DON'T HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON ON ETERNAL LIFE...PART II

So the question is, If eternal life is to be experienced now, what does that mean? 

Jesus is life and life abundantly.  Eternal life is to be alive in Jesus in the moment and all moments forward.  Eternal means always.  We are to recognized we are always alive...always. 

Eternal life is a new life-system from above....James 3:13-18. There is nothing like it.  No other system on earth can come close to matching the one sent in by God.  None.

To align to the movement of eternal life is to step from the mood swings and negative innuendos that temporary life crams down our throats.  Nothing negative including death can keep us.  We will break out and through because we possess a life which cannot and will not bow to deepest darkness.  Eternal life always hopes with good cause; Jesus arose.

Eternal life makes and keeps promises.  Those commitments from God are always a yes in the Spirit...II Cor. 1:18-20.  This is why Paul was not stumped in poverty nor in riches...Phil. 4:11. 

The reason we must not hit the pause button on eternal life is there is not a second choice worth holding.  We are designed by the Maker to live a full life; never to be talked out of risk and promise and possibility.  Due to the cross, we can do all things. 

Tightly locked jail cells will not persuade us that we should not sing...Acts 16:22-26!

DON'T HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON ON ETERNAL LIFE

Play.  Pause.  Or stop.

These three significant buttons allow a video to proceed or hold up a sec or to quit; dependent upon the desire of the viewer.  The pause button puts everything on hold.

A very subtle pause button has happened to our walk.  Without realizing it, we have been taught (and passed along the belief) that eternity begins at the resurrection from the cemetery.  Not true.  Eternity is now.  Of course, reference to future eternal life is neither inaccurate nor illegal.  Future, though, is not the only owner of the term eternal.  Eternal life is possessed now.....and forevermore.

so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.  Jn. 3:15

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.  I Tim. 6:12


Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.  I Jn. 3:15



And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  I Jn. 5:11

[ This Is Written That You May Know ] These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.  I Jn. 5:13

And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. I Jn. 5:20

If we proceed in life assuming eternal life is only futuristic, we surely have put enthusiastic routine and energetic daily living on hold; going nowhere but disillusionment and frustration.  We may be trying to live with our pause button engaged.

DISPELLING DISCONTENT

Humanity has a deep hunger for the Spirit of God.  Signs galore show up.  Discontent is a spirit issue.  Circumstances are not problems to the spirit.  We truly can learn to be content in each of them.  Henri Nouwen pointed out we have great need to unmask our many self-deceptive games.  Our first task is to dispel this vague, murky feeling of discontent and to look critically at how we are living our lives.

Nouwen points to two major players in the deceptive discontent game; filled and unfulfilled.  Filled references our busy calendars and unfulfilled reflects our driving nature to live up to the expectation of others.  Both fatigue the heart while stirring the discontent pot to a full boil.

I learned to unpack the discontent of a filled schedule.  I learned it from one person.  He is the only one who taught me such strategy.  No one else approached the subject in a helpful manner.  His name?  Jesus. 

I was watching him one day deal with the lame, sick, blind, and neglected.  Abruptly he walked away from a crowd which had stood in the noon-day heat just to get their chance to meet and greet.  He walked away without explanation.  He was done.  It wasn't that he didn't care.  He appeared spent.

My insecurity balked at this.  A filled calendar was good for my needy ego.  I was in demand.  I was also becoming irritated with the very ones I was to love.  I overheard Jesus give lofty advice one day and I took it.  Friend, let your yes be yes and you no be no.  To break the bondage of self-deception one must let go of what we think other people will think.

Understandably, the discontent of a filled schedule insists, then, that we are unfulfilled for we are not engaged in the things which matter most to our hearts.  We are playing church, playing Good Samaritan, and playing life.  It's all a drama on a stage in front of our neighborly audiences.  Eventually we will become quite weary of living simply to gain their approval.

Nouwen insists this creates boredom, resentment, and depression.  I can tell you I broke from it.  I didn't know if I could or if I would.  I did!  Thus, I say to you that should discontent be stalking you it might be a good idea to see if you are being led by the calendar as well as the expectations of others. 

Learn to say no to the many things in order to get more quality fruit from your steady efforts.  Dispel discontent.  You don't need it and you don't have to incubate it.  Let it go.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSELF

Me:  What do you think impacts the church most favorably toward positive change?

Terry:  It seems an increased awareness of praise toward God has renewed congregation after congregation.  I would have never figured such a move would create such magnitude of blessing; mainly because I was works-focused rather than praise oriented.  Praising God has everything to do with heart focus and divine relationship connection.


Me:  What would you venture to say is one of the most overlooked secrets to opening the kingdom to our walk?

Terry:  This one is easy.  Giving.  Giving is mocked, avoided, and disrespected.  That in itself should tell us something for dark forces blind the church to this substantial secret.  Yet, within it is the truthful key to unlock blessings and glory of God.  Our giving is tied directly to God's grace; His talent and skill within us.  The more we let go of earthly monetary dependence the more we receive heavenly "you've-got-to-be-kidding" provision.  His supply is what we have always wanted...and needed.


Me:  Do you think the Bible is losing its significance in today's modern church?

Terry:  Not at all.  Now some might be downplaying its role, but I think it is so ultra-sharp that it will find culture becoming dull before culture makes such a claim toward the Word.  The Bible is alert to us.  It pierces listening ears all the way to the heart.  We should be gaining confidence in it.  I think we are trusting it more as we learn more.  Its effectiveness is not declining.


Me:  Now that the topic of the Holy Spirit has been reintroduced into the church in the past fifteen years or so, do you think the church has swung to yet another wrong side of the truth pendulum? 

Terry:  I don't think so.  I don't think we have touched the hem of the current garment anymore than we have done so regarding the Father and the Son.  We are way behind and always will be.  I don't see our people leaning toward abuse of the Holy Spirit.  We are, and will hopefully always be, continuing to grow in Him.


Me: Thanks, Terry, for taking the time to let me interview you today. 

Terry:  Ah...no problem.  Stop by anytime.  And hey....remember....everything is a yes!

THE MAJOR FLAW COULD BE EASILY CORRECTED

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them.  for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

For even though they knew God, they did not honor God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures (Romans 1:18-23).

When one cannot live thankfully before God, foolishness of every sort races in.  If we will but tell Him and others why and how and what we are thankful for, new creation lives will come about.  A new humanity will be called out of the depressing old humanity.

HAVE YOU MET HIM? DO YOU KNOW HIM?

I have enjoyed a marathon of Frasier on TV this weekend.  Kelsey Grammer is one of my favorite actor/comedians. 

Years ago I was doing some work at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.  I played ball with some of the former Major Leaguers and went to a game on the last evening which included celebrities from the film and music industry.  I attended just hoping there would be some way I could meet Kelsey Grammer.

My ticket assigned me to a wooden bench along a set of bleachers (recall the movie the bleachers in the lawn by the farmhouse?  They are sitll there) that crammed everyone together pretty snugly.  As my life goes, wouldn't you know that the woman behind me with her knees in my back was Mr. Grammer's girlfriend?

I could not help but overhear her girlfriend and her discussing her boyfriend,  I turned, Y-O-U K-N-O-W H-I-M?  Yes, I sure do honey.  Well, could you arrange it for me to meet him?  Honey, he will be over here to see me in just a minute, I'll introduce you then. 

In a bit Frasier came to the fence in his Sox uniform just before the game to speak to his girl.  Hi honey.  They exchanged small talk a bit and then we got to the good stuff.  Hey this gentleman wants to meet you.  Do you mind?  He was very gracious.  As I hopped from the stands, his friend asked if we would turn for a picture.  I now have a signed 8 x 10 in my office.  Yippee!

I have met Kelsy Grammer; but I don't know him.

I have met Jesus.  And....I know him. 

Do you know Jesus?  Such seems to be a rather archaic religious-sounding probe, does it not; that kind we casually dismiss as meaningless?  However, it is important to know him.

I preached of him for a couple of decades before I began to know him.  How did I make this acquaintance?  I stalked him.  I began to watch him move.  I looked at him; his peace, his vision for the underdog, his ability to avoid being flustered. 

When one reads the Word to get to know Jesus, it reads differently.  Before, I studied it to obtain correct Bible answers.  Yet, I couldn't say that I actually knew him. 

Today?  I have hung around him and with him that I now can say I know what he is like, where he will turn, and how he will respond.  It is an overjoy to study this man in robe and sandals.

I have met Kelsey Grammer, but cannot say I really know him.  I have met Jesus....and am happy to say I've hung out with him.  We are friends.

MEMORIAL DAY....SOLDIERS REMEMBERED

America remembers.  Today we reflect.  We ponder those heroes of years gone by; their submission, their courage, their wounds and deaths.  We remember.

As I was thinking about those in the Navy, Army, etc, I began to think of others in the kingdom of God.  True soldiers of the cross have advantaged us for their bravery and commitment to the wide world's greatest system.

I thought about leaders as Richard Rogers and Cline Paden and Mid McKnight.  I reflected upon Jan Shackelford and Bill Fowler and Lea Landreth who served in the church forces mightily.  These have all passed having offered valuable characteristics to the body of Christ.

