exodus15

The Reason to Resurrect

2012-01-02T17:27:00.003-06:00

Part 2 of "How to Raise a Dodo from the Dead"

Secondly, the drills of life come harshly to us. When the coring process is going on, it is neither fun nor enjoyable, yet the biblical maxim of dying to bear fruit comes. It is heartbreaking to see yourself die. The confusion of the mind that accompanies this is at times debilitating, and understanding seems far away. Sometimes, even the voice of God is shut to your ears, as the sky is brass and the heavens silent.

The human body can tolerate a bath of approximately 115 degrees. . . anything hotter is uncomfortable to the point of unbearable. Yet in the process of resurrecting the things that are dormant, you must submit to the process of heat not once, nor twice, but over and over.

It is imperative that you return to the altar of sacrifice regularly. Often you will find yourself wishing that there was another way...one that did not lead straight to the place of offering yourself on that wretched place of self denial. Your flesh will not enjoy it, but then again, scripture shouts that “no flesh will glory in His presence.”

If that is not enough, you will find your soul being rent into two pieces, a necessary function of separating the flesh from the spirit. Paul was clear when we said that spirit and flesh war against each other. One part of us needs to die for the other to live. After all, in the words of the old spiritual, “I’m living this life just to live again” ring true.

The false warmth of the world will settle like a blanket that has no real heat, but the familiarness of it provides a passing comfort. It is a cold, cold world that readily extends its proverbial cold fingers out and beckons you to an embrace of waste.

Flesh and spirit war.

So, why even worry with the proverbial dodo? The ugly bird that was laid waste in Mauritius has no reason, really, to be alive. It was ugly. It would not even occupy a bit of time in the life of the scientist, and be given little or no recognition in the world at large...and yet it looms as the poster child of what happens when something is lost.

The spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting, of reading the Word, and meditating on it can become just like some other extinct species. Looking back will appear as a strange extinct being that bears no recognition within your life...

You will be able to tell it once flew, but unable to see praise beginning to rise now.
You will be able to tell it once had use, but now is dead...”How can the grave praise Thee?”
You will be able to tell it once bore children, but now has a barren womb.

The generation that follows has a right to know. To understand. To experience. To feel. To have the same close relationship that you did. Good reader, it’s time to preserve, to resurrect, and to reproduce mercies’ children again.

Making a Dodo Live Again

2012-01-01T23:15:00.003-06:00

It is my intent to blog regularly this year. I begin with this....

There is a compelling interest in the world of science to resurrect the animals that have once been alive, but due to attrition, have become extinct. Over the past few years, a number of authors and filmmakers have responded to this idea and produced a number of books and a blockbuster movie on the idea...

Much progress has developed using a number of techniques to reacquire the basic building block of the animals. The science of it goes something like this. . . You must first obtain a nonfossilized sample of bone(it’s the only thing that doesn’t immediately deteriorate), drill a hole in it about the size of your pinkie finger, take that sample and grind it up into a fine powder. After that you mix it into a water based solution and then mix it with magnesium, heat it to 150 degrees to break the DNA chain into two pieces, cool it down and then you will have about a million copies of dodo gene in a test tube.

There are times in our lives where we must resurrect things in our past in order to succeed in the present. In fact, those times can serve as our only saving grace. There is a compulsion of looking into the past as that is where stability starts. A new building cannot survive unless the building is anchored deeply to a firm foundation. The past serves as an anchor. . . it was a learned man of old that would espouse that “I know a man by his past.”

Essential to the process is a non fossilized portion of bone. It can’t be hardened and brittle, as this is relegates it to absolute deadness. It must be a segment with some life. That is the way it is with our spiritual lives. . .there is a compelling reason that the Holy Ghost is spoken of as being “alive.” There is a reason that the numerous miracles are in the tome of scripture. It reflects for us the way that things have been, but more importantly, how things have to be now. The Bible is very much alive. . . but sometimes men can be dead. Resurrecting can involve reaching into the past. . .for Lazarus, it was reaching into the caves of unbelief and the grave.

Both are deadly to living.
Both are essential to living now.

The questions of life often revolve around what we will do with today. Use the past to anchor your present...

To be continued.

