. It is hard for me to imagine why anyone would watch this. Boring with a capital "B." Were it not for the fanatic nationalism, the closeness of games, and the great acting it would be really boring. Did I mention boring. Now I can see why people play soccer. It's competition which is always good. It is always close. And it doesn't require any particular skill, no great amount of equipment, other than running very fast for a long time. Sounds like track, another wonderful spectator sport. It could be NASCAR except for the equipment expense. But one thing that World Cup has is great acting. My goodness I thought that many of them would have to be carried out on stretchers or just pronounced dead on the spot. I am wondering if they carry blackjacks or knives under their jerseys. The response to each trip is nothing short of spectacular, worthy of an academy award. Let see if it is real, are they going as fast as skaters in a hockey match, NO. Are they intending to spear the other player with a helmet, NO. Are they being crushed by a lock in rugby, NO. Are they being laid out on the hardwood by an intentional foul going to the basket in an NBA Final, NO. They are being tripped by another little guy trying to kick a ball away. But Oh the drama. It is evident that the prime skill of a soccer player is to be an actor who can convince a blind referee that he has been assaulted without mercy and driven to the ground from which they can never rise. Now a foul is a foul in any sport, but acting is solely the possession of soccer. In the England vs. Portugal game, the only one I watched. A man was thrown out of the game for trying to get he ball and stepping on another player lying on the ground. Now what in the world would a foul of that magnitude be, stepping on another player in pursuit of the ball. Oh my! I'm sure glad the NFL or the International Rugby officials. Well I've watched. It comes a great time of the year NBA over, NFL has not started. But it will never be the sport in America until children have to wear helmets to ride bikes and tag is outlawed on the playground. Oh, wait a minute that's happened. Enjoy the real sports now, pretty soon they will be outlawed.

The Perfect Gift

2006-06-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Over the years we receive many gifts; birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's Day, Father's Day and such. Every gift has its own meaning. Some are sentimental, others useful and others, well, you're not sure. But there is one gift that is perfect, the one you choose when you dream of the perfect gift. It's that gift you never thought possible. That gift that you never thought you would ever get. For me those are tickets to sporting events that you always wanted to see. My son Adam gave me tickets to see the Los Angeles Lakers with Shaq play the Charlotte Hornets. Man, what a night, I'll never forget it. Then the church for pastor appreciation day gave me tickets to the Minnesota Vikings when they played the Carolina Panthers. Well today my wife gave me my Father's Day present (and next years Father's Day, and my birthday and probably Christmas), tickets to see the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Side playing in Marseille, France in the World Cup of Rugby next year. Now before you get too excited about a preacher flying to France to see a rugby test let me say that we will be there to see our son-in-law, daughter and GRANDson Charles in Stuttgart Germany. Our son-in-law is a First Lieutenant in the army stationed there. But what a thrill to see not only the World Cup, but also the All Blacks, is quite a wonderful gift. It was the perfect gift from a wife who knows her husband very well. Thank you, Baby!