And then I began to think of the wounded soldiers who didn't survive attacks in the church.  I won't name them; yet I cannot help but think of several who were once at our side and we at theirs.  But skirmishes of the dark side injured them deeply and they are now wounded and mostly forgotten.

Memorial Day is a meaningful day that we recall the bravery of men and women who went to battle for generations who will never personally know of their valor.  In the process of the day, may we recollect those who have waged war in the church that freedom of the Savior may reign where we live.

AN ACCEPTABLE NORM

Egocentricity abounds among us and within us.  We are most oblivious to our own guilt.  Our world thrives on rights and boundaries and legalities and power.  We barely notice our shortness of patience and understanding with one another or with complete strangers.  It is as if mankind is on the prowl to find offense in order to have opportunity to Barney Fife them.

Due to Adam and Eve's legacy, we are caught in a scenario which constantly blames and perpetually hides behind explanatory words.  It wasn't me.  It was the neighbor.  I didn't cause it.  She did.  Don't look at me.  I told him this would happen.

When God calls us to humility I have begun to believe it is in a lower case than once assumed.  I am an egomaniac. 

We hear steady reports that America is arrogant.  We arrogantly deny the charge.  America is arrogant.  So is Cuba...and Mexico....and....  Arrogance doesn't come about because of a nationality; but rather due to being a person from the lineage of Adam and Eve.

Thus, we must take our conversion in Jesus deeper than pointing to a baptism date.  We are to take on the very robes of humility he laid down at the cross.  We are to die to ourselves that others might live.  To live to ourselves and for ourselves is an unacceptable norm. 

May we labor in the truth that others are healed when we are wounded; that others have the hope of living when we submit to dying.  This....is an acceptable norm.

JACK GILL....A HUMBLE HERO

I rarely use this blog to mention one of Memorial Drive's members when they die.  Today is an exception.  Jack Gill died at St. John's hospital this afternoon.  He was a dear gray-headed Teddy Bear of our sweet Memorial family.

This gentle man knew much about life in a children's home but very little about himself.  At age three he was abandoned to live in an orphanage with about 30 other three year olds.  Much later in life this single man was discovered by our youth group working at Tulsa's Day Center for the Homeless.  He worked there full-time.  Our teens went down once a week for a few hours. 

Maybe for the first time in his life, he was adopted....by our teens. 

Jack Gill was shy and humble, soft-spoken and friendly.  The man moved among us with never a step toward intrusion or sarcasm; it wasn't in him.  He was always wide-eyed to and complimentary of the wonderful things God was doing within the body at Memorial.  He was especially sensitive to any teens who might have felt abandoned; even in their own home.  It is easy to understand why.

When Memorial Drive met this man, he was our introduction into the community of those in humble need.  We were his life in Christ.  He became an icon to the Memorial family that those who didn't have as much had very much to share.  Jack Gill was an ambassador of Christ to get the church to move out of its smug and distancing ways.  We really needed him to teach us to plow deeper ground into a meaningful new field...compassion for the people around us.

I once found Jack waiting on the roadside in the hot afternoon sun for the next bus.  I circled the block to give him a ride.  Recently Mary and I were at lunch at the Jones...and there was Jack...so happy to be at the table.  As usual, I never heard him complain.  He was living the high life of fellowship with a church that was being groomed like the Son.  We gave him a ride to his apartment.  It was as if a docile teen was being given a lift home....thanking us all the way.

Only recently did he discover that Jack Gill was not his official name.  Rather Oliver Cummings was his handle.  Being my weird personality I would at times refer to him as Joliver....for he was jolly.

He said that Craig Hicks and the youth group of those years ago saved his life when they served at the Day Center and drew him in.  I would guess such is an accurate statement for Jack wasn't of the nature to exaggerate.  I'm guessing he needed such a grand connection.  Too, I would guess that Jack Gill began to turn the emphasis at Memorial Drive for he opened our eyes to the vast wealth buried among the poor.  He didn't only need us. 

We (I) really needed him.  We will always be rewarded at our church because of the things Joliver taught us. He is one of our humble heroes.

Later Jack....or Oliver....or Joliver!  Enjoy your brand new day today...and 10,000 years from now!

PEOPLE ARE SO IMPORTANT

In case you hadn't noticed, people are important to God.  He started us.  His Son came to rescue us.  His Spirit is here to work from us that we might bless....people.

I carry a burden and a guilt and a joy for people.....you in particular.

• The burden is that I am convinced people don't know their own value.  From the homeless to the celebrity (and I have dealt with both a lot), there is a clear sense of self-disappointment.  I live to tell people in some way of their value.  Many have helped me through my own self-disappointment by believing in me when I felt to be a sure and lousy failure.
• The guilt is I really, really, really love people.  Relationships snowball for so many deserve to know of their extreme value to my heart.  I live to spread this word.  However, calendar and health and family and increasing people-connections are causing me to notice I am slacking in the upkeep of most significant relationships.  This is a new zone for me and I don't like it.  All people are far too important to cause any to feel ignored.  Thus, sure guilt.
• The joy is over-the-top awesome.  I know incredible people.  Some preach, some have small group clusters, others are business people up and down my streets.  I believe in people; not just who they are but who they will clearly become because of the large grace and huge mercy of God within them. I am proud of people.

People are so important.  The reason I feel called by God is that far too many in the church see Truth without a sense of the glory in their midst...people.  Thank you....each of you who choose to love me in the center of my burden, guilt, and joy.  You are most valuable.  You make a clear difference. 

Thank you.

WHEN WE THINK WE DON'T DESERVE THE FRUSTRATION

Opportunity indwells undeserved restriction.  When imposition barges into our quarters with cuffs in hand, don't flinch.  New life exists through it; not around it.  Enter bondage with the freedom God will release in due time; in perfect time.

Joseph surely is a hero to the enslaved spirit.  He motivates me nearly every day.  I try to remember the Joseph-secret; a pit is pregnant with a potential leadership role.  Yet, Joseph (just as we are inclined) didn't see it that way.

Only keep me in mind......I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon (Gen. 40:14-15).  In other words, I don't deserve this frustration.

R.T. Kendall wrote, Joseph's gift of interpreting dreams needed to be matched by an equal measure of infused grace---the fruits of the Spirit---so that his anointing could function to edify everyone, not just himself.  This would be done not only by totally forgiving his brothers but by seeing how God could elevate him without Joseph having anything to do with it!  It happened when Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret---and the cup bearer remembered Joseph.  God has a way of finding us in the most unlikely places.  He wants to set us free from our dungeons without our pulling strings.

Surely each day brings us face to face with stress we did not create on our own.  Someone may have sold us out (as Joseph's brothers).  We may sense complete inadequacy.  The good news is that when our hands are tied and we can contribute nothing to the process, God's moves are most luxurious. 

When we think we don't deserve the frustration such just might be true.  That God can work from it without our wise contribution is the thrilling and anticipatory next step.

METICULOUS AND PROPER....JESUS WASN'T

There is a reason inner city works for the church.  It is the very place Jesus would be found. 

Jesus was not a tidy believer in God.  He was a faithful one.  Jesus is the heart of God with hands and feet.  He consistently drifted toward those we avoid.  The mark of the true church?

William Willimon wrote, Once upon a time, a farmer went forth to sow and did what: carefully, meticulously prepared the ground, removed all the rocks and weeds, and sowed one seed six inches from another?  No.  The farmer, without preparation, just went out and began to sling seed.  This is farming Jesus-style.

One of the characteristics that reflects Jesus in the present church system is the growing heart for touching the downtrodden and the rejected.  While I write this blog in the confines of comfort, thousands of Christians are milling through the tornadic ruins of Joplin.  Thousands of more believers are sending funds.

The church is most like Jesus when daring to cross the street into the zone of the broken, handicapped, and ignored of our society.  We view such a move with reserve.  Jesus pursued the same with abandon.

The Son was not meticulous and proper.  In reality they crucified him for seeking, reaching, and saving the wrong kind.  May we be so committed to the other side of the tracks.

JUDGMENT DAY...TODAY?

The media is giving ample coverage to those claiming that the present world as we know it comes to a halt by early evening.  Interesting speculation about the speculation abounds.  Another group countered with tomorrow's "We Are Still Here Day".

So many forecasts for the actual arrival date of Jesus' return have come and gone over the years and decades that wouldn't it be just like God to reappear on someones actual predicted date?

I don't know how these who go public with their Second Coming calculations reach such conclusions.  A note I would make is that this is yet another tactic of opposing forces to distract good people into disbelieving.  Anytime the Christian world makes bold claims which do not prove actual, the kingdom reputation takes a severe hit.

Faith surely is legit.  Too, it will carry us into the unexpected as well as the unforeseen glory of His presence.  Because man is capable of admission that there truly is the One Living God, fierce opposition is hurled our way to insert the slightest doubt.  Therefore, each of us will  be more effective believing with conviction without predicting God's timetable.

From the Word I see that we are to call all to believe in the Son as long as it is called "Today".  When he will return...it could actually be today.  The Word would call all to be prepared for his reentry each and every day.  That is a fact worth absorbing.

Naming the arrival date would not be a call I would feel comfortable making.  Should this man-prediction today prove empty it could lead another generation of mockers to innocently assume the authentic God-call is invalid.

THE CHURCH CYCLE

There seems to be a pattern among us.  It is a broken one which might need attention for we all want to correct it the best we can.  I speak of the younger wanting to be more aggressive in church advancement than the older.