Year in Review Books, BOOK OF THE YEAR, "Deliver Us From Evil/ Jesus Among Other Gods," Ravi Zacharias

2011-12-31T12:35:00.005-06:00

The mark of a truly great book is hating to read the final chapter. My kids bought this double volume Ravi Zacharias book for Christmas last year and it turned out that I hated to read the final chapter of either book. I should pause for a moment to make sure that you understand that these are books that force you to think deeply and will take some time for even the best of readers to work through. It does not retract from them at all in saying this, but rather adds considerably to them because of it.

Deliver Us From Evil

Thomas Nelson Publishers offer this as the synopsis of the book-

"In this compelling volume, Ravi Zacharias examines the mystery of evil. This brilliant writer and gifted teacher traces how secularization has led to a loss of shame, pluralization has led to a loss of reason, and privatization has led to a loss of meaning."

The premise of the book surrounds the challenge to God offered by many- "Why is there evil if the God you espouse is so good?" While we may think that this question only lies in the halls of higher learning, it exists as one of the greatest of heart cries of all of humanity regardless of education. I daresay that ALL have faced this question and, at times, been left floundering for the answer. Zacharias does not flinch in answering the question on many levels- the intellect, the emotions and so on.

Quotes from the book-

"The loneliest moment in life is when you have just experienced that which you thought would deliver the ultimate and it has let you down."

"Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure."

"Shame is to the moral health of a society what pain is to the body."

Whether you are comfortable with explaining the problem of evil or not, this book is HUGE step in getting a better understanding of it.

My copy has been highlighted, written in, considered, meditated on, and will be read again. And again. And again.

Please do yourself a favor and buy this book.

Jesus Among Other Gods

We live in a society that has lost its moral bearing. All gods are given equal footing though this idea is patently untrue. Ravi turns his considerable intellect and experience to the comparison of the major "gods" of this world and demolishes them on their own grounds when compared to the man who hung on a Cross.

Jesus Among Other Gods focuses on the major world religions of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. After all, especially in the world in which we live, the major portion of the population is so biblically ignorant that they are given to thinking that all are equal, and the mantra of the times is that "all paths lead to the same place."

Zacharias posits this as the basis of the book: “Philosophically, you can believe anything, so long as you do not claim it to be true, Morally, you can practice anything, so long as you do not claim it to be a 'better' way. Religiously, you can hold to anything, so long as you do not bring Jesus Christ into it. How does one, to a mood such as this, communicate the message of Jesus Christ, in which Truth and absoluteness are not only assumed, but sustained?"

It is in that apologetic framework that Zacharias excels and makes the complex simple.

To be sure this question is faced from the largest churches in America to the small town church. This book will help settle the conflict of gods in this world, and in your life...if it hasn't been resolved already.

Some quotes from the book-

“The route I have followed is to present a clear difference between Jesus and any other claimant to divinity or prophetic status. I have taken six questions that Jesus answered in a way that none other would have answered.”

“Capturing the beauty of the conversion of the water into wine, the poet Alexander Pope said, "The conscious water saw its Master and blushed." That sublime description could be reworked to explain each one of these miracles. Was it any different in principle for a broken body to mend at the command of its Maker? Was it far-fetched for the Creator of the universe, who fashioned matter out of nothing, to multiply bread for the crowd? Was it not within the power of the One who called all the molecules into existence to interlock them that they might bear His footsteps?”

“Faith in the biblical sense is substantive, based on the knowledge that the One in whom that faith is placed has proven that He is worthy of that trust. In its essence, faith is a confidence in the person of Jesus Christ and in His power, so that even when His power does not serve my end, my confidence in Him remains because of who He is.”

Make sure you buy this one as well, and work through it...it is well worth the time.

Year in Review Books, "Blood and Thunder," Hampton Sides

2011-12-31T12:13:00.004-06:00

Picked this book up at the local library as a random "I'll give it a shot" sort of book. As it turns out, Hampton Sides produced a truly entertaining and readable history of Kit Carson in the same well written way as Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

If I did not know that the material was indeed nonfiction, I would have thought I were reading a tall tale that originated from some campfire that proceeded to get bigger and bigger as time went along. A fishing story, if you will. But it is nonfiction, and Carson's exploits are truly jaw dropping, heightened only much more so by his reluctance to tell the stories for any sort of monetary gain when he was living.

