Archive March 2008
A Wild Ride!
That’s what this past weekend was — a wild ride! There was just so much going on. The biggest event, of course, was Sunday’s Vision Update. I was very gratified to get a good deal of positive input from many of you. There was a great spirit of anticipation, excitement and just the sense that God was really doing somethind during the service Sunday. We’ve been traveling this path a long time and to think of an October groundbreaking is thrilling! Just in case you couldn’t make it, don’t forget to catch it on the web at www.kcbt.org.
Adding to the wildness were the events surrounding Mark and Cathy McGaughey’s departure for Jacksonville. Though we will surely miss them, we are genuinely excited about the new opportunities that await them there and the chance to continue to partner together. So, when I think about a wild ride this weekend, I don’t mean to whine. When I think about Mark and Cathy packing up to move halfway across the country, anything in my life is minor in comparison.
I did come home exhausted last night, but had no time to regenerate this time, because today I am on my way to Argentina. This is a LONG trip and I appreciate your prayers. We left Kansas City about 45 minutes late, flew around Houston for a while before landing and then got in well over a hour late. So, I am writing this in the airport and don’t have much time. Forgive me if this in not a literary masterpiece. From Houston it will be 11 to 12 hours to get to Buenos Aires. There, I have to change airports from one side of this giant city to the other. Then more flying for an hour or two to the city of Cordoba.
Perhaps you remember that I spoke at a missions event here last year for young people from all over the southern cone of South America. It was fabulous! The group that sponsors this is composed of a multicultural team primarily composed of Germans and Latin Americans. They have asked me to come and minister to them at their leadership retreat this week and I am very much looking forward to it. Once I get to Cordoba I will speak to their full time staff for a couple of days and then we drive to a retreat center to be joined by other workers and volunteers from the various countries of southern South America. Did you know South America was so far away? Makes a trip to Europe look easy!
I would love to invite you to come with me on this wild ride. Here’s the problem. I am not sure if I will be able to have access to the Internet. It’s Monday evening as I write this and I may have access tomorrow night when I spend the night in Cordoba at the host missionary’s home. But, from then on I am just not sure what to expect. All I know for certain is that I will be back in Buenos Aires late Sunday night. I have very important meetings Monday and Tuesday I will tell you about later, then I will leave to come home Tuesday night and get home sometime Wednesday morning of next week. So, if you don’t see a post in the next couple of days, keep checking, I will be back!
It Seems Impossible …
My thanks to David for his transparent and honest comments and question to my last post. You can scroll back or see it here along with his comment. His remarks, though, are so poignant and relevant that I don’t want you to miss them. They represent what many of us think, but don’t find the courage to say:
I have always loved this story of Samuel’s beginning but have continually struggled with the practicality of “surrendering all”. The act of telling God that I give him all seems to have become a ritual that is performed repeatedly in place of the real action of living a life surrendered to Him. My question is how do we know when we have truly surrendered all and are living a life that He is directing? It seems impossible…
Many questions are so good that we spend our lives answering them at different levels. This is one such question. Allow me to set out a principle to serve as a starting place and then throw out a few random thoughts about what a life of surrender might look like. Then, I’d love for some of you to jump in with your own thoughts about what a surrendered life looks like and how we know we are living a life that God is directing.
Here’s the principle. Living a life surrendered to God begins with a decision and is followed by a process. Here is where I think we often mess up. We are great to make the decision. We genuinely want a surrendered life. But, we fail to follow through with the daily walk with God that is necessary. Being a disciple of Jesus is a lifelong process. We can reach maturity, yet we never outgrow our need to grow.
It seems impossible … Yes! In fact it is impossible. This is whole point. A surrendered life means more than just “I give up.” Actually, I prefer the term “transformed life,” because it puts the emphasis where it needs to be — not what we have done to surrender, but upon God’s supernatural power to transform us. Living a life that God is directing is a life where we are constantly morphing from the natural to the supernatural sphere and vice versa. We are to be learning to live the supernatural life in the realm of the natural to the degree it becomes all but impossible to discern the difference between the two.
Jesus had just said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle than for a rich man to get to heaven. But, as his disciples were reeling about the implications of such a statement, Jesus quickly added the following truth.