Recess, My Favorite Class

2006-06-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

USA Today reported the following today, "Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., banned tag at recess this year. Others, including a suburban Charleston, S.C., school, dumped contact sports such as soccer and touch football." Well recess is certainly a far cry from the recess that I experienced at Nitro Elementary School, in Nitro, WV, hometown of Lew Burdette. Recess was definitely a contact sport in 1956 through 1962. There were some sports that would not inflict harm such as shooting marbles, but that could escalate if your favorite "puree" got filched on a questionable shot. But other than that recess was bedlam at best. I was blessed to return to my hometown and survey the sterilization of the playground. Gone was the maypole, the twelve foot swings the fifteen foot slide, the merrygoround, The teeter toter, the steel jungle gym, the gravel and the dirt. Replacing it was a beautifully colored maze of tubes and walkways solidly founded in a mound of rubberized padding. Pretty cool to look at, run through one time, and then utter boredom with no thrills or spills, not risks. At Nitro in the middle 50's recess began with a piece of wax paper brought from home on which you sat to slide down the 15' slide. Repeated time after time by many the speed you reached guaranteed your inability to stand at the end. Instead you would fly across the dirt and gravel at amazing speeds and your only thought was how fast you could get back on. The next event were the swings. "Can you really swing fast enough to go all the way around?" Well, no, but you could attain a height high enough that the you exited the swing at it's apex you were sure to be higher than the top of the jungle gym and were looking down on those you were about to land upon. Immediately you scrambled from the gravel and the dirt to the merrygoround where you would push as fast as you could, then jump on, only hoping that the centrifugal force would force you fly off. A note here it was a cooperative effort because at least two had to stay off to push the handles as they went by to keep up the speed. Upon flying once again into the gravel and dirt you headed for the jungle gym to "skin the cat" and play a game of tag in which you had to avoid a tag but never allow any part of your body to touch the ground. If you were unlucky to not get in a good place in line for the maypole, the pinnacle of excitement on the playground, then you may go the game of Russian Roulette on the teeter toter. A fools game at best. How to act like you wanted to continue to go up and down with joy, when in reality you watching for an unguarded moment of your partner when he was up and you were down, when you would quickly jump off leaving him to drop like a rock. Sprawling in the gravel and dirt. Now skinned, bruised, cut, torn jeans and dirty you make your way to the one piece of equipment that was designed by the Michelangelo of playground equipment. A steel and chain device that guaranteed the greatest thrills and the greatest risks rolled into one. It was to the steel roller coaster of the playground. Suspended by chains from the top of a fifteen foot pole were two steel hoops hanging about six feet from the ground. About six, possilby eight children would jump and grasp the outer hoop. Their weight being variable one side would pull down the other and they would begin in a clockwise fashion to run around the maypole. Of course those who could not touch were flying horizontally to ground holding one to a steel pipe with only their blistered and dirty hands. As the speed increased the centrifugal force took over and pretty soon all at some point were flying. This continued until some let go and flew into the gravel or the time that the teacher was keeping would run out for each turn. You can only imagine the pain when you let go at the moment of highest speed. Now all this fun was interspersed with football and baseball and any other team sport imagined except soccer which was unheard in my day. As soon as the bell rung we would trudge back to class thinking is there any place in the world where recess lasts all day. Well I'm glad their cleaning up this recess mess we have now. It is better to have our children protected from harm and of course our schools from legal difficulties. Plus now the crown of the greatest recess in the history of the world belongs to Nitro Elementary School and I was there.

A Great Sunday

2006-06-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

It is easy to remember the feeling of what it is like to win a great victory, or to get a great grade on a paper or test, or what it is like to have a surprise promotion at work. You really enjoy the moment, maybe go out and celebrate, or just bask in the warmth of success. Well that doesn't change for a pastor. Every Sunday you anxiously await the service you have worked the week to prepare. Now of course success in a worship service is when Jesus gets the preeminence He so richly deserves. You wonder all week will the people really get it, will they grasp the priority of Christ and really worship Him. Amidst all the events in the life of each member and their family it is difficult to turn off the world. But this past Sunday thanks to the marvelous planning of our Worship Leader Joseph Herrell the Lord was worshipped. We celebrated the Lord supper with an emphasis on the Cross of Christ. It began with a Biblical review of the work of Christ on His cross. The invitation was from I Corinthians 11 with an emphasis on remembrance and repentance. Then we received the supper from two different tables, one for the bread and the other for the wine. Behind the tables were the banners made by Jennifer Hudson and our Banner Ministry. They read, "The Bread of Life" and "The True Vine." But the final challenge to the congregation was in "Taking Up You Cross." Joseph had set a lifesize cross up in the center of the platform. During the message on the Cross of Christ it was His cross, but during the challenge it was "Your Cross." The challenge was to come and take up "Your Cross" and follow Him. Many responded and carried the cross. In the end they passed it from person to person and out the doors into the world. It was very powerful. I am so thankful for the faithfulness of the congregation to respond to Christ. I am also thankful for a wonderful worship pastor like Joseph. If you are wanting to be creative in worship or wanting to know more about Christ-Centered Worship, contact him at joseph.herrell@nlbcs.org. Mondays are much better when Christ is exalted on Sundays.