Take, for instance, his methodology of survival in the desert when water was no where to be found- he cuts the ears of the mule train and drinks the blood of the mules to stay alive. Saved the party he was guiding by doing so. Another time he was going to get military help and walked barefoot for more than 30 miles in the cactus filled desert to get the reinforcements.

It was a incredible life that he lived.

Hampton Sides matches the life with a book that is worthy of the man he documented.

This is my Book of the Year in the non theology category.

Year in Review Books, "A Tale of Three Kings," Gene Edwards

2011-12-31T11:46:00.004-06:00

Gene Edwards book, "A Tale of Three Kings" is seminal work in modern Christian literature, but somehow I had missed reading it over the years. I should have read it sooner.

The story is a retelling of the life of David through a series of vignettes that center around his association with power. First it is with Saul as King of Israel, then with David King and having to deal with Absalom his son. Throughout the book, Edwards does a magnificient job of identifying the issues of the heart and the testing that goes into those issues.

The book will affect you.

I offer one criticism of the book, and it is rather central to the whole whole conceptualization that the book establishes itself on. Edwards spends great lengths of time identifying the "Saul" and "Absalom" and after spending a greater part of the book doing so then demands that the reader not use the information he has so graphically laid out in identifying the "Saul" or "Absalom" that may be in your life. While this is noble, David certainly knew these men in his life, and it is well nigh impossible and potentially deadly to NOT identify these characters in one's life.

I am under no illusions-the book is about the reader (Are you Saul, David, or Absalom?) more than the others, but Edwards presents an impractical imperative in his demand.

Nevertheless, it is a quality read on the condition of the human heart, and deserves to be on the shelf in your home.

Year in Review Books, "The End of Reason," Ravi Zacharias

2011-12-30T17:01:00.007-06:00

In this first of the books on theology in the review, Ravi Zacharias writes a rebuttal to atheist Sam Harris's "Letters to a Christian Nation." At first glance, this would seem to be a poor subject and not worth either the time nor money spent on it. Yet in this unChristian nation of ours (proof? read the polls on the matter) it behooves us to be able to make a defense of the Gospel, which begins with the idea that there really is a God.

Zacharias, a well known apologist, certainly the greatest of his generation, and even amongst the greatest ever, sets about using logic, science and scripture to prove his point and to ultimately demolish Mr. Harris's posits.

The book is rich in logic, rich in truth (obviously there must be a culling of doctrinal bias that Zacharias exhibits) and provides excellent fodder for discussion and teaching material for churches.

Take, for instance, his defense of the gospel via the discipline of mathematics (probability) and genetics in the above picture.

Zacharias genius is obviously his unbelievable mind, yet he excels in make the complex easy to understand. The reduction of ideas are both simple and irresistible.

Year in Review Books, "Path Between the Seas," David McCullough

2011-12-30T14:40:00.002-06:00

David McCullough is a veritable font of great writing. His works on the early fathers of the United States of American, as well as later Presidents are amongst the best I have read. When I picked up this book, I had previously read a number of his others, and was anticipating a repeat of those.

The story of the Panama canal has two major chapters, that of the French attempt and the successful American venture. "The Path Between the Seas" tells both of those stories exhaustively.

It is a book that reads more like a technical manual rather than a well written history. I realize that the engineering details are paramount to the story, but to the casual reader such as I am, hundreds of pages of that data becomes quite tiresome. The history of it (the larger than life characters, the political climate, etc) gets bogged down in the unscrutible details of how this and that "cut" was made in the mountain that divides Panama in two.

It is, to me, the ONLY aberration in the numerous books McCullough has written, and it may well be that it is the only way to write the history of the Panama Canal correctly. If so, I have no need to read another version of that again.

Year in Review Books, ""Bravo Two Zero," Andy McNabb

2011-12-30T14:16:00.003-06:00

Most of the books I read come as recommendations, and this book was recommended to me by a neighbor that has connections in the military world. It is an excellent read.

It was during the Gulf War that eight British SAS warriors were dropped into enemy territory to disrupt communications and to destroy SCUD missile sites. They were carrying 210 lb backpacks and were dropped off by helicopter behind the lines and due to a failure of intelligence were dropped into the middle of a large military presence from Saddam Hussein's army.