And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Mark 10:27
What might such a transformed life look like? If we don’t know what it might look life, we won’t know whether we are really living such a life or not. Every one of us is a unique creature of God. What should a transformed life look like? Ultimately, we will look exactly like God intended for us to look, and we will be as different as snowflakes. However, there are certainly commonalities indicated in the Bible. Here are three of them that occur to me in no particular order, and this list is far from complete.
An authentic daily walk with God. We are in scripture daily, constantly interacting prayerfully with God as we struggle to apply scriptural truth to real time situations in our lives. We are consulting with God as we anticipate our day, talking with him to make course adjustments as we move through our day and making decisions based on biblical truth, not feeling. We are not just running to God when we have a crisis or problem, but allowing him to set the course and the agenda. We never make decisions without consulting him. Our time with God is not some legalistic duty about which we fear dire consequences if we fail to comply. Rather spending time with God in prayer and his word is as natural and necessary as breathing.
Fruit of the Spirit. Paul speaks of this to the Galatians. The word is fruit, singular, not plural. It’s either there or not. There is always room for growth, but the characteristics Paul lists are there in the form of constantly growing seedlings, sprouting from the common branch of being filled with and controlled by the Spirit of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
Constant growth and readjustment to failure, learned truth and circumstances. It is so important that we have realistic expectations. Some grow discouraged because they are expecting “perfection” in the sense of flawless. In the Bible perfection only means maturity or being equipped. There is always room for growth, and growth often comes in response to failure. We must not fear failure as disciples of Christ, but embrace it as the opportunity to grow. Here is Paul’s take on this.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Phippians 3:13-14
I can already think of things that need to be on this list, but it’s late and I need to get some sleep. Do these three characteristics make sense? Help us out. What are some other characteristics of a transformed life that we should look for?
Pushed Into Perfect Purpose
When will I realize that God is at work in every detail of life? When will I stop fretting about the very things that God uses to mold me and channel me into his perfect plan?
The first chapter of 1 Samuel is powerful drama. Try to put yourself in the following soap opera of life.
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? 1 Samuel 1:1-8
Enemies are often born of envy. Penninah has children, but not the special affection of her husband. Hannah had the special affection of her husband, but could not have children. Elkanah had two wives, but had no idea of what he was getting into when he decided two wives were better than one.
Elkanah sound likes a decent enough man, but he indiscriminately followed his culture allowing for polygamy. God tolerated polygamy in ancient times (God tolerates a lot of sin!), but made clear through Jesus Christ that this was never his plan. Anyone foolish enough to think it may be neat to have two wives deserves all he has coming to him!
Elkanah lovingly tried to compensate for Hannah’s inability to bear children by giving her a special portion every year when they went up to the temple to worship. This, of course, infuriated Peninnah, who determined that her best course of action was to make Hannah’s life a living hell. She relentlessly tormented Hannah to the point she was an emotional mess and could not even eat. She made her “fret.”
Her husband could not fail to notice her anorexic state of depressed defeatism and grief. How could you dislike a man who tells his childless wife that she means more to him than any ten children? That’s an amazing statement in a culture where women found their identity and self-worth almost entirely in bearing children.
Can you even imagine how it must have been to sit around the dinner table with this family? Peninnah is envious of Hannah’s loving relationship with their common husband. She is obviously the dominant of the two women and pushes Hannah to the edge of despair. Hannah would give anything to give her husband a child. She is envious of Peninnah and reaches out desperately, but what she wants is always just beyond her reach. Peninnah can’t stand it that Hannah has the affection she thinks she deserves, so she becomes a bitter, petty, vindictive person.
Enemies are never the root cause of our frustration and grief. What did our text say? God had shut her womb! God is always opening and shutting things in our lives. Our fulfillment depends our how we respond to God’s work of opening and shutting.
Hannah is cornered. Not even the amazing love of Elkanah can compensate for the hole in her heart. He can love her, but he can’t open her womb. Hannah has one to run to except God. That’s exactly where she needs to turn. God shut her womb; he alone can open it. Through all her frustration and misery she finally comes to the place where God desires all of us to arrive sooner or later — to realize that nothing we have, or nothing we lack or think we have to have is anyone’s fault. When God shuts something, no one can open it. When God opens something, no one can shut it. It’s no one’s fault but God’s.