To Speak or Not to Speak

2006-06-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

I recieved this email from a lady in the congregation:
Could you please expound on this Pastor. I was studying 1 Corinthians this morning and can’t get this out of my mind. I believe His Word is total Truth…so what does He mean by this? Should I not speak in the Church and give the information the Lord gives to me to a man to share? I do not have a problem with this if it is what the Lord commands for us. His Way is the only Way….
1 Corinthians 14: 33-35

Here is my response:
This is a wonderful question to consider. Many times the Bible says what it says clearly and many times it is not as clear. Certainly for many conservative and fundamental churches this passage says exactly what it means. “Women should remain silent in the churches.” And “It is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.” Certainly we know that Paul was not trying to be chauvinistic or contradictory. He is the same man who says in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” So then what is the issue at stake here in I Corinthians 14? It is important to look at the whole passage in context. For most Biblical interpretation the issue is context. Just as saying I love you to a fellow believer and saying I love you to your wife is different because of context, so context is king in understanding the Word.

The subject of Paul’s message deals with confusion in the congregational setting. He points out the problems that arise from speaking in tongues without an interpreter and too many people speaking. So we are considering an issue that deals with public worship and the conduct of people during that time. Verse 22 says, “So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.” Paul makes a distinction here between speaking in tongues in worship and prophecy in the worship. Later on Paul will say, “Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues” in verse 39. So there are two issues concerning worship. One is speaking in tongues and the other prophecy. Look at the change of subject from verse 28 to verse 29. Paul has changed the subject from that of speaking in tongues to that of prophecy. Notice that he points out the purpose of prophecy, for people to learn and be exhorted. There is not to be any confusion on this point. It is not a dialogue, but a monolog delivered by the one who is appointed to do these things. If we were to look up the definition of the word prophecy we would find that it refers to the proclamation of the will of God either for the future, present or past. It is done under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now a prophet, not just anyone who decides that they should speak, should deliver the prophecy. Look in Ephesians 4:11:13 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Notice the role of the gift of a prophet; to equip and build up the body. Prophesy is not the work of everyone in the church, but of those God has given to the church to accomplish His will in this matter.

Now we know from the rest of Scripture that duty falls to the elders of the church. They are called of God to equip and edify the body of Christ. So the elders of the church would be the ones to deliver the prophecy that is done decently and in order. There are certainly women who could speak in tongues and were more than likely doing so in Corinth. There is no admonition about women not speaking in tongues. But when we get to prophecy that’s a different issue. Prophecy was the role of the elders and all elders are male. It is very clear from the qualifications for elder that they must be the husband of one wife. Now Paul makes sure that those ladies who were speaking in tongues did not begin to speak prophetically, which was the role of the elders.

Within that context Paul says, “The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak (in the role of a prophet), but are to subject themselves [Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders (elders) and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.] , just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn (the purpose of prophecy) anything, let them ask their own husbands at home [1Co 11:3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.] ; for it is improper for a woman to speak (Prophetically) in church.

Paul is obviously addressing an issue that is taking place at the church in Corinth. It is difficult to know what exactly is happening, but it is not hard to know the point. Paul wants the church to operate under the instructions that he Spirit has given him through God’s Word. Although this time it was women who were being unruly, next time it could be men. For later on the Peter says, “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. (1 Peter 5:5)

I know for many conservative believers this passage is proof positive that women are never to say a word in the church. But this interpretation for me is a better way of looking at the issue. It does not mean that I am right and everyone else is wrong. It means that it is what I believe Paul was saying. I understand it can create very hard feelings both ways, so grace must apply.

Easy or Hard?

2006-06-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

You have probably heard this comment or made it yourself, "It's so hard to be a Christian." Or maybe, "Living the Christian life is hard in this world." Certainly it seems like the life of Christian is harder to live in a fallen world. All of our choices while living on the Vine seem to be in contradiction to the world around us. However it is intriguing that it seems Jesus didn't see it that way. In Matthew 11:28-30 He says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, an you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light." How can it be that what we find so hard Jesus says is so easy, even light. Could it be because we don't "Come to Him, take His yoke, and learn from Him?" Jesus gives us a pattern that if we are going to live on the Vine we are going to have to give Him lordship in our life, take his yoke, not the yoke of others, and learn only from Him. Life on the Vine is to be easy, but only if we abide in Him.