I heard of a church in Mississippi that was arguing over the new idea which had arisen where the church sung without hymnals.  There was generational debate when an aged man spoke up recalling the new invention which disrupted the church when he was just a kid.  The new invention?  Songbooks.

Recognizing some old never age and some young have old ways, I speak in generalities which I think we understand.  The tendency of the older is to form ruts of tedium or even impasse.  I am now in that older age range so I do try to speak fairly as now I have lived in both; young and old. 

Here's the evident problem.  The young want to move forward and when we do we tend to want to preserve our assumed faith and wisdom when such practices may not fit the next new group.  I think we are stuck in such cycles.  The new may feel new; yet our practices are the same old ruts of the last century; arguing over change.

How shall we navigate these roads better?  For one, I don't know of any generation that has set the world ablaze by their tactics.  Yes, how I have heard the church was the fastest growing of any churches in the 60s.  Yet, something isn't right when "youth ministry" was invented in the 70s because the young were leaving the church in droves.

So what do we do?  For now I think we simply realize what might be true in these words.  I would assume I am off a bit here and there.  Such is my point.  Hasn't each generation been off a bit with its movement?  Haven't the young and the old been a bit immature while working in the greatest system on earth?  I think we have.

Perhaps such a view would help all of us a great bit.  Maybe if we could weigh, assert, consider, and yield from one point and then another, we might find the voice of God to be more coherent among us.  We recall His people fussed and jabbed once moved through one of the most miraculous moves of God; the Red Sea Escape.

Sure we could be of the same disposition; disgruntled.  Sure we could be missing the Life at the end of the promise.  Yes, all generations are capable of stumbling over one another missing the target of God's vision.

The church cycle is a human one.  It is a circular wandering in the wilderness of fear of God's call.  Thus, we feel better wandering and debating, wandering and debating.  Yet, I think it remains true.  We love it when we hit the path of the Christ.  It isn't the easiest road nor the safest.  It is always the most satisfying.  And such is the pattern of the cross.

A FEW THINGS I'VE LEARNED OVER CHURCH TIME

1. It is important to learn to talk more of Jesus than the church.
2. Personal defensiveness strangles necessary information.
3. God was correct.  Every member of the body is important.
4. As grand as the Holy Spirit is, he continues to get a bad rap in the church.
5. No secret loosens the glory of heaven upon earth like that of a believer becoming a good giver.
6. Dependency upon God should not be a last resort.
7. All members do better if they sense you believe in them.
8. Guilt is a poor excuse for motivation.
9. When prayer is not in the context of a personal walk with God....there is no prayer.
10. Jesus is the perfect image of God in skin.

A MISTAKEN DOCTRINE WHICH HOLDS THE CHURCH AT BAY

Miracle have ceased flows from our people without serious thought.  It has been programmed into our branch of the body of Christ.  Automatic reflexes of unstudents are quick to whisk away charges of anything deemed as phenomenal by the charge, Don't you know miracles have ceased?

Strangely, this post isn't about miracles.  It is about the insensitive language we toss about which kills off what this post is about....faith. 

A mistaken doctrine which holds the church at bay is that faith is a sub-standard of miracle.  Faith is surely significant; but is surely not erratic and wild as those miracle-claiming sort.  Faith is more dignified; more stable compared to pentecostal flim-flam of miraclization. 

Thus faith has become a step; one of the five.  It has become subdued.  Yes, many would agree, that faith is important, but it is admittedly tamed.

Really?

Read again Romans 4:17-25.  God can create something from nothing and give life to the dead.  He then recalls the tremendous story of Abraham and Sarah; how they were great-grandparenting age when they had their own child.  Read it again.

Tell me.  Is the word miracle used throughout this text?  Or is it the word faith? 

I believe the church will step into a very great and new room when it concludes faith is miraculous.

A DOCTRINAL SOLUTION TO OUR DOCTRINAL CHALLENGES

In the 70s the front burner of debate was the authority of elders.  The church was hot over it...and many congregations split.  In the 80's the contest was over workshops.  The church was hot over it...and many congregations split.  In the 90s the revisiting of the Holy Spirit topic came into focus.  The church was hot over it...and many switched congregations one more time.  In 00's the challenge was over unity.  The church was hot over it...and many congregations split over unity.  In the 10's the issue is women's role and instrumental music.  The church is hot over it...and more on both side slip through the back door.

We have a problem, church, and it isn't any of the above.  We are reaping the weeds of a displaced doctrine which is the cure-all for every ailment; past, present, and future.  The true church has lost its love for the true God.  Our obsession with knowing Truth has betrayed us by leading us into a zone of no God; but much law.

I speak from personal awareness.  As a preaching minister I had a respect for God; but basically no relationship with Him.  Rarely would I pray.  Never would I allow Him to talk to me for our doctrine said that was out.  I believed it...gladly.  I didn't want to be one of "them".

I can't tell you when it happened.  Probably when we quit singing songs at church and began to be called to worship (I speak only of my own experience for others are surely not that way).  I noticed a gradual imagination of God's presence, involvement, and leadership.  I began to visit with Him at unofficial times...throughout the day.

It is my conviction that the church is in a bit of a quandary today for many seem to be lethargic in their participation.  Not in our classes or terribly late, there does not seem to be the attention more in the church had in years past.  Too much grace is claimed as the culprit.  I don't think so.

From reading church history, and living in it once converted, I think the church fundamentally did not possess a love-infatuated relationship with God.  Instead we had a guilt one.  Our people (me included) were motivated by guilt.  Once we refrained from our harsh tongue-lashings and warnings in public settings, the result seems to be a clear let-down.

The solution to this doctrinal challenge is that the church may need to go back to Commandment 101 and learn to dearly, frantically, perpetually LOVE GOD.  Love for Him is our motivation.  If we don't love Him we will not respond to the next command of 102; love our neighbors.  Love for Him will drive us to love others. 

The solution is not to restore guilt among us.  The answer is to check the heartbeat of the true church.  It could be it has coasted on exteriors for decades while being quite unclean for a lack of love for the Father on the inside.

ALWAYS A ROOKIE

Okay.  I have an announcement to make.  You know those days when you are young and you think you will turn that corner where you finally have no need to learn any further; that you will have your purpose and understanding of it pretty much wrapped up?  You know....those times you guestimate you will have sufficient grasp of both your role and your task at hand?

Yet, whether 30s or 40s or 50s and now mid-60s, someone seems to be moving the stakes.  Whatever we seem to conquer brings with it a new level of challenge. 

I was telling one in our small group tonight about my interest in working on a vision committee at Memorial.  I was explaining that I don't have specifics in mind; that I just want to be supportive of some of the younger leaders who have a sense for the future.  But I will tell you one thing I feel strongly about.  I'm not interested in going into massive debt over whatever we might deem a godly direction. 

Her response was so wise and so simple; Yes, Terry, and that's because of our age.  We no longer want the burden of debt.  But the younger ones will be willing to tackle it just as we did when we were in our 30s and 40s. 

No kidding.

There I go again.  I'm too old to be a rookie.  Yet, I am a rookie in the sense I have never functioned in some of the zones from this age platform before.  This is why we must have the Spirit to bear the right kind of fruit at any and every age. 

There will always be challenges.  There will always be risks.  There will always be times we find our backs to the wall because such moments usher in the the beautiful rescue and response of God. 

Hmmm.  I am a rookie....still.  I will always be a rookie....and I like it for rookie means there are some things of which I am still young....like learning.

WATCH FOR GOD

Our work entails sensitivity to kingdom matters.  A problem with this grand call of ours is that the flesh will be happy to leap ahead of the invisibles and take charge.  We are called to live sensitive to the Spirit.

A study which continues to bless me is Experiencing God by Blackaby and King.  Oddly, I never studied the book.  A group of women at Memorial did.  Their conclusions changed Memorial; its leadership, its followship, and me.

The thrust is to abstain from fleshly ideas and then trying to get God to endorse our work.  Instead, we are to watch for God and get on board with where He is laboring.

Watching for God changes our lives...if we are operating from the flesh-mind and flesh-strength.

ONE OF OUR JOBS IS TO TURN THE TABLES

Jesus was the Master of showing life while living.  Some, even today, can move about obviously breathing and interacting with others; yet not really alive.  Their calendars are alive; but spirits seem dead.

Jesus found us.  He found some at a well.  Others in a ditch.  Still others butting uninvited into a party where he was guest.  He found some of us in our search for him.

What did we find when he found us or we discovered him? 

He believed in us.  Jesus believes in us.  This is mysterious, marvelous, and magic.  Jesus believes in the "are nots" that we can "become".  The Son is sure of our goodness buried within when we can't fathom he could see anything good.

When we discover we have been discovered to be of goodness because Jesus is certain it is there, we turn the tables to begin to believe in others who don't believe in themselves.

Here's what I often find when turning the tables.  I will tell someone how good they are.  Out of humility and definitive conviction, do you know what is mostly said back to me?  Oh, you don't know the real me.

I've never met the pauper or the celebrity that I didn't know the pure real them.  They are so wretched to the core that Jesus was beaten to a public pulp for them.  That's how ungood they are.  Yet, when he cleans up he really cleans up!  Jesus set the woman at the well free.  He sets us free. 