Of the eight that went in, only 5 returned. They would face temperatures that were cold enough to freeze diesel fuel...and they were discovered. Their only recourse was to head for the Syrian border 75 miles away and swim the Euphrates to the relative safety of that border.

Andy McNabb was one of the five that survived and this is his story of survival.

The lessons that Marcus Luttrell learned and reported in "Lone Survivor" are an echo of this book.

Year in Review Books, "The Lost City of Z" David Grann

2011-12-29T12:46:00.004-06:00

I found this book on the markdown rack at Books a Million, a chain that is more "earthy" than Barnes and Noble, but have a better selection, and certainly better markdown books. I took a chance, and it turned out to be an excellent $3 buy.

David Grann, who writes for the New Yorker, picks up the story of Percy Fawcett, an explorer that was convinced that there was a "lost city" in the Amazon Basin. He was able to write this story from a few meticulously written journals that were located, and put the pieces together.

Essentially, it revolves around the obsession created from the legend of El Dorado that was transported back to the Old World several centuries before Percy Fawcett gains entrance into the world. It is filled with the tales of high adventure, of conquest and discovery, something that seems to be somewhat lacking in our world today. This is not to say that we should foolishly toss our lives into the cauldron without being safe, but rather rediscovering the same "conquest" mindedness that laid out the western world in the centuries it took to do so.

Fawcettt's singular focus would ultimately kill him, and bring much derision. However, it seems as the derision comes from those who would rather succeed at something banal than to die trying something magnificient. ¡Viva el aventurero!

This book belongs in every home in America.

Year in Review Books, "Adam" Ted Dekker

2011-12-28T16:23:00.003-06:00

I was inveighed upon to read Ted Dekker by a couple of friends who declared his work to be "stunning" and a host of other adjectives. I picked up his book "Adam," and read the story of a the search for Eve, a serial killer that doesn't believe in God.

Dekker's detective novel falls short on both the medical side as well as the intent (I think...) of showing the interaction of good and evil. For instance, Dekker's Eve doesn't believe in God yet is clearly possessed by a demonic force. That, to me, is a failure of good theology.

Essentially, the book comes down to the search of a serial killer and the pathos that the profiler goes thru during the search.

I suppose that if Dekker is the inheritor of the genre that Peretti mastered with "This Present Darkness," et al, we are left bereft as readers to use this as intake of the genre. The comparisons between Peretti and Dekker are unavoidable...

As you can see, I was disappointed in this book as CHRISTIAN novel. If it were a secular one, I would declare it to be better than passable reading. However, it does not get a passing grade in my book due to its errors in theologic concept.

If you like the Steven King-meets-a-good-guy kind of book, this may be right up your alley, to give Dekker his due.

Year in Review Books "Over the Edge of the World" Laurence Bergreen

2011-12-28T12:09:00.005-06:00

In the second installment of the "best of" books for this year, I read Laurence Bergreen's "Over the Edge of the World," a biographical tracing of Ferdinand Magellan's epic circumnavigation of the world. The journey left the shores of the "Old World," in 1519 and arrived back in 1522.

It is hard to contemplate a world where it was not known for a fact that the earth was round, much less a world in which reliable navigation methods abounded. This is the world into which Magellan sailed for a shorter route to the "Spice Islands," trying to create a safer and more economical route for trade.

Magellan was a native to Portugal, the chief rival of the Spaniards in those days, and after offering Portugal his services and being turned down, Magellan turns to Spain. This choice caused trouble for him on both his native soil as well as his adopted country. Threading the needle of finding a sponsor became imperative and his voyage was not confirmed until almost too late.

After leaving the shores of Portugal, Magellan has to face down numerous challenges to his authority before he touches the shores of South America. The storytelling of Bergreen is excellent through out the book but his description of Magellan's leadership is stunning, even as throughly Machavellian in character.

It would be the threading of the tip of South America, finding a protected passage through the famed Tierra del Fuego (a mouthful for English speakers), the land of fire, that still bears witness of Magellan.

Magellan did not survive the voyage, but it was through his efforts that the circumnavigation of the world was accomplished. The description of the voyage was recorded by a certain onboard man by the name of Antonio Pigafetta who gave Bergreen ample resource to write such a book as this one is. Having said that, I must give warning...Pigafetta, while working with the trained eye of a geographer, he describes the land, the people and practices of those people with an unflinchingly accurate description that Bergreen records as well.