Turn Up the Heat

2006-06-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Being a huge NBA fan last night was very difficult. We had elder's meeting. Elder's meeting on the night of the sixth game of the NBA finals, what were we thinking? Although it was a really productive and beneficial meeting I must admit I was thinking at moments of "the game." Imagine the pressure, up two games to none the Mavericks looked like they would sweep, then the turn of fortune as the Heat swept three at home to take a one game lead back to Dallas. I arrived home with a little over two minutes left. I had thought to record the game, but alas had not rewound the tape so very little was recorded. However my loving wife, seeing the video tape pushed out the machine realized the magnitude of the problem, returned the tape, rewound and recorded the final minutes of a the game. Now let it be said loud and clear I am a lifelong fan of the Los Angeles Lakers. They have been my team since the early sixties along with my beloved Minnesota Vikings, the greatest being Bud Grant's '69-'70 team. But because Pat Riley won four as coach of the Lakers and Shaq will always be Laker winning three titles and three MVP's my loyalty was planted firmly on the Heat. I cannot imagine the thrill of the victory, nor the despair of defeat. Each team played to the maximum of their ability, expended every ounce of effort, and in the end one won and the other lost. Sports often is a mirror of life. We many times expend huge amounts of effort only to see it fail by the worlds standards. Losers, failures, defeated, ruined are words we use for those who have given it all and come up short. Phil Mickelson! But all the effort in the world can't change the outcome and it goes in the book as a loss. Rasheed Wallace always says, "Both teams play hard." They do and yet one wins and one loses. The faultiness of our thinking here is that effort equates success. If at first you don't succeed try, try again. But for Life on the Vine nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus says, "If you abide in me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Notice He says, ask, not try, or work hard for, or put all your effort in, He says ask. The key in life on the Vine is effort, it is abiding. It is not I who live, but Christ who lives within me.

The Intermediate State

2006-06-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Pastor,
I am an avid reader and love to watch documentaries. I was watching a documentary on Hell and Satan the other day. I am very strong in what I believe and don't waiver from that, but they talked about things that I had never heard of before and now I want to know the true answer. So, I am asking you if you can explain it to me. They talked about Jesus and they stated that he went to Hell after he was crucified to redeem the souls of people and take them to heaven. My question is what happened to people who died before Jesus was crucified? How did they get to heaven? I know now that if you believe Jesus died for your sins and repent you will be saved and go to heaven, but what about before He died? How did people get to heaven? It just got me thinking and I want to know what the right way is. Can you explain this to me?

Thanks so much for asking. I love Biblical questions and you have asked an excellent one. In theological circles this issue is called the "intermediate state." There are many different theories, some are based upon good Biblical exegesis and others on pure speculation. But the best Biblical answer I have discovered is this. Look in Luke 16:19-31. Jesus is teaching and he is using a story, not a parable, but a story with names in it which would indicate that is was an actual illustration of a true event. Go ahead and read the whole story and then read my explanation. In verse 22 it says that the poor man died and was taken to "Abraham's Bosom" and the rich man, Lazarus, died and was buried and in "Hades." Now remember this is before Jesus went to the cross, so it is an accurate picture of what it was like before Jesus. There was a place that was divided between those who were in Abraham's Bosom and those in Hades a place of torment. A gulf was fixed between them. There was already a separation between the faithful and the unfaithful and it could not be crossed. When Jesus spoke to the souls in prison this was the place he went and cleared it of those who put their trust in Him, the same as you and I. Abraham's Bosom no longer exists. Look at Luke 23:39-43. In verse 43 Jesus says, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in "Paradise." Paul refers to this place in 2 Cor. 12:4. This is where all believers go when they die physically. Our body goes in the grave to await the resurrection and our soul and spirit go to be with the Lord in Paradise. Fulfilling 2 Cor. 5:8, absent from the body, present with the Lord. Now as far as how those are "saved" before Jesus it works just the same as it does now. They are saved by faith, looking forward to the coming of Christ. Just as the Bible confirms of Abraham in Galatians 3:6-9, also in Romans 4. So then all who are looking forward in faith to the coming of Christ were in "Abraham's Bosom" awaiting the coming of Christ. This also confirms that Jesus is the way, truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but through Him. He is the way in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.