We can turn the tables.  We have been set free to set others free.  Believe me everyone needs it.

When you wonder about your purpose in life, one of the more honorable deeds you have been called to perform is to believe the pitiful into power.  This is a gigantic task, a feasible purpose, and a most rewarding fruit. 

Turn the tables.  Believe in others when they can guess of no reason why.  You....will make a difference.

DARE TO THINK FOR YOURSELF

There are times we are responsible to go solo.

1. Climb out on the proverbial limb. 
2. Take hold of a proverbial saw. 
3. Begin hacking.

I believe very much in the team, body, and group concepts.  Colleagues, as marriages, are powerful connections of which we flourish due to significant support gathered.  Yet, this post regards the need for individuality of a keen sense; bravery.

I speak of courage to believe alone regardless of others' stances and positions.  In the church I find the tendency to believe as a herd to be most prevalent....and quite weakening.  Run into friends at games or coffee shops and note the laughter of mutual fellowship with simultaneous oblivion to fundamental--and self-studied, self-concluded--Truth.  We tend to believe what the others believe; even if no one knows what that is or how we got there.

In 1974 I began to preach for a church of eight people in Kahoka, MO.  I carried my Bible to the pulpit each Sunday; but not before I searched the writings of men like J.W. McGarvey and R.L. Whiteside to find out what I and those in front of me believed.  (And have you ever noted the J.W., R.L., Foy E. and C.R. trend among us?) 

Honorable was my goal.  I wanted to preach the Word.  II Timothy 4:2 was appropriately our Preaching School motto.  J.W. and R.L. had a bead on Truth so I coasted with them.  While these and others are surely worthy of being read, the danger is one would conclude a J.W. and R.L. faith....which might just be lacking if Truth were really known.

I was co-dependent upon writers for I was also scared of my own conclusions.  Double the trouble because I didn't trust God with His if they didn't match J.W. and R.L.  This had to stop.

Somehow, somewhere, sometime I began to explore the Bible on my own without a cord tied to Church Fathers and Brothers.  I began to wonder about the Word itself.  The subject of the Holy Spirit quickly arose.  No one around me believed He worked.  I don't mean no one believed Him; but rather no one in my circle of preacher support, etc. had such a view.  Basically, we believed what the loudest herd believed; the Holy Spirit subsided with the miracles.  Done.  Over.  Nada.

I don't know how others found that the Holy Spirit works directly in our lives but no person or writing shared such with me.  Yet, the Word said so and would not quit saying so.  I debated for awhile with the Word and it won out.

I say pay attention to all who advise.  Sort the wheat from the chaff.  But do not underestimate the power and delight of God in you to reveal things no one has yet to discover.  Treasures---undiscovered treasures---are yet to be uncovered in the Word just as there are plentiful new discoveries coming from culture itself. 

The Word of God has been revealed; but it's revelation has not begun to be excavated.  Dig in, dig up, and dig out the most profound Truth.  J.W. and R.L. and even T.R. haven't uncovered all there is to be known from the one heavenly volume.

IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN TO A GUY LIKE ME

Why do the strangest of things happen to me?  Weird things.  Often wonderful things.  Why?

Saturday I was returning from the Pepperdine Lectures.  It was 6:30 Saturday morning.  The word was that we better anticipate a lengthy time passing through security at LAX due to Bin Laden's surmise.  I decided to abide by the warning.  There might be trouble.

Trouble?  Oh, that was the word!

After check-point #1, I moved with the herd to remove my shoes and empty my pockets to pass through the scanner.  As I walked through the body scanner, I was facing the rollers.  My shoes and belt came through.  Shoes were back on and I was just beginning to thread my belt through two loops when booming T-R-O-U-B-L-E was shouted followed by every agent yelling out TROUBLE en mass.  It put the fear in the crowd.

There I was facing the rollers, two agents, and then the wall behind them.  Seven other lines of scanning are going on; but all are to my back.  I immediately noted they were looking at my luggage in the scanner.  Too, I started looking around to see what was happening.  Everyone had frozen from the very loud declaration.

As I turned to see if anything was happening behind me a young female agent said sharply, Mister!  Don't move! 

Ummmm....could I tell you right here that the timing of one scanning my luggage, TROUBLE being shouted, and Mister! Don't move! that I felt a bit self-conscious?  Does this appear to be a routine inspection or have I just been flushed out as an under-cover terrorist from Oklahoma? 

Now Don't move! needs further explanation, I think.  Don't move what?  Don't move your feet?  Don't move your eyes?  What?  Understandably, I had a few questions.  So I turned to see what was happening behind me.  I wanted to know if they were all ashamed of me for actually bringing tweezers in my bag.  Good grief!  I didn't mean anything by it!

So I turned without moving my feet.  In my world this is not moving...compared to running or jumping.  I could see agents everywhere while all passengers stood frozen.  I saw possibly the sheriff of the agents moving about quickly while conferring on a walkie-talkie.  Whoops....this didn't look good.  I had never been in an assassination attempt before. 

But as I swiveled (not moving my feet because she said clearly not to move), the guard upped her warning.  In deeper conviction she said, MISTER!  DO NOT MOVE!  Her eyes riveted on me; I got the message.  So there I stood, belt through two loops guided by my left hand while my right hand was 18 inches in front of me holding the end of the belt.

I stood completely immobile as I have always been a very good abider when about to be executed in front of who-knows-how-many-rifles are aimed my direction.  And I really can do instructions once they have been defined.  Don't move evidently did mean Don't move!  So I whispered softly to her....sorry, but couldn't help it....without moving my lips, Is it okay i_ I thread _y _elt(Couldn't get the"f" and the "m" and the "b" out without moving my lips)? 

At this point she had just about had it with me.  To my sympathy, I had never been uncovered in a world organization terrorist plot before, and I simply was slow at getting the picture.  So she ramped up her irritation with me in very harsh tones, M-I-S-T-E-R!  I  S-A-I-D  D-O  N-O-T  M-O-V-E! 

Okay, now I think I have it.  Don't move.  Don't move my feet.  Don't move my belt.  Don't move my lips.  This way the sharp shooter can have access to my back should he need to fire at me for bringing those tweezers.  Great....and I had just put in an offer on a great house back in Tulsa. 

So we stood.  It probably was two minutes?  Three?  It felt like forever.  Yet, because I could not seem to drain any extra information from tight-lipped Ms. Barney Fife, I stood still just waiting to be cuffed and hauled away. 

Finally a loud shout of CLEAR! rang.  Everyone started to move about.  I moved last.  I looked at the young Ms. Fife and said, What was that all about?  Shrugging she said, Oh, that was just a drill?

My life passed before me and it was just a drill? 

So here is what I have learned:

• When going through security try to chose a line which faces all other lines in case you are told to freeze.  You can at least stare into the faces of the terrorized.
• When told not to move you can still let your heart beat and wet your pants.
• When someone yells TROUBLE they don't mean it really.  It is only a drill.  But...you still should stand still.

LIFE: HOW TO FIND IT

Someone said that if Satan can't bury you in discouragement he will distract you from God with your success....something like that.

Life is a challenge, is it not?  A thing that concerns me about people is so many appear to be dead while they live.  These are just getting by.  It isn't a faith which moves them day by day; but rather a mere existence to just make it another 24 hours.

Here are some ideas which strangle life from us:

• Uncontrollable spending
• Hurried calendars
• Multiple tools of communication available
• Self-pity

Here are counter ideas for life:

• Build a speaking-term relationship with God
• Know Jesus
• Believe the Holy Spirit operates directly in us
• Grow in giving
• Strengthen prayer time

From dealing with literally thousands over the years I make this stark observation; far too many people are too lazy and too undisciplined to really live.  My word for any who struggle....take the time to live; really live.

HOW TO MOVE FROM DEPRESSION

God gave me an insight of wisdom last week while at Pepperdine.  I can't recall how I realized this; yet I think it significant.

I speak from experience.  Depression is a treacherous, day and night killing, foe.  I've hung out in its damp caverns for years.  Not so much in the last ten.

Something hit me last week which explains it.  One depressed has a complete lack of a kingdom ingredient.  Those depressed do not praise.

This observation is not a criticism of when we are down.  Rather it is the pathway out.  Praise is our pass to keep from going to the ugliest of jails.  Praise.

Praise is relatively new to me.  Yes, I sang songs from day one of being converted.  But, I wasn't praising God.  I was doing worship right; a Capella.  Not until Hallal's worship team and then Allen French and Shane Coffman came along have I begun and grown in praise.

When one is tied up in gripping darkness of depression, praise is not voiced.  On the other hand, Paul and Silas weren't depressed.  They could have been.  I wouldn't have blamed them.  Instead, they praised God and the entire jail fell down.  When they praised God, others nearby were converted. 

I believe that if we will praise God our cell doors will fly open....Phil. 4:4-9.

How can one move from depression?  Learn to Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.

THE CHALLENGE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

As fast as we can hope, we seem to be smitten with concerns.  The church is always in a state of mobility and transition because of God's insistent call that we mature.  Maturity, by the way, is for all of us.  I don't believe we ever arrive by any specific age.

So what shall we anticipate as the need for the next few generations? 

It is my conviction that it will be the same as is for ours; learn to live the abundant life of Jesus. 