Enemies are often the very ones who push us to God’s purpose. Hannah is beat. She has no choice but to surrender completely. She throws herself upon God’s mercy and vows that if God will give her a son she will give it right back to him. Bingo! This is what God has wanted all along.
And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. 1 Samuel 1:11
Consecration, surrender. This is the plan. Hannah wanted a son. God wanted to give her a son, but not just any son. He wanted to give her a son who would become one of the most remarkable leaders in the history of Israel. First, Hannah would have to have a kingdom mentality, a mind that puts God’s purposes over individual purposes. It was frustration that drove Hannah to this point of surrender and realization. She finally realized that no one but God would do.
When things don’t go our way, we can always blame something or someone, even ourselves. But it is God who opens and shuts. Only God can help — not friends, family or church. Clearly God can use friends, family or church, but he also has our enemies on his payroll. They are other instruments he has to drive us right smack into his perfect purpose. Peninnah bitterly thought she was making Hannah miserable in her vengeful attempt to find some satisfaction or perverted justice. She was really God’s puppet to drive Hannah to enough frustration to surrender everything.
When you surrender everything to God, you never just have a son; you have a special son. When you surrender everything to God, you never just have a job; you have a special job. When you surrender everything to God, you never just have anything; everything is special. When you surrender everything to God; you have nothing, but you have everything because everything is his.
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD. 1 Samuel 1:20
Samu-el. It’s not uncommon for a Jewish name to have some form of God’s name. El is the basic Hebrew root word for God. Samuel might literally be translated “The God-heard.” Whatever the literal meaning, what she meant was to say that her son’s name would be “the answered prayer.” Every mention of his name would remind her that this was God’s work alone.
Hannah would follow through on her vow to God. Immediately after the child was weaned, she delivered him to the temple for the service of God. That’s what happens when we really do surrender, totally surrender. She would not hold on to her son selfishly, but would give him to God in recognition that everything belongs to him anyway. She would have the satisfaction that few mothers have — her son was God’s instrument to lead an entire nation in time of great crisis.
We can fight people and events and become bitter and small-minded. We can blame our enemies for everything that is wrong in our lives. Or, we can follow frustration to fulfillment, recognizing that God is the one who opens and shuts and that full joy is found in full surrender to his purposes.
I’m Not Going Unless You Go!
Have you ever said or thought this? I have! My introverted personality likes company. No, let me be honest. I like to have someone to lean on while I struggle to overcome my shyness or bashfulness. I don’t like to eat alone, and I don’t like to go to events alone. If I go with someone I know, I feel that have a portable comfort zone with me.
I was pleased to discover that I am not the only person who feels that way. No less than Moses himself suffered from this same complex. Do you remember when God appeared to him in the burning bush commissioning him to go to Egypt and lead his people out? Moses didn’t want to go. He begged God to send someone else. He argued that he was not a good speaker. No problem! God provided his brother Aaron to be his spokesman.
The experience of the ten plagues in Egypt, the Red Sea crossing and many other vivid experiences have matured Moses into an excellent leader. He’s learned to trust God and he has learned to pray. His mountaintop experience with God is now rudely interrupted by news that Aaron and Israel have made an idolatrous golden calf. Both God and Moses are enraged! But, he sobers up quickly when he realizes that God is threatening to wipe out the entire nation and start over again from scratch with Moses.
Moses boldly intercedes and God spares both Aaron and the people. Moses makes no excuses for Israel’s sin, but argues that God’s own name and testimony are at stake. If he eliminates his people, what would the Egyptians and the surrounding tribes think? Though God answers Moses’ prayer, God still maintains a posture of distancing himself from the people.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. Exodus 33:1-3
Can you pick up on a little attitude on God’s part? “You and that people that you brought out of Egypt!” Not, “my people that I brought out of Egypt.” He promises to send an angel to escort them, but he’s not getting anywhere near that sorry group of people!
What’s happening here? I think God is testing Moses’ true motive. Moses made his case to save Israel based on God’s interests and testimony. Now that Moses has the result he wanted – sparing the people – does he still put God’s name and honor at the top of his priority list? Doesn’t that make sense? How long do you remember God after you get from him what you want? I can’t blame God for wanting to be certain that Moses was being honest with him.