Extraordinary book.

Year in Review Books "Into the Wild," Jon Krakauer

2011-12-27T12:57:00.005-06:00

I am going to do a "2011 Year in Review" for the various books I read this year that deserve a honorable mention.

I will begin with the review by breaking the rule as I start...

I first met Jon Krakauer in the book "Into Thin Air" an epic account of the ascent of Mt. Everest in 1996 when several died high on the mountain. Krakauer was on the mountain and wrote an excellent account of the mistakes and successes of the various parties climbing the highest mountain in the world.

After reading that, I picked up and read most of Krakauer's other books, including "Where Men Win Glory," a story of Pat Tillman, the NFL star that joined the Army Rangers after 9/11. He also wrote "Under the Banner of Heaven," a look at a polygamist that wound up giving a decent history of Mormonism in North America.

However, beside "Into Thin Air," the most troubling and heartrending story that he wrote was "Into the Wild," a book written in 1996 about Christopher McCandless. McCandless was a brilliant kid from the Washington, DC area who went on to Emory University and graduated there with honor but decided to give his money away and to live the life of an adventurer/vagabond.

The book gives account of his "adventures" that were designed to make McCandless think on his feet and to rely heavily on his own abilities. He goes on to many treks that probably should have killed him, but with a natural resiliency and a toughness that belied his upbringing, he survives.

His trek down into Mexico on a canoe could fill the pages of a single book....

However, McCandless decides he wants to "test" himself one last time before possibly venturing back into society, so in April of 1992, he hitchhikes up to Denali National Park and with little gear that would help him walks into the National Park to survive the winter.

He was found dead later from a hidden enemy. He made a few mistakes that would not have been fatal on their own, but given the terrain and the nature of what he was attempting, it was the end.

I will not give it away, but suffice it to say that this-the book is FULL of incredible illustrations.

I asked for this book for my personal library and my kids gave it to me for Christmas this year. That is the highest compliment that I can pay any author. Krakauer did an excellent job with this book.

As an addendum, this book has been made into a feature length movie that I have not seen.

I will review another book tomorrow.

The Hazards of Immobility- Salt Loss is Killing Me

2010-09-04T22:24:00.002-05:00

The effects of immobility on the human body are manifested in seven major ways. The profound effects on the metabolic system are pronounced and manifest themselves in a number of very noticeable ways, but it the creeping things that are not visible are perhaps the most deadly.

• Tissues in the body are shrunken (yes, I am with you on this one- I could use a little shrinkage myself)
• Bones demineralize and become very soft, and breakage is very likely
• The body turns on itself and begins to metabolize the protein of your body- your muscles waste away (again, I have one muscle that grows easily. . . table muscle, but the rest are hard to keep in shape)
• One of the most insidious things that happens is on the cellular level, though. The exchange of essential salts of the body are altered, and there is a wicking away of these vital mineral compounds that if left unchecked will cause death
• When you are lying down for prolonged periods especially, your vessels dilate or open up. This causes your body to sweat in order to release the heat that comes with that dilation. When you sweat like this, you lose tremendous amounts of potassium, chloride and sodium.
• It effects the hormone system of your body and cause that system to go hay wire
• It effects the natural rhythms of your body, and whether the individual is asleep or not, bedridden patients are at the low ebb of this release of hormones, of which sleep is dependent. It’s like being asleep while you eyes are wide open.
I promise that this will not be a lecture from Nursing 101. But I think that there are some powerful spiritual parallels in this malfunction of the body. I have observed a great number of patients that these levels of electrolytes bounce around, sometimes drastically. So dramatic is the difference from day to day that if care was not undertaken to remedy this, the patient would die.

One of the most surprising things that I encountered early in my career as a nurse was the effect sodium had on the ability of the patient to reason and think. Your body works best in a fairly confined range for all of these electrolytes, but the effects of sodium on the mind is profound.

If it gets low, the patient doesn’t think very well. His brain can be perfectly well, his body can be perfectly well, but if the sodium drops too low, it will appear that something is dramatically wrong with him.