We are still learning if we are growing.  Some appear satisfied that the church pattern has been restored and/or the plan of salvation is in tact.  But many of us who also held these convictions found ourselves deeply and miserably lacking.  We knew scripture (several scriptures); yet, we knew not Jesus.

He wrecks our fat satisfaction of assumed doctrinal discovery and will not let us go on with our rote messages as if we are the only ones in our generation to have discovered the Truth.  Odd, I think, that we have simultaneously declared we had Truth completed while just getting started in learning of the Jesus of the streets.

The challenge of the future generations will be similar to our own; to avoid assuming they have come upon the very and final truth God ever wanted.  For if it, too, does not have its conversation, conversion, or salvation embedded completely into a brilliant relationship with Jesus....these will also fumble and flounder in their faith.  It will look just like ours anytime we hung our hats on any bright idea others had as to how to really follow God.

If Jesus isn't the center, the message is the wrong one.  This will be the challenge for the future generations.

PEPPERDINED

I returned a few hours ago from the Pepperdine Lectures; fatigued and elated.  This year was no different.  The event was simply a profound success. 

Jerry Rushford did that thing he does as good as any I know.  He orchestrated an exhausting combination of speakers, events, programs, and dinners.  Thousands attend.  All are blessed.  Nothing has been created to say "Thank you" well enough.  Nothing.

BTW....Jerry and I continue to laugh about how some mix our names and even mix our events.  A lady complained to me that I never put her on the program...and she thought I was Jerry Rushford.  This week, on two separate occasions, individuals referenced me as Terry Rushford.

From Chris Smith to Don McLaughlin, the keynoters were certainly on key.  God helped me with my three classes with His style of participation which left me extremely satisfied and grateful.  He did it.

Hallal is always on.  Friday night's Children's Chorus was an absolute home run.  Overall, my favorite thing is noting the age of the crowd---up there in years---who still hungers to learn from the Word.  They aren't there to seek Branson.  They find great joy in learning of the King.

On a side note I can tell I am one of those getting up there in years.  I've always struggled with the terrain; going uphill so steeply.  NEVER had it even occurred to me I would be in pain going downhill.  Calves ached going up.  Shin splints going down.  What will it be like when I turn 64?

PEPPERDINE BOUND

As Inspector Clouseau might say regarding the Tulsa Preacher's Luncheons I experienced in the late 70s, They were very strenge.  If one didn't agree with the main guys at the table right down the center stripe of the church highway, such a one was in trouble.  I....was in constant trouble.

What surprised me were the times I would believe some of the things voiced as if they were true.  I knew no differently.  I just assumed these loud talkers were somewhat in the zone of accuracy.  Not.

One of the great (and positive) surprises to come my way was when I first went to the Pepperdine Lectures.  It had been repeated at these noon roasts that the above university has cast away all connections to the Bible; specifically to the Church of Christ version of the Bible.  I assumed what I heard was probably accurate.

So I went out to Malibu a few years later. 

Shocked!  Surprised and shocked!  In awe and surprised!

Jerry Rushford puts on one of the most biblically sound lectures ever.  This guy is serious about the Word.  He does have life to him which (to the grumps) would make him suspect, I guess.  But I was pleased then and am pleased yet today to experience session after session of the Bible being presented and discussed.  The speakers are serious about the kingdom of God.

I love it! 

Due to travel for several days, I will only get back to this blog when back home.  In the meantime, keep up the good work of loving the thoughts of kingdom progress.  It is happening!

HAVE WE REMEMBERED TO LIVE?

Pressure.

Every day and every event and every appointment....we are faced with a significant dilemma.  There is a greater need for 28 hour days.

Time flies.

It seems like it was just yesterday that we believed Y2-K or something was coming down the pike where once the new century blew in all of the computers would melt and all of the microwaves would wave good-bye.  It didn't happen...whatever that Y2 thing was called.

It's already May-Eve at this writing.  We no longer move about day by day and week by week.  Oh, we say we do; but in reality we live from holidays---Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Spring Training, and then we are facing Memorial Day again. 

One of the things I see in Jesus is he didn't operate by clocks nor calendars.  He operated by God and by people.  Mary was insistent regarding her dead brother Lazarus.  Did Jesus drop everything and rush out in a panic?  No.  He dallied.  What's up with that?

Concerns and dreads and threats and pains weary the soul.  So what should we do about it?  I think we should do the same thing God called the Israelites to do when they escaped through the Red Sea.  We need to trust Him.

Instead they moaned and groaned, claimed and blamed, as they wasted their years going in pitiful and non-productive circles.  I enjoy the dally moments as Jesus when I'm not going in circles.  I've learned over the years that not everyone's panic is my problem.  Yes, I'm viewed precisely as was Jesus by Mary.  Yet, a thing I am perpetually learning from Jesus is that while I'm living on this earth...I'm really alive!

I once lived life as if it were a deadening experience.  No more!  Jesus gave us life abundant and I say let's do it!

LIVING SOMEONE ELSE'S SCRIPT FOR LIFE?

I am preparing for Pepperdine's Lectures which entail three classes on my new book, MVP!  It is really weird reading my own book.  I love the content so much that I find myself re-intrigued in the hope God clearly offers His fragile sheep.

I was reading a John Eldredge quote, I realized I was living a script written for me by someone else.  All my life I had been asking for the world to tell me what to do with myself.  This is different from seeking counsel or advice; what I wanted was freedom from responsibility and especially freedom from risk.  I wanted someone else to tell me who to be.

Thank God it didn't work.  The scripts they handed me I simply could not bring myself to play for very long.  Like Saul's armor, they never fit.  Can a world of posers tell you to do anything but pose yourself?  As Buechner says, we are in constant danger of being not actors in the drama of our lives but reactors, "to go where the world takes us, to drift with whatever current happens to be running to the strongest."

Do you know why I like this so much?  It was the truth about who I was.  I didn't go to a four-year college because I thought it was too hard and I was too inadequate.  I possess no degrees.  And what did God give me?  Hard work in ministry.  I didn't escape it!  Nor did I escape wandering around trying to be the successful people rather than be myself.

I urge you to stop the insanity.  Look at who you are.  Are you really you or are you somebody elses you?

It will take incredible guts to make the break.  From experience I can tell you that it is a marvel prison break.  Make plans to dig out tonight!

WHAT DOES THE CROSS HAVE TO DO WITH A BAD HAIR DAY?

The Cross remains a marvel and mystery of profound meaning.  It clears our sinuses in the process of defining what matters.

The Cross positioned us to watch for hope to be coming just around the corner.  Death had to be rugged for arisen life to look so....to look so ALIVE!  We now know of the miracle of all miracles; the resurrection of Jesus.  And....WE BELIEVE IT!

If you don't believe that, then all else is truly done in vain.  Without the Cross bad hairs days are truly worth our hiding under the covers never to be heard from again.  But if you believe the marvel of the Cross, then everything else fits the category of a mere and wimpy bad hair day...these struggles weren't what we wanted but they are minor in the scheme of God's glorious provision.

What does the Cross have to do with a bad hair day?  When we believe he really died and then was back a half a week later....no hope escapes us!

GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS

I'm at one of those forks in the road or maybe a hill to climb.  I don't know.  I think I am in a learning mode.  Therefore, I am going to lay it out there hoping some of you will join in with your concepts, etc.

The question is, Where are we going?  Specifically, how are we to determine in the local work where we are going?  Another way of framing the question would be, What is our purpose?

To all of the above I can rattle off all sorts of main answers.  However, I am puzzled of late as to our historic answers.  So many of them seem to be based upon answers which satisfy the flesh.  If the flesh can measure and tabulate, then we must know where we are going.  Really?  I don't think that way anymore.

But I wonder what you may have learned over time that would help me.  I'm not interested in trite answers which please the flesh.  I want to know what the Spirit thinks; what the Spirit expects from us. 

Well...I've rambled enough to give you the picture I am searching for our direction.  I have thoughts.  I have strong ideas.  And...for your safety, I'm not waiting to see what you suggest and then give you the right answer in the next post.  I really want to know how you see the direction of the local church and what you believe would help us to get there.

For one, I could use your ideas regardless of how weak or powerful you deem them to be.

Thank you.

OPPORTUNITY BEFORE OUR VERY EYES

I'm not against Monday night's "Labor in the Kingdom" or Thursday evening's "Win One for the Master" ministries a church might schedule.  These matter....and they produce.  Yet, I can't help but notice something about Jesus; he was "on" all of the time. 

Jesus was so alert to those in his path.  We might be a bit programmed to see kingdom opportunity only when it scheduled upon that not-so-biblical unit called the filled church calendar.  It is possible we miss glorious God-events because the calendar didn't note it as significant.  Possible? 

I had one of those special unscheduled moments this morning.  I love people.  I think they work hard and get little respect for being good and responsible in their efforts. 

I was sitting in my #1 hole-in-the-wall cafe this morning studying my car book, Why Jesus.  I am content to simply read and sip.  Still, I kept noticing the richness of the moment. There I was in a restaurant full of strangers; none bothering the other and all engaged either in conversation or scanning the paper.

I wondered to myself, What is it that can be done to direct these toward Jesus (realizing many in there may be more in tune with him than me)?  Everyone was going about their own business.  And they were so sweet.  The day may come when my eyes are too dim or my ears too weak or my body simply immobile to enjoy such a privileged sight.