Moses passes the test. He realizes that if God doesn’t go, it’s not worth going.
And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. Exodus 33:12-15
This is great progress in spiritual growth in Moses’ life. At first, he didn’t want to without a human crutch. Now, Aaron, his human crutch has been severely compromised by sin. Moses now realizes that there is nothing more important in life than God’s continual presence with us. In essence Moses says, “God, if you don’t go with us, I’m not going either!”
I wonder how often the necessity of God’s presence even enters into our thinking. Do we just seek God when we’re hurting or in some mess? Do we honestly desire his presence with us in every event of life, in every decision and relationship?
I’m afraid we compartmentalize our lives. “God, I really need you to go with me into that courtroom where I’m getting sued, but I’ll just go to the supermarket by myself if you don’t mind.” If he is really everything, then we should need him everywhere. We might as well seek him and desire him, because he’s already everywhere! We just don’t always like to acknowledge his presence.
… and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:20b
Easter PS
What a great day! I loved the services this morning and loved talking to many people, both first time guests and longtime members. I was encouraged by a couple of wonderful testimonies today.
Those of you here in Kansas City remember hearing this past week of the death of firefighter Terrance Crockett. Terrance had a solid testimony of spiritual influence in the lives of his colleagues. His brother James is a member of KCBT, and Terrance had been attending frequently, too. Just recently we chatted after a service in the International Visitors Suite. Today, his brother Jeff stopped by to chat. Terrance had been bringing Jeff to church and encouraging him in his walk. I was blessed to hear Jeff say that his desire was to carry on his brother’s positive influence. Jeff was so grateful for all God had done through his brother, both in his own life and the lives of many others. If you bump into Jeff or James, be sure to encourage them and share your prayers for their family.
Looking out from my post in the International Visitors Suite, I saw a young woman approaching me. She was with a man that seemed to be her father, and she had a protective mask over her nose and mouth. Suddenly, it dawned on me who she was as she approached. This was Michelle for whom I had prayed following a service months ago. Her situation was very precarious. She was in need of both heart and lungs and she was developing dangerous blood clots. They were taking her to Saint Louis for a possible transplant, and her situation was very much in doubt. We prayed together and cried out to God to intervene on her behalf. This time of prayer was a landmark for her and her family and we agreed together that God was able to provide what she needed. We received a wonderful peace that God would answer our prayer.
Here’s the story. Michelle was on the transplant list, but matching organs are rare. All the preparatory studies had been made and she was just waiting. It was late fall and she was still waiting. As she waited, her situation continued to deteriorate. Finally, the doctors told her they had done all they knew to do. There just didn’t seem to be any hope of finding just the right organs for her particular needs. Basically, they were telling her and her parents that she should prepare to die. They were taking her off the list.
They remembered our time of prayer and the confidence that God had given them. They held on to hope against hope. Right after receiving the bad news, the phone rang at 2:30am. Miraculously, just the right organs had become available and they were to report immediately. That was just about three months ago, and today she was walking unassisted through the lobby of our church! Had it not been for the protective shield, you would never have picked her out of the crowd. The doctors are amazed by the speed and strength of her recovery and told her that situations like hers, a call back, happen only two or three times a year anywhere in the world.
Two testimonies — totally different, both victorious. Both based in the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ. I quoted Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15 a couple of times this morning. I am thinking of these other words from the same chapter.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Reflecting on these two encouraging testimonies, I am wondering how I can specifically live my life tomorrow in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every day should be characterized by this supernatural power. If God promises to always give us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, we should never expect any less than victory and should never accept any thing less.
The brother of a dead firefighter could choose to withdraw, become bitter, angry or overcome with sorrow. Instead, he chooses to follow the example of his brother who used his life to positively influence people in the power of the resurrected Christ.
A family faced with insurmountable odds from a human perspective holds on to their confidence in God’s ability to answer prayer. He did. In the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he gave a young woman another chance at life.
Tomorrow, you and I will be faced with decisions, some little and some big. May we make right decisions based in our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Consider Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians.
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:18-23
What’s your testimony of victory? How will the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead change your life this next week?