In the text tonight, we read a very familiar passage, one that has been turned to many times over. But I would like to lift that passage out of scripture and place it on a pedestal tonight and shine a light on it. Jesus had began what was commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount in this passage of scripture. The Sermon on the Mount was a grouping of lessons that Jesus would deliver over a period of time that would establish the principles of His kingdom.

It was in these principles that the reigning religious class began to be at odds with this upstart Rabbi that asserted his position as the King of the Jews. It would be a few short verses later that Jesus would began to say. . .”you have heard it said. . .But I say unto you. . . .” Really Jesus was rattling their world that had been so “pat” for such a long time.

It is with more than a little interest that we find immediately after the listing of the Beatitudes that Jesus made his next statement about the salt business. He placed a high degree of importance, speaking of this before he touches the Law. Jesus stood and declared in the Sermon on the Mount his core set of values that would have to be in the lives of those that were followers of His. All of it is important, and I suppose that to say one was more important than another would be less than cerebral, however, location has to be, in some way, important.

Salt Loss Happens When Your Temp Changes

There are some things in the Bible that I wish weren’t there. Yes, I know, before you pile on me, that this is a bold statement. But consider with me when God said this to Adam in Genesis-

Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Let’s be honest. If we would have had it our way, we would not have chosen to make a living by the sweat of our brow. Yes, I sweat like its raining locally. Real locally. But I like sweating when I want to sweat. . . not in making a living. Despite the coolness of the labs where I work, I sweat.

Whether the temp goes up or down...you're losing salt. Though it is pungent, even when it is correctly dispersed, you still have to replenish it. If you are losing it due to spiritual immobility, then it needs replacing. The hazard of this immobility is that the longer you wait, the less you understand that you need it...

Salt loss is killing you by degrees...

Didn't Know You Were Running, But Sure Enough, You're in an Election

2010-09-03T17:13:00.002-05:00

Titus 1:1 . . . according to the faith of God's elect

The elect of God is a term that has come under some considerable misconception. There is a doctrine that floats around theological circles that is misleading, and extremely dangerous to our spiritual health. I will spend the rest of our time together here tonight with a doctrine commonly known as predestination, a thought that says that you are preordained, or that your salvation was determined prior to your birth by God, and nothing you do can change the will of God. It is a way of saying that you have little, if any thing, to do with your spiritual destiny. While I rarely, if ever, refer to doctrine that is not apostolic in nature, there is a compulsion to address this in the context of this study.

We need to examine the issues of election before we go any further here in this study. Scripture is very clear that we are all called of God(reference Acts 2:39), and where Paul stood on Mar’s Hill in Athens, and said
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Every man is then called to repentance, which is the entry way into the Elect. For obvious reasons, you must first believe before there is any need to repent. So, then we must consider the words of Paul with understanding that God has called all men. It would be difficult for God to say He was calling all men, then only to openly reject some as a matter of course if they weren’t elect.

If He called all men to repentance, and they did so, and were not included in the “elect” than God would have a supreme problem of fairness. But scripture has a bit more in the view of clarity in this matter.

Peter would be compelled to address this in the short book he penned. The rough fisherman would chose his few words carefully.
II Peter 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

So what becomes evident in the writings of this simple fisherman from Galilee is that he believes that we must make our election sure, that is to ensure that we remain in the elect. The only way to make our election sure is for there to be a chance of it NOT being sure. This also puts to rest the doctrine of eternal security, although I don’t have time to fully examine this in the context of this lesson.

It would seem fairly important to “make my election and calling secure,” especially if I want to make heaven my eternal home. How do we make our calling and election sure? How do we apply this idea presented by Peter? It is through a process that I like to call sanctification. We must grow in truth. It is a scriptural principle that, although speaking in tongues is the INITIAL evidence of the infilling of the Holy Ghost, there is much more to the life of a Christian than that.

In fact, scripture reveals that the proof of the Spirit in our lives is not the ability to break forth into tongues, to speak in tongues, and neither is the ability to see signs and miracles, it is in something entirely different.