Then it occurred to me.  I have church funds set aside for community outreach.  I called the waitress over and told her to gather the tickets of everyone.  Her eyes got big, All of them?! 

She quietly gathered all tickets and I met her at the register.  I told her to tell them when they got ready to pay, The church up the street with the funny roof wishes you a Happy Easter!

What will God do with that move?  Ah....I believe something meaningful.  The fun part is I don't control what it is.

Opportunity is before our very eyes.  Our joy is to imagine it.

TOP 10 GOOD ADDICTIONS

Could there be good addiction as there is good cholesterol?  I think so.  And, if so what would such be?

Consider ten things we feel like we just have to have in our walk:

• We crave the Word.
• We hunger to be around His people.
• We deeply desire to be outstanding givers.
• We starve for ways to share hope with the discouraged.
• We have a passion for building others up.
• We need opportunity to walk like He did.
• We yearn for the hopeless to know what we know.
• We long for God's Holy Spirit to work beyond our imaginations.
• We covet the New Creation God promises.
• We are obsessed with seeing loneliness in others eradicated.

THAT CHURCH MAGIC

Teens aren't the only ones who are pumped!  They come back from retreats and camps and are bursting at the seams!  So are those who believe in Jesus' resurrection!  We are pumped!  That is the magic of the church!

When one believes whole-heartedly that Jesus lived, died, and arose again, the most fundamental truth to all of life is now engaged.  Every disorder, every dilemma, every threat is diagnosed and solved in the resurrection of Jesus. 

The Bible insists we possess resurrection power...not just for the cemetery, but....for everyday living. 

And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells--present tense--in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies--not the immortal ones from the graves--through His Spirit who indwells--present tense--you....Romans 8:10-11.

When we believe this to be true....there cannot help but be magic in the church!

HOOPLA-DAISICAL

We at Memorial have been Hoopla-ed!  Easter Hoopla has struck and it was a home run!

Our Linda Scott and Stacey Kendall (Children's Ministers) put together what I think was the best package for Kids Night yet.  Easter Hoopla is devoted to our kids as well as community children.  Two things happened to make the evening special;

1. The volunteers offered so many zones for the kids to enjoy.
2. Children from the Food Pantry and neighborhood came.

Children make a church pop!  I am proud of our two gals for working so intensely toward these special events which care greatly for our little ones!

And....somehow I got out of there with a tatoo added to my face.  Hmmmm.....and cameras began to show up everywhere I turned.  Go figure.

Thank you, Linda!  Thank you, Stace!

WHY DOESN'T THE TRUE CHURCH PRAY LIKE THE TRUE CHURCH?

If we keep parroting that we are the true church some of the longer tenured members will continue to believe it.  Not the case with the younger generations.  Are they to be viewed as selfish and disrespectful?  Perhaps a few could be so labeled.

Yet I think their exit is more accurately placed upon some of us who remain.  The old standard of keeping the doctrine pure in the church house via those five steps simply weakens our drive; for in the early church there was no church house.  Since World War II, at least, great emphasis has been stressed to the church that what we do "in church" has to be right...absolutely and unequivocally right.

So why is it so few pray?  Why is it that so many of us who have been in the church 30 and 40 and 50...and yeah 60...years cannot and will not pray?  How has this been allowed among us while claiming to possess all of the trademarks of the true church?

When I look at scriptures which reveal the pattern of the people back then, I appear to be utmost in one main category; shallowness.  I am a shallow believer.  My prayer life is on oxygen.  What's worse is comparing my prayer walk now to my earlier years in ministry...I've progressed light years.

Churches of all kinds are dying off.  In each case there is sober concern for the welfare and continued existence...yet in nearly all of those cases, weak and shallow breathing of prayer exists.  There is little prayer.

I remain disappointed to get with a group of Christians to pray...men or women...and some refuse because they appear to be just too shy.  Our God is the answer to the world's dilemma.  While thousands are obviously moved to protest in the streets in nation upon nation...I am convinced the real victorious movement of hope will be found in prayer.

This post began because I was reviewing my own shallowness.  And then it seemed to me that it might be a useful thing to share it with you.  May we build a powerful protest for good over the earth by coming out of our shells and exposing ourselves to the prayer life Jesus exemplified.  Change--proper and healthy--will arise.

Until we restore the valiant and all-member-inclusive participatory prayer life of the early church, we need to discontinue the parroting that we are it.  We are far from it.

Believe it?

NAVIGATING THE HILLS OF LEADERSHIP

One of the best things that happened to me along the ministry way was to not get my way.  This was a huge struggle.  I had big ideas; great ideas.  Often they withered under some sort of invisible wave of dismissal.  I was resentful.

I will never know why God was so graceful during those days; while He was graceful I learned to become grateful. 

I don't really know of a more inadequate person at being a person than me.  I'm serious.  Yet, that very qualification is a reason I think God works with and through me.  If He can work with this He can work with anyone.

I needed the "running the show" and "parading my talents" crushed out of me.  Many of them have been.  I am blessed by His patience and love. 

Each time I hit another hill too steep to climb I immediately wonder what God has going in the center of the challenge.  I wasn't much of a praiser of God.  I was an orchestrator.  I was a dreamer.  But I was not one who gave a thought to praising God. 

Today such is my goal.  I want to see God honored and praised.  Now I can see that young leaders as I once was fight the very thing we need; not getting our way.  If we are going to work from such a special position in the kingdom we are necessarily going to get clobbered.  We must learn to take it.  We must learn not to run.  We must learn to praise Him in the very center.

Paul and Silas in prison unfairly?  They sang their hearts out as if they were attending a very special seminar of sorts.  When they bellowed out their praises to God, everything which restricted them let go.  That's operating by kingdom style of Jesus....effectively navigating the rugged hills of leadership.

WEEK OF MOST NATURAL EVANGELISM

Next Sunday is Easter promising to be a big boost to church attendance around the world.  In case you don't realize it, this is the most natural week to invite friends, neighbors, and relatives to church. 

Since the guest list with be stronger this week, many in our circles would be more open to an invitation to visit your congregation.  I spoke with one of my neighbors today.  I intend to contact two more in the next few days.

Be assured; people think about God and look for Him.  This week is one of the most natural for those in our zone to consider sitting with us next Sunday.

Opportunity.  Look for it.

THE SPIRIT CONTEST

Functioning by the Spirit is not natural to the flesh.  However, it is to the spirit.  Our challenge is to walk by the Spirit without calling the flesh moves spirit ones.

Our entire call is to be in sync with the Spirit formation and arrangement.  How we forgive others and ourselves cannot afford to have flesh overtones; otherwise we will take out our pound of flesh before we relinquish hostilities. 

How we determine monetary giving must be accented by the Spirit love; not the flesh calculation.  Otherwise, the flesh will talk us out of spectacular blessing in the name of security....false security at that.

Walking by the Spirit is......spiritual.  The flesh doesn't understand it; votes against.  The battle isn't necessarily between believers for it is usually within oneself.  In Ephesians six God labels this as war. Armor, shields, and missiles are displayed in this treacherous reality-of-life conflict.

It is easier for the flesh to ignore and dismiss the Spirit contest. 

We must stay alert.  We must awaken to the abundant life intended.  Don't miss the life of Christ all around you because your flesh--cowardly and unbelieving as it is--convinces you of its side of the argument.

COLOR YOUR CALENDAR PEPPERDINE

Next up for a big adventure for many of us are the Pepperdine Lectures.  Psalms: God's Unchanging Faithfulness will guide the 68th annual in Malibu May 3-6.  Jerry Rushford does a remarkable labor in God's Vineyard of putting together a winning event.  It is a remarkable experience topped by pie and coffee!

One of the keynote speakers is my good friend and Tulsa colleague, Mitch Wilburn, of the Park Plaza congregation.  Mitch is an absolute wonder in Christ.  I love his spirit and his humility as he works with a huge congregation.

The scenery in Malibu is gorgeous.  The sea of friends is exhilarating.  And...I get to see my Hallal friends!  But the feast of the Word served by the common men and women of our generation is the dynamic that makes Pepperdine....well...Pepperdine!

Color your calendar for May 3-6.  Color it Pepperdine!

STIRRING THE CHURCH

There is a way to stir the church so that discouragement and darkness loom.  And, there is a way to stir so that it is encouraged and light exudes from day to day and week to week.  Both are tied directly to mouths which house tongues.  Some bless while others curse.  We want in on stirring the church with blessings.

How do we do it?  How do we stir the church to positive, faithful productivity?  We speak life; grace seasoning voices which energize for every moment. 

We are learning to speak up about the rich and great things God is doing among us.  It is important to point out, whether in general conversations or public addresses, the delightful and good which our people accomplish.  When we let our elders, our members, our visitors, and our staff know how good they are, how important they are, and how needed they are..........life happens!

We see this practiced by Jesus.  He was always encountering those on the other side of the tracks with words of hope.  He could be interrupted at a dinner party by a bawling stranger who was wiping his feet with her hair...and he would never flinch.  Moreover, he would point out her value to ultimately every generation.

Jesus always pointed out the value of those deemed by some as lesser.  That's what we do.  We stir the church into coveted strength by shining the light on the valued.  We do more than appreciate their presence...we tell others of their worth.  The church just cannot afford to sit in silent appreciation.  We must raise our voices as to the brilliant glory of God in our people; His people. 

