First Sermon? Not quite.

I am scheduled to preach my first sermon on July 1.  But, not quite, as the service will be held in our Pastor's living room.  The building we use for our corporate Sunday service will be utilized by another group on that particular Sunday.  This means that like my other sermon, it will be in more of a "bible study" format.  A little less formal than standing up in front of a congregation...which could happen on July 15.  I'm not nearly as nervous about July 1 as I will be about July 15.  With that said, I have been struggling with what to preach (teach) on. 

There are several topics that are in my radar but nothing has fastened itself to my mind just yet.  I could do "The 5 Enemies of our Faith: Ignorance, Doubt, Fear, Presumption, and Pride" or The Potters House, or What is Faith? or Time vs Eternity, Overcomers or The shipwrecked, or an exposition of Hebrews12:1(Run with Edurance) or Hebrews 12:7-8 (Illegitimate! What did he say?), What John 3:16 really says, or Limited Atonement vs Universal Atonement, or Satan's Greatest Weapon, or maybe The Best Advice I can Give.  There is lots of potential, but two things are clear, 1. I don't want it to be about me and 2. I want to consider my audience. 

I recently read that the main purpose of a preacher was to "arouse Faith" in the listener.  I agree to the significance of that statement even while understanding that a Pastor's role is much more than that.  At the end of the day, that is what God desires.  If the preacher arouses Faith in the listener, then God will have their attention and they will hear, they will experience God and they will respond, gaining the necessary "experience" with God that builds on the foundation of the Gospel.  Jesus said, "And this is Eternal life, that they may know YOU the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom YOU have sent", John 17:3 NKJV.  Most of the folks in the audience don't study.  They may even suffer from the "i'm ok you're ok" syndrome.  That attitude is not consistent with the teachings and admonishings in the New Testament.  I'm sure they do not understand the significance of this "short" life we have here in this Earth.  This is the proving ground...the test for what our Eternity will be like. 

Bottomline is this: If you are satisfied as a Christian, then we are finished as the body of Christ.  That is really what I want to convey.  Our lives as Christians should be lived with a certain level of urgency, concern, tension and healthy "fear of the Lord".  I haven't been able to find the "take it easy" teachings in the bible, but there are plenty of "watch out!, "take heed", "press on", don't give up, overcome, trust 'til the end, etc. etc.

Lord, put the words in my mouth and help me communicate the message you want presented, Amen!

Who Is That Guy?

Wow! What a difference a year and a few months can make. I re-read my old posts in this blog and I ask myself, "Who is that guy?" Did I actually write those things? The relevant question is, where is that guy today? I am still here...at least my body is. I look the same, albeit a few pounds heavier but it's me, so what's the problem? Why am I still here if things are so bad? What or Who is keeping me here plugging along?

Ya know, there was a time in my life when ending my life was a viable option. I just felt like "ending it all" and taking my chances with God was the best I could hope for. At some point I knew I had to make a decision because just "thinking about THAT all the time" was driving me crazy. So, I held on to the smallest pieces of God's Word that I could fit into my spiritual pocket, like 1Cor.2:9-16 ("Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him") and I kept going to sleep at night and waking up in the morning. I continued to pay my bills and eat and I continued to talk to whoever was around to listen. I forced myself to remember all the times in my past that God came through for me. I determined to write a memoir called, "Little Did I know", where I would document from my birth to the present those times when it was God and no one else who picked me up. I made a commitment to God and myself that I wanted to see "how the story ends". And so, I'm still here...alive and kicking...well, not so much kicking these days as much as crawling but I'm still here. My claim is to love the Lord and if that is true then I can claim that scripture, 1Cor.2:9, for my own. I can trust it, put my confidence in it, lean on it and depend on it. I still want to see how the story ends.

I will be catching up the past year in my upcoming blog entries. It is my desire to make Deut.8:2-3 my own as well, "...remember all the way the Lord has led me..."
The bottom-line is that I need God...I need Him real bad. If God's Word is true and I believe It is then I can make James 4:8 mine also, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you". I'm drawing...I'm drawing...