Paul would introduce this idea in Galatians. He would report that the fruit, that is the evidence of the growing influence of the Spirit would not be speaking in tongues, but it would be in the FRUIT that we produce. Fruit is a very evident part of any fruit bearing tree or bush. It is the reason for that tree to exist.
So then, the tree, that one that we have been grafted into, is there to produce fruit in our lives.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

It is interesting to me that NONE of these happen in a vacuum. There is an outside expression of these things to others. I can’t have love, joy, peace in the truest sense alone. They require me to be involved in the world and exposed to those things that are around me that aren’t Christlike or Christ acting. There is no way to lead a monastic life and have the fruit of the Spirit.

It takes someone getting on your last nerve before you can be longsuffering, or to demonstrate gentleness, you have to be exposed to someone that needs gentleness. In fact, all of these must have exposure to others in order for them to have a way to bloom. So when you feel it would be better to be in bed the whole day, remember that your fruit can only be demonstrated in the world around you.

The way in which we make this calling and election sure is to commit ourselves to prayer, to fasting, to the study of His word. We must immerse ourselves deeper and deeper, as the prophet of the Old Testament described when he first went in ankle deep, then knee deep, and was encouraged on by God to go out chest deep into the waters. Ezekiel would tell of the waters becoming so deep one could only swim in them. That is the place that we should reach for in our lives, where we are so immersed in the spirit that our reliance is on Him and not ourselves.

The Elect’s Mention in Scripture

Scripture has much to say regarding the “elect.”
Matthew 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Luke 18:7And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

As you can see there are multiple mentions of the “elect.” Mentioned some seventeen times in the Bible, it is a description that applies to a group of men and women who are part of the Bride. Seventeen times the word “elect” is used in scripture, and I want to be part of the Elect. I must make my calling and election sure.

The Price of Apostleship

2010-09-02T18:20:00.004-05:00

The second thing that Paul calls himself is an apostle of Jesus Christ. Makes one wonder if being an apostle is somehow tied to the slavery to God? Paul would report earlier in scripture thusly-
I Corinthians 15:8-9 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

The overt humility of Paul here is neither overdone nor Hollywoodesque, but purely a statement of the essence of Paul’s identity here on the earth. One of life’s greatest battles is humility.
• Understand that humility is NOT denying the truth of your life.
• Humility is not clothing oneself in rags and claiming this to be humility
• Humility is not a faking of your station in life.
But rather, humility is recognition of who you are and what you are seen through the clear lens of how God placed you there.
This is why Paul could, without conflict, first assert that he was a slave, a servant, and then immediately claim apostleship. It came with a recognition of who he really was in terms of what and where God had placed him.
The literal Greek translation of this "apostle" meaning both ambassador and commissioner of God. Dormant in this passage is the implied understanding of power that backed up both the slave and the apostle. Paul would claim apostleship numerous times in the New Testament, as a preface to instructions given to him by God. It helps to underscore the latent power that was placed in his hands as an apostle, which became a bit more important as the letter progresses.

-Often we want the apostle portion without the servant part...
-Often we would rather the authority of apostleship but not the footwashing consigned to the slave...
-Often enough, the bonds of slavery are enough to drive us far from ever being considered for apostleship...

Sadly, there is much apostleship that needs fulfilment, but the portion of the slave is too "beneath" us to ever achieve the heights of where He would lead.

This upside down Kingdom is both difficult and demanding. Yet it is the only way...

Shout Out from the Slave

2010-09-01T22:07:00.003-05:00

Paul would begin the book of Titus with some interesting wording...Looking into that for a day or three.

Titus 1:1
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect,

Interestingly enough, Paul, the Roman name given after the blinding light experience, means “little.” In light of this revelation, it is amazing that God chose a name meaning “little” in order to give the Gentile world one of the greatest missionaries and writers of the New Testament(by sheer number of books penned). I suppose all kinds of conclusions could be gathered here, but I will submit to you that there is a minimizing of “us” before God can creatively use us in his kingdom to any great degree.

Shout from a Slave
In the opening words of the story, Paul first and foremost identifies himself first by his name and secondly by the significant title of servant, as the KJV reads, but perhaps more telling in the Christian Standard Bible(CSV) as the slave of God.
This is a remarkable term that Paul would acquire for himself in the interim of his life and service to God, after such a proud and determined young Pharisee. This slavery that Paul would subject himself to replaced a slavery that he had previously experienced. A slavery that totally consumed his being, a slave of sin, of misery, of misled religious leanings, and a bent on killing Christians.