May we be ambitious with graceful hope as we find the good in one another...and then say so....Eph. 4:29.  If you want to stir the church into a productive frenzy...begin to speak of what's right about her people.  Afterwards...sit back and enjoy the scene.

GIVE IT UP!

I wish God would teach me what He wants me to learn so I can get on with life.  How many times I have heard that said....and not one of them was sincere.  What He wants us to learn is to quit worrying and the above sentence is always said by a worrier. 

We need to learn to give it up!  "It" being the strain we put ourselves through while missing the opportunity to note God working in the very circumstance where we want out.

I have learned little by little to let go of the helm of whatever I'm engaged.  I don't run the show.  I don't even run a part of the show.  Life is from God and up to God.  My job is to believe the one whom He sent....Jn. 6:29.  Your job is to believe Jesus and he said not to worry.

I have spent far to much inhaling/exhaling time over wasteful fret.  Non-productivity has been the result.  I tried to coerce and manipulate life.  Bummer!  I failed.  Today's life in Jesus is really weird to me.  The less I exert but the more I believe, he does the most amazing things. 

Worry and fret and worrisome fret....GIVE IT ALL UP!  Psalm 46:10....Be still and know I am God.  The be still is translated Let go and relax.  Relax wasn't a trait of mine until I began to watch Jesus work in my life.  Possibly you could use this trait in yours as well? 

Don't take charge of your life except in one area....give it up....to Him!

A NAGGING ACCUSATION THAT BUGS ME

Is it all right to tell you that some things just bug me?  Well...if it isn't all right...that bugs me too!  Just kidding.

I was labeled in the late 70's when I arrived at Memorial and continue to bear up under the charges in 2011 that I am not evangelistic.  That's weird to me because it is what I think about constantly.  I might be off; yet I think I understand the accusations. I just don't agree with them.

I think the charges come from those who are hyper-activated at "winning the lost".  By hyper I mean aggressive, in your face, set up studies, and meet at the baptistery at any hour of the day or night.  I once lived on that intense lane.  And....for those who love to live there, I just wish they could let other modes of evangelism be all right, too.

Yes, I lived there.  I'm the one who came up with the idea of 600 baptisms in six months at Memorial in the late 70s.  We shot out like cannons on January 1 and baptized several over the next couple of weeks.  I think we baptized 7 that very first day.  Eventually we wore down.  Worse, none of those 35 or so baptized ones stayed around.  None.

This changed my approach but it did not change my fire for evangelism.  I changed because of my fire; not because of losing it.  That's my explanation and defense and I sticking with it!

I noticed God converting people where I or others merely sowed seed.  A word came from Indiana of a woman baptized at 2:00 a.m. because she read a very weak book I had written.  A teen wrote me of finding that same weak book in her sister's closet, read it, and was baptized.  On the stories go year after year.

The change that happened to me needed to happen.  I once loved evangelism.  If not careful, one can become egotistical and prideful at how ambitious we are for the lost while noting how others are less for they don't seem to possess such admirable passion.  Not good.  Now I find I love people whom I want to see led to Jesus.  For me, this is different and important for my walk.

Jesus has changed me.  I saw him teach his disciples to fish with nets; not rods and reels.  I saw him work in such a way that baptized ones were not trophies; but the Father is the glory-receiving One.  There was a time I would not enter into an evangelistic mode if I could not figure, as I viewed a person, how to move from meeting them to the baptistery.  However, I have since learned the Holy Spirit--versus man's motivation--knows how to connect the Christian influence dots and make a disciple from a man or a woman via multiple connections.  There goes that net fishing again.

So it bugs me to hear the charge after all these years that I am not evangelistic.  I'm not even according to my old patterns.  I know it.  Yet, I really believe my old patterns were what needed to go in order to enjoy global evangelism centered in the Spirit of Christ rather than the tabulations of my short-sighted work. 

Evangelism....I'm still for it.  You might not think I am....but I am. 

BOOKS ARE LIKE LITTLE KIDS!

Something surprising, in a way, has shown up recently.  Those most displeased with life are also those who are indifferent to learning.  I visit with preachers and leaders and it is a consistent trait that those grumpiest are also those who believe they have reached a point they no longer need to learn.

At 63 I feel I'm just getting started.  The reason for that is I AM!  Six books sit stacked to the left of my office phone bidding, Me next!  Me next!  I can't imagine the treasure awaiting to be discovered.  I have three car books in the back seat.  They each bid at coffee or a doctor's appointment, Pick me!  Pick me!

If you want to live in a land of extreme wonder and awe, read and study and learn.  We are always to learn.  Knowledge hasn't begun to begin.  It is always on the horizon.

I am slowly wading through the Why Jesus? book of William Willimon.  Books seem to ready us to face the next instruction or inspiration of a volume following.

Books are like little kids....constantly calling out to be chosen next.  Don't be grumpy.  Don't be critical.  Hear a great book calling, Me next!

WHAT AGE IN THE CHURCH DOES TO US

I have been in the church the last two-thirds of my life thus far. 

The first third was indifferent to God.  He was okay.  I believed in Him.  But, I had no clue the Bible had a message pertinent for today.  The second third began with conversion, thrill, and a fire for doing God stuff right.  The third facet has more enthusiasm with a bit more and greatly needed humility.  (Is it correct to admit humility...or is that bragging?)

Today I find myself burdened by the spiritual needs of the masses.  Last week I was golfing in North Carolina with strangers.  I wondered the entire rounds what could be said to draw them to God.  I would toss out the bait; not even a nibble during both rounds.  Four at the cafe last Saturday.  Three plumbers in my home today.  I continually probe in conversation to see if kingdom issues will arise.

I am more excited about God working and less sure of my own skill.  Knowing all of the answers in my 20s and 30s has shifted in age to wondering just how much I haven't yet a clue.  This is not discouraging; but rather fabulous that God has much more for me than I am able to corral.

Aging in the church?  Well, I guess it could make us grumpy and even bitter.  That is not how I see it.  To me God is like technology; I can't get on board with the simplest of concepts let alone keep up.  Isn't that a sign of seeking the True and Living God? 

II Cor. 4:16-18....due to being deeply involved in the New Creation....we actually don't age.  We get newer day by day!  Wow!  What do you have for us today, God?

ELDER PATIENCE

Preachers are weird.  And we are strange.  Foremost we are susceptible to immaturity...even into our later years.  Yet, we survive...or should we say that the church survives us?

Wade Hodges has written recent posts (http://www.wadehodges.com/) revealing his struggles that go along with such a role.  I see it in myself; inadequate, immature, and vulnerable.

Elders are major players as to whether preachers make it.  There is not a contest between the two roles.  Each is God-ordained and God-called to fulfill specific obligation as well as opportunity.  While some elders tried to kill me off; it was other elders who would not let me die. 

Oddly, I am grateful for both groups.  Looking back I can see I was advantaged by the fire-storms of the former which served as training ground to beat some of the nonsense out of me.  (I didn't feel so blessed at the time.)  The latter, though, from day one at Memorial might not tell me I was great but did assure me I would make it.

A preacher will hear plenty as to what is wrong with him.  This experience magnifies why he must hear of the approving factors from his shepherds.  We will grow.  I can't say we will ever grow all the way up; but we will grow.  We are slow weeds....so give us time.

Elder patience is also elder vision.  When they can see that adjustments are surely needed in their man but possess the awareness of what he can be, confidence arises in within the groomed one to keep trying.  My personal failures are abundant and embarrassing.  Yet, I get to engage in the most exciting work on earth because within every set of elders I have had, someone dared to believe in me.

HUNTING FOR SERMON MATERIAL

Sermon preparation is a wonderful and lovely thing.  I take it seriously.  Over time, I have developed even greater respect for God as He faithfully works with me on each sermon.  I pray to Him to not leave me at the pulpit by myself.

The Word is still sharp and active.  The Bible is a mountain range full of precious ore.  Our job is to enthusiastically dig.  With great admiration for the scholars and insightful students, I am confident to use what skill of searching God has awarded each.  My paperwork of accreditation would merely be a hunger for seeing God arise in the eager hearts in front of me.

Tomorrow I get to open the Word and let it coast into the hearers' heart-zone.  It is not my job nor my worry to track down cleverness of delivery.  Tomorrow I will open up the text and stand in awe of what God will do with the combination of my study and their need.  It will be a match; no doubt.

It is a strange thing being a preacher.  While the sermon is being delivered I am learning as fast as the listeners.  Sermons are like blooming flowers on speed-dial.  They unfold at good pace and, if centered on God, develop into a word that even the deliver hadn't intended.

Hunting for sermon material is rather easy once two things come into the forefront of one's heart; God's hope for people and a people's hunger for God's hope.  When I find another reason to offer hope....I have found my sermon.

FROM DEPRESSION TO SHEER HOPE

God has given me new life.  I'm not the same person I was up to ten or fifteen years ago.  Oh, may have appeared confident on the outside; but that was a part of my game.  I was filthy with darkness from inner corner to inner corner.

To put it frankly, I have struggled most of my life with extreme frustration, disappointment, and depression over my lack.  I'm just not much. 

