24
2/1/2005 6:39:15 AM
This is the day that the Lord has made. Imagine that? Today, everything I will face in the next 24 hours will somehow or another, someway or another, be served to me on God’s banqueting table: Be it blessing. Be it testing. Be it trial. Be it victory. Be it tribulation. Be it abundance. Be it abasement. Today, the concept that the steps of the Righteous are ordered of God will penetrate my resistance to the day’s contents. Everywhere I put my foot God has ordained. I will not let little things or big things steal from me the glory prepared for me. God concocted this day especially with me in mind…with my immediate needs and the issues of my life factored in. Intently, I will observe this day with all sincerity of heart and spirit. I will search out each moment to discover the treasures hidden within. I’ve been given this 24 hour gift by the Creator Himself: Therefore, I will rejoice in it!

Search For Fidelity
2/3/2005 7:04:45 AM
~~~written in response to a poem questioning the existence of divinity~~~
Humanity stumbles along in its search for fidelity
My belief is that ancient memories and perceived realities
Will find a place to call home in many hearts
That the boundaries of humanity will one day
Be viewed from the other side of the border
Where its existence and its images will be made clear
Where pure divinity, untainted by the poisons of perception,
Can be sipped slowly on the beaches of understanding

Quicken My Mortal Body
2/7/2005 1:15:42 PM
If the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me, then the same Spirit that was in Jesus when He spoke to the wind and wave, fed the thousands, healed the multitudes, cast out devils, and worked all manner of justice and goodness, dwells in me as well. My lack of realization and understanding of this self-same Spirit causes me to lack the confidence and boldness to enter the throne room prepared for His business. This body of flesh works against me to deny me access to this realization. Yet, the same Spirit will quicken my "mortal" body as well!!! If that resurrection power dwells in me then everything else Jesus experience is in there, too. Give me the mind of Christ, Oh God, to replace this mind of disbelief!

Ebb & Flow
2/8/2005 6:30:30 AM
Yesterday, I shared communion with my mom in her home. Our church celebrated the Lord's Last Supper with communion on Sunday night. When I have a home-bound congregant, I attempt to include them in the ebb and flow of the church. Mom actually requested that we share communion together. I am discovering for the first time just how important these little visits, these precious moments, shared with those who are physically unable to attend service can be. I confess that my selfishness continually reveals itself as I go through this process of recovery with my mom. Suddenly, all of the little routine “tasks” that are part of my job are taking on added meaning and importance. I pray that this discovery sticks with me. There is never a routine task in the Kingdom of God. When you are on your back, down on your luck, on the outside looking in, at the bottom of the barrel, and unable to participate in all the reindeer games, the ebbing and flowing of your church family can become the life-blood that sustains until better days.

My Nine O' Clock
2/11/2005 6:12:03 AM
Seems like the weather will never be good again! I can feel my body crying out for Spring. My spirit is ready for new life as well. It is time for artificial heat and artificial air to be replaced with the rays of the sun and the winds of the sky. It is time to replace my CDs and cassettes with the sounds of birds, bees, and laughter. It's time for Winter's cowards to boldly come marching into the joy of Spring! Ooops! Look at the time! I must put on my coat and get that truck heater running, or I'll be late for my Nine O'clock! Sigh!

Dance With God
2/12/2005 9:26:43 AM
There is this lady--a true Sister in the Kingdom of God--who is facing the cancer giant in her body. The form is different than my mom's--breast cancer instead of colon cancer--but I am sure the process of battling what comes against the mind, the soul, the faith of one dealing with all cancer is similar. I have nothing but respect for those who face this Goliath in the Valley of the Shadow. This particular lady blows me away. She calls her faith experience in this moment her "dance with God." In no way does she allow the enemy a second's victory: not so much as acknowledging darkness beyond the simple description of the doctor's reports. Listening to her joyously detailing God's hand in the entire affair, how He has brought her to special treatments, given her the right doctors, opened doors to better options, dazzles me as the light of God shines through her. In fact, I imagine her dance...His hand upon her hand, the other upon her back, as He sweeps her round and round, the swishing sounds of her dress whistling in the breeze. The glow of her face brightens as He draws her close and leads her, never knowing which foot will step next, or when He will twist and dip her, but always just trusting Him and following after Him. Just her and God in their special dance of faith!

A Chance Meeting In The Kingdom
2/15/2005 6:49:09 AM
I awoke several times Friday night with a particular scripture dancing around in my head. The next morning as I researched the scripture I felt a witness in my spirit to pursue the number forty. I searched throughout the Bible for every instant when the number forty was introduced. I believe that numbers mean something in the Bible, but I had no clue as to just how this line of study was going to relate to the main thrust of the sermon, which dealt with the battle of the flesh vs. the spirit. I wrote my sermon Saturday morning and folded it in my Bible.