Respite or Reprieve

On the surface, these two words may seem very similar, but I am sure that Pharaoh could tell you the difference. He took his respite for granted and when reality crushed him in the sea, his respite melted into his reprieve and it was done. I liken respite as to a soldier on R-n-R from the battle. While reprieve is putting off the inevitable punishment, like a prisoner on death row. Both are temporary periods of rest or relief with the one putting off impending doom (reprieve) while the other is temporary rest from the battle (respite). In my case this is a spiritual battle and like a good soldier I have come to understand that it is naive and dangerous for me to assume that the respite is indefinite. God grants the respite but He has no intention of leaving us there. The spiritual battle is part of the journey. It's part of this Life of Faith that we are to live...here and now.

Never take your respite for granted like Pharaoh did. God's gonna put us back in the fight (it's part of the trip). Never allow yourself to think even for a minute that Satan will not challenge your victories. As long as we are important to God then we are important to Satan. After having my best week (spiritually) I know there is a war going on outside my door and I trust that the One who has brought me this far is Faithful to carry me the rest of the way. All the way.

Modern day Elihu's

Just this past Sunday at church they were playing some music over the sound system. This was right before the Praise and Worship part of the service. My ears perked immediately and I went to the sound board to find out who it was. It was Josh Garrels song "Break Bread". This whole week I have been listening and downloading all that I could get from Amazon and Youtube. I have literally been blown away by his music. The songs are complicated and simple at the same time and the lyrics are full of truths and wisdom. There is more Gospel and more Word in just one of his songs than 100 other christian artists. And to think, I never dreamed that someone other than Phil Wickham would have such an effect on me, which led me to ponder, "How could two very young men, Phil at 25 and Josh at 29 respectfully, have so much wisdom in their songs. Whenever I experience such wisdom in a young person I think of Elihu from the story of Job. He set everyone straight, not holding back the truth. He was wise beyond his years just like Phil and Josh. With respect to Josh, the more I find out about him, the more I like him. He truly is a prophet/artist and Phil as well. They preach through their music and man what preaching it is.


My favorite part of this song is near the end, "He said believe. Who are you telling me to believe? He said, "I am the Christ" He Said "I am the Christ" So, I believed.

Man, I love that. Here is one of Phil's songs "Home". Powerful lyrics with, "I want to feel you now like I felt you then" That song really breaks me up when I listen to it. It hits me right in the gut. They both have the ability to put you in the story. That is a rare gift. Read the lyrics and enjoy the song "Home" by Phil Wickham.



Two modern day Elihu's. A couple of prophet/artists. Check'em out.

An answered prayer

A prayer for guidance and understanding was answered in this scripture for me today;

Isaiah 30:20-24 (Amplified version)

20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your
Teacher will not hide Himself any more, but your eyes shall constantly behold your Teacher
21 and your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying This is the way, walk in it, when you turn
to the right hand and when you turn to the left.
22 Then you will defile your carved images overlaid with silver and your molten images plated
with gold; you will say to them, "BE GONE!"
23 Then He will give you rain for your seed with which you sow the soil and bread grain as the
produce of the ground and it will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed in
large pastures.
24 The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that til the ground will eat savory salted fodder,
which has been winnowed with shovel and with fork.

As I get older, I am learning that I can get angry with God and declare , "God!, I deserve more than bread and water. That's prison rations. I am a Son of God!" and God just waits for me to calm down long enough to pay attention to what He is trying to teach me. It often involves being humbled (humiliated) and it doesn't have to be public. It can be just as devastating in private, sometimes more so. I have studied more in the last three weeks than I have in the last three years (actual study). I have been shown that I have been nothing more than an "echo". Those days are over. Isaiah 30:20-24 is my confirmation. God wants ALL of me, not just part. The more I learn about Him and His ways the more I am aware of the distance between He and I and how desperately I need Him, how hopeless I am without Him.

He is not hid from me anymore. He never was hid from me, I just was not paying attention. I was distracted by my gold and silver images (the bright and shiny objects in my path). I am getting better in that as the road gets tougher I am quicker about drawing in closer to Him.

The prison rations (adversity and affliction) are part of the trip. He loves me and is preparing me for battle. I will count it all joy as He is the source of my increase, "In Him I will trust". AMEN!