The Passing of a Branch

2006-06-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I will be preaching the funeral of one of my dearest friends, Keith McMath. Keith was a member of Hickory Mountain Baptist Church that I pastored during seminary and for four years after. His son Shane was the first person I ever baptized. A story I will save for a lighter moment. Keith was a rural route carrier and had a heart attack sixteen years ago. He learned what abiding in the vine was real quick. He never was able to work again and had constant heart problems. For sixteen years he and his wife Faye, a precious woman who loves the Lord and never asks Him why, have lived knowing that at any moment he could go to be with the Lord. Yet their life has been full as any, the message of Christ has been bright as ever and now he is with the one who loves him most. These past few months had been very trying. His heart continued to fail which produced problems in other organs. A pump was placed in him that sustained him and allowed his body to transition to a possible heart transplant. Indeed he did recover and had a heart transplant this past week, but his body was so week it just couldn't handle the surgery and his organs began to fail and he died. Keith always believed it was his job to share Jesus as he was going, from Matt. 28. He didn't care how irritating it would be to some, he shared with all alike. He loved people and loved to be around them talking and eating all the time. Since he had time he used it wisely. Now I am not going to tell you Keith was perfect, his wife wouldn't tell you that and neither would some others. But Keith was a fruit producer. In the vine that is the number one project. "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." John 15:8 He was always a farmer, producing alfalfa for horses that he never really liked, but they paid well. His greatest joy next to his family and faith, was his farm and it's tractor. Tractors new and old fascinated him. So I guess understanding living on the vine it was natural for Keith to produce fruit. I will miss this branch, not pruned, or thrown in the fire, but now with the Lord. Fortunately abiding in the vine, doesn't end with this world.

Profiting on God

2006-06-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

Walking the crowded streets of Gatlinburg it doesn't take long for you to realize what sells. Food wise it's fudge and funnel cakes, T-shirts depend on NASCAR and airbrush, but the big seller in every store is God. God bless this and God bless that, God is here and God is there. Religious T-shirts, plaques, and souvenirs. It is not always clear whether sellers are godly or buyers are godly. Christian music blares in shops with shopkeepers singing along. Yet you see many who have Christian shirts and jewelry on promoting either churches or God. There is no confusion in Gatlinburg at to who is God, it is the God of Christianity. No signs of any other religions. No Bhuddas, no Islam, no Stars of David. This is Christian friendly community. The question has to be is God how we should gain profit. Preachers certainly have lived off Christians for centuries. Many passages of Scripture confirm that this is possible and even necessary, but nonetheless the faithful and unfaithful ministers have profited from their service to the church. But what about retail. Is retail profit, that which doesn't go to the ministry of the kingdom, really what the Lord had in mind? Does it have anything to do with graven images? Is it spreading the gospel or satisfying the captialistic spirit? Life on the Vine leaves us with so many good questions because He says, "Apart from Me you can do nothing." Does He mean that only with Him, and using Him, and selling Him, should you do business?

County & Western Disneyworld

2006-06-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Dollywood is literally nestled between the cool green Smoky mountains. From the time you enter you are bombarded with the every possible retail establishment that could be related to Mountain lore. From Smoky Mountain Fajitas to Smoky Mountain Burritos. I was unaware of the influence of Hispanic culture on the development of bluegrass music. For Charles Anthony, our GRANDson, the train ride through the mountains was the highlight. If the engineer had laid off the whistle he and I would have enjoyed his nap better. It was a cool day and the crowds were reasonable. I must say the wooden roller coaster was the highlight, probably the best wooden roller coaster I have ever written. It was interesting that the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame is located in Dollywood. It was a great day for life on the Vine.