What God changed was not my value....but His value in me.  The transition wasn't as a flip of the switch.  It began with the awareness of Holy Spirit activity.  Yet, I could hardly grasp He really meant "for me".  Oh how He has tended to my heart as a Shepherd.

I'm no more than I was.  He is the more.  As a matter of truth, I am less than I was.  It is just that now I can see the value and the advantage of decreasing that He might increase.

When a minister doesn't believe God works directly in him/us (as I had been thoroughly grounded), then we really are out on a most desperate limb.  But when the waves beat against our mind's shore that God is actually a part of our walk....wowie!

I have learned to let go of control.  It is up to Him.  I have learned to tell Him of my burdens including sins and it is up to Him to cleanse, renew, and refresh.  It isn't up to my acute obsession of controlling the moment.  My life is not dependent upon my precise calculation as to how things will go.  It is totally up to God.

Here is my/our sanity verse....and He means it: So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy...Romans 9:16.  The context is that God loved Jacob and hated Esau....with the call to explain such a position.  We can't.  And this is what has freed me.  When I stopped trying to explain and arrange the great stresses of life...when I refrained from being in charge....He seemed to step in to show His stuff.

My mattress has transitioned from a rack of torture to a place of peaceful rest.  I was trying to make life work versus learning that all workings are a yes...II Cor. 1:18-20.

YOUR LIFE BEYOND DREAMABILITY

I specifically address young leaders with this post.  Any may benefit, but those in earlier days of ministry are my target. 

Don't waste discouragement.  It is in your face for a purpose.  Keep in mind you must have opposing wind to fly the kite very high.  Too many quit when they should have been learning to fly.

Opposition is useful to give us redirection.  When I have a "grand idea" I have learned to knock on doors of opportunity and then try to walk through the open doors and not the closed ones.  God works with us.  Jesus said he would be with us.  We can count on it.

Dream away.  But be prepared to be shown your idea is lousy or foolish or, at the least, misdirected.  Adjustments are key to the Spirit life.  Read again John 3:8. 

I believe some of our more pertinent mistakes in ministry are when we stubbornly avoid redirection.  God works from the Yes-iness of life and we must learn to adapt.  Paul didn't get into every nation he wished.  Neither to we.

Our goal is not to get our way.  Our target is to get on board with His way....really.  Father knows best.  We don't.  While the kingdom will call for us to die to ourselves, such a death will go down easier if we realize it is a part of the success road.  Learn to die to your summation as to how the work goes, and where it goes, and when it goes.  With God...it will go....and often in a completely different fashion than what we had assumed.

So don't be discouraged.  Die.  Then brace yourself for new life...because it will be on a scale beyond your dreamability.

WHAT WIND DRIVES THE SHIP?

I just returned from a walk on the Atlantic.  Regardless of coast, I marvel at the power of God as I see and hear the roar of the waves relentlessly pound the beach.  I love the slapping of the water and I wonder how it is God moves such immeasurable weight.  Water is heavy!

The visual and audible muscle causes me to ponder the power God has in mind for the church of Christ.  What does He have in mind as far as reach, potency, and persuasion?  Might it be in the range of His other creativity?

So I wonder about the ship of this church He is building; who or what wind drives it?  It would seem to be designed to run by the invisible power of the Holy Spirit; at least it began that way.  But now, there seems to be confusion; a steady dismantling of hopeful and harmonious sized productivity.  Is that true and, if so, what is needed to change us?

I think Christianity has been hijacked by the loudest voices and furthest reaching printing presses.  We find ourselves being carried about by doctrinal gales rather than Spirit wind.  Decent and in order has even become a villainous opponent to the truth of the Spirit leadership.

Paul called us to no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by very wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.....  This remains an important call for believers.  We must watch ourselves to see that we do not link into the various waves and winds which distract from the Christ who possesses a power far to greater than we presently seem to experience.

I WONDERED HOW IT WOULD GO

When I completed the first of five lessons in Richmond last week, a white-haired older gentleman came up to me with the following comment; It is good to have you with us.  I am very analytical and I will need to hear you a couple of more times before I can assess how good you are.

Hmmmm.  What would such a statement mean?  I will be assessed and reviewed?  What will I win if I pass?

I could not help but notice this man as I spoke twice Saturday morning.  He listened quietly as well as intently.  When the second session was over, he offered no comment.  I didn't know if I passed or if perhaps he forgot.  Either way, God graced us with a terrific morning.

Sunday's gathering was really special.  Class was packed with members and visitors and my elderly evaluator.  It was a big deal for me to be their guest.  God was present; I think we all could tell.

At the conclusion of the sermon the responses were powerfully special.  Each of us possessed an awe of His kindness toward us.  And then the gentleman stepped forward when we were dismissed.  It was a special moment.

He approached me and said with dampness in his eyes, I am so inferior that if you knew how much you would be ashamed of me.  I have to analyse everything...every thing....to the very penny of any calculation...I have to control every thing.  What I heard this weekend has opened my heart and I want to thank you.

I wondered how it would go.  I knew that whether it seemed good for felt badly, it would be a yes.  To see the relief in this man's eyes melted my heart.  God struck the both of us.  I won't soon forget the tension I initially sensed from this man....and then to hear of his confessed relief. 

I wondered how it would go.  I had hoped it would turn out as it did.

NEW CREATION

There is something so intriguing about being a new creation.  Jesus makes us new.  Paul insisted that we are new day by day.

New is the perfect concept for an old humanity.

If one is tempted to be enamoured by the fascinating advances of technology, consider the far more amazing truths of being a new people.  Men and women can start life over!  We can actually be born again!

Has the new birth become old hat to those who claim to know Him?  I surely hope not.  Has the new creation become a back-up passage to the new birth?  No way.

We are a brand new people and this re-creation is of the most extravagant proportion.  We don't just say we are new....we believe it....live it...and are crazy about it.

I love being in the church and I love ministry.  Many things about myself, others, and ministry perplex me.  Yet, I'm not afraid of the future because of the freshness that comes upon us.  What hope!  What life!

We are a new creation....so may we walk like it, talk like it, and believe like it.

I'M ON VACATION!

Today has been a day of....well....vacation.  I made myself not call in to the office as badly as I wanted to see how they are doing without me.  I preached in Richmond, VA. this past weekend and then Mary and I drove four hours to Outer Banks, N.C.  Chris, Wendy, and their two met us here about 7:00 last night.

We are on the banks of the Atlantic. The ocean is on both sides of this place called Buck Island. Chris and I took the kids to the beach this morning and they loved working at building sand castles....a little messy...but lots of work!

Wendy and I golfed this afternoon.  Well, I golfed and Wendy drove the cart.  The wind is fierce but the sun is shining!

Tonight is the NCAA Basketball Championship game.  However, on the East coast it doesn't start until 9:23...seven minutes before my bedtime.  I'll read about it tomorrow.

Vacation is a good thing for all of us....but I sure do miss home.  Churches are great along the way...but I miss my Memorial Drive!

LED BY THE SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit of God is ultra-key in our personal walk.  We must avail ourselves to His Spirit.  John 3:8 declares one led by the Spirit is as the wind blowing; constant adjustment to new direction.

The church doesn't like new when the church is anchored in the flesh rather than the Spirit.  New direction makes it afraid.  However, life in the Spirit allows the church to be anticipatory in daily nature.

When the Israelites were freed from bondage the God-leading wilderness uproar pursued.  The people were mad about this unknown path God Himself placed them on.  Rather than being wowed they were mighty outspoken as to their insistent displeasure.

Thus, they worried and fussed their way to absolutely nowhere but wilderness living.  They had no hope and they gave no hope.  They were gigantic (and miserable) duds for God.

The flesh must be checked.  It will impound entire congregations if elders or preachers or any leaders listen to the fear of the flesh---theirs or other members.  The flesh wants to know orderly and explainable details.  The Spirit won't say.  The flesh wants to settle.  The Spirit wants to explore.  Mystery is the wonder of the Spirit led.

Life is to be found in the one Jesus.  He will take us places we never dreamed....but only if we are bold enough to tell our own flesh to "get behind us Satan" for there is great hope for the dreamer.

LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS

Leadership is a blessing or a curse dependent upon the one enacting the role.  A leader that leads blesses.  One that holds the position, yet will not lead, bottlenecks the works at hand.

I question my leadership.  I'm not down on myself, understand.  I just continually wonder how much of me stifles the church I adore and love.

Granted, I'm a nice guy to most.  Yet a question gnaws at my heart as to whether the church has sufficient and effective direction once we burst into our newly found freedom in Christ.  We are no longer under law other than that of Jesus.  He is the charge.  He is the path.  He is the authenticity of life.

Yet, I ask myself the question, Are we going anywhere? 

I sat beside a soldier on the plane yesterday.  His unit is soon heading back to Iraq for the final phase that U.S. military will completely pull out.  When I asked if Iraq was ready for this, he shrugged, I don't know.  So far, they are free but no leadership will step up.  I wonder if they will survive in their freedom because they seem lost.

I, for one, question my leadership skills.  This leading in the Spirit without putting fleshly concepts to it does not come easy for me.  So often I find myself "wanting a king" of sorts regarding our approach to kingdom business. 

God works.  That's what I want us to believe.  May He grant me the grace and the mercy to see where my vessel fits into His scheme.  Otherwise, I'll be wasting His love and efforts.