Saturday night I was on my way to visit my mother when I felt compelled to continue on to town. I had no clue why I was driving around town. As I passed the Wal-Mart entrance, I was led to swerve into that parking lot and to park near the ATM on the far side of the lot. I had no clue why I would park there. It made no sense. If I was going to go inside the store I'd have parked very close by. I was led to get out of my truck and walk to the entrance of the store. I simply complied. When I got there, that was it. No more instruction. I stood there for a second and decided to just return to my truck. I had nothing to shop for anyway. I don't even do the shopping. Laura does. On the way back to my truck, a young man stopped me.

Our conversation was friendly at first. I knew him by name, but had spoken to him only two or three times in my life. He recognized me as a local minister. I told him I was preaching on the other side of the parish now, and he'd heard about that already. I asked him a few searching questions, and he begin to tell me that he was backslidden and needed to get away and do some repenting. I invited him to our church for a visit, and he said he'd try to come sometimes. I left feeling great that God had led me there for that young man.

I was shocked to see him walk into the front door Sunday morning, however. I didn't really expect him to come so soon, but God was dealing with him. God had called him to preach several years ago, but some things had happened to hurt him. Anyway, he was in a mess. I preached Sunday morning with added fervor. I felt an urgency I hadn’t felt in some time. I struggled some dealing with the issue of the number forty in the sermon. There is much to learn concerning numbers, especially the number forty, but its relevance in this sermon escaped me. Even as I preached, I was unsure just why God had instructed me to be so in-depth about that forty days/nights/years/etc study. I fit into the message He gave me. I even mentioned to the congregation how I was confused as to exactly how this fit into my message, but God had been adamant about it so there it was.

After service, the young man came to the altar to pray. I prayed with him. Afterwards, he stood up and told me that he was so thankful for what God had done. I told him how God had brought me to the parking lot the night before for the expressed purpose of being there for him. He told me that my message was just for him as well. He explained to me that he had just turned forty years old, and that God was dealing with him about wasting his years. What a blessing we shared as we spoke that testimony to the others! God is so good! Just remember, when you feel like you are flailing about out there on your own, God is there, working behind the scenes to get you to a place of victory.


Gallup Generation
2/17/2005 1:34:50 PM
(An Excerpt from an article I wrote on this subject you can read in my articles section in Authors Den.)
What America needs is men and women of vision. Listening to the whining and short-sighted sophistry of today’s pundits is tiresome. The moral attention span of this nation shrinks under the burden of convenience. Sacrificing today for tomorrow’s greater good is a lost art. We are the “Gallup Generation:” a people whose vision is obstructed by the avalanche of polls dumped on us by the media. The depth of truth about a thing is concealed by the blizzard of these instant snapshots we call polls, which, like flakes of snow, no two can ever be the same.


Surrogates
2/21/2005 8:21:12 AM
We start a youth revival tonight. Actually, we started yesterday but there was a low turnout of youth during the Sunday services. In our community, the youth are not great at attending during the normal service times. I am unsure if that means they aren't going at all or just are going somewhere else, at a home church, etc. On week nights, we have many come who we only see on mid-week services usually. From discussing their lives with them, I've discovered that many of these have parents who do not attend church at all. Many have parents who are alcoholics, in bars every weekend, and generally being poor examples for their children. As a minister of youth, it is one of the few areas where my patience is tested. Lately, I have been forced to deal with issues concerning abusive and neglectful parents. I want to cry out for God to punish every one of them severely...to curse them with all sorts of maladies. But I know that God is a God of grace, even forgiving those who were in the process of crucifying Him. So, what does that mean to me? "Lord, please forgive those who are hurting their children. Give them the wisdom to do the right thing. The knowledge that one day they will stand before you and give an account for how they treated and taught their children. Have mercy, Oh God, especially upon these children. Let our church be the surrogate parent for those who have been abandoned by their earthly parents. In Jesus' Name. Amen!"

The Five-Fold Ministry In Today's Church
2/23/2005 9:50:04 AM
We've certainly made a mess of things, in terms of church structure. Someone was asking me why there are no more apostles and prophets in the church. Of course, there are. God isn't one who reneges on his gifts. The five-fold ministry has been given until the church is perfected, and from my own experiences, the church has a ways to go yet. The problem rises from the vocabulary of our church world today. Churches pay “pastors.” We hire them to run out churches. I’ve discovered by personal research in my relationships with other “pastors” that many of them are not biblical pastors at all. I know of many apostles who are “pastors.” Sometimes, the churches with stronger financial bases manage to hire many of these men. Prophets, who are gifted more in the mold of what we would call today a “preacher,” are also hired as “pastors” because of their dynamic pulpit ministries. I actually know some “pastors” who serve as pastor of a church, but the problem with that is the job requirements of a modern day pastor make it hard for a New Testament “pastor” to pastor. By gifting, I am a teacher who “pastors.” I also consider myself a better “preacher” than “pastor” but am more comfortable as a “teacher.” Confused? So are the rest of us. Just imagine being the poor “evangelist.” We still try to force him to establish his own job outside the confines of the local church and rarely allow him the privilege we afford the “apostles,” “prophets,” “pastors,” and “teachers” of working in the capacity of New Testament “bishop.” Oops. Now I’ve really muddied the waters here! Did you realize that the entire five-fold ministry was intended for the local church? What ever happened?