There are numerous yokes that Paul could have chained himself to, and yet that of Jesus Christ was what he chose.
Seems that man(kind) is constantly putting chains on himself, and then shouting to the world, “I’m free, I’m free.”

Chains so often do not come looking like chains, but rather are cloked in some disguise...like...
• Bondage of freedom- the inordinate attachment to being free of all authority.
• Bondage of feelings- the inordinate attachment to loving the feeling of the moment, and obeying the urges of emotion, while negating the absolutes
• Bondage of frailties- the inordinate attachment of those who would rather be bound in body, and living from charity(either in spirit or flesh) instead of labor. This is known as spiritual welfare mentality...loving the disease that ravages the flesh because it brings others to bow at the knees of the sick one.

Freedom is not the detachment of the moorings of life, but more a ballast that holds the ship upright. When one discovers the implications of a life that is set free from all of the chains of life, it often is way too late to recover the ship from the rocks of life. Often, though we don’t like to think of it in this way, we are much better servants of God, church and our families when we have a chain of responsibility yoked to us.

Paul would not hesitate in identifying himself as a prisoner. . .a slave. This is interesting considering the emotional make up of Paul, one that presents itself as one that is a choleric, passionate man that is concerned with being the one in the forefront, taking the lead, and yet he identified as a slave, even to the point of taking up the case of Onesiphorus, a slave that had became a believer.

So, Paul's first identification was that of a slave...

Seems to be that you are going to be enslaved to something in life. . . choose the slavery you put yourself under well

Resting in the Known...While Looking Into the Unknown

2010-08-31T16:45:00.004-05:00

It seems to me that the unknowable is the most difficult part of life. So I should start with what I know to be absolute, because when I am anchored to a rock, the storms may lash out at me, but I am anchored in truth.

• In these times of battle we must return to the things we know as TRUTH.
This is why Jesus could stand on a rocking platform of a small boat preach a stable gospel. This is the glory of Truth- it doesn’t change, nor does it move.
• Your life and its circumstances may shake and move, but you have a Rock to stand on.
• Look to the author and finisher of our salvation for the conclusion of the matter.
• Job would pen those stirring words... "if He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

Some are ever learning and yet never coming to the knowledge of truth, and this is a scary place, because the learning has taken precedence over the truth.

The Truth according to Godliness

First, we must establish a difference between facts and truth. Facts can be relevant, but Truth is never relevant to anything except itself. Truth always transcends situation.

It would be at this point that Paul would give us that phrasing that says, “truth according to godliness.” The Truth he spoke of here in this passage was indisputably what had been given by he and Peter, as well as the other writers of the Book that had been moved on by God to pen those magnificent words that we know as God’s Holy Word.

It would be here that Paul would again affirm that the Truth has to be active. It cannot simply exist alone in our minds. There is and must be an active part of the Truth. The Greek phrasing here tells us that there is a view(or way of looking at Truth) that is according to godliness.

If truth merely exists in the mind, or in the pages of scripture with no action as it is placed in our lives, it will remain there, but it will be less fruitful than if we begin to view it with an eye toward Godliness.

Thayer’s Lexicon would define this “truth,” as one that stands regardless of circumstance. There are true statements that apply in the context of the situation, even in seemingly concrete ideas.

• Mathematics would have you believe that there is a solution for every situation, but the various theorems and postulates are sometimes dependent on circumstance ("if. . .then" type statements of truth.)
• Science would have you believe that there is a concrete foundation when, in fact, much that is discovered causes a “restructuring” of what was yesterday’s truth.
• Medicine has come to terms with this by understanding that many interlocking problems can create interesting circumstances. We now understand every patient is different.

So as there is much moving in the world where concreteness is thought to be, we find much more movement than what we would like. It is only in the word of God that we find an unchanging rock that weathers all.

The next part of the phrasing of this scripture bears thinking on also. “According to” gives the impression in the Greek of a “descendant from.” It could also serve as a bit of a warning in that truth is and can be very cutting. With regard to this, handling truth must be done with godliness in order for those who need it most not to be destroyed in the application. "The Word of God is a twoedged sword..."

So truth, if not handled with godliness can be not only cutting, but also deadly.

Other Frontiers Where Truth Speaks

2010-08-30T20:08:00.006-05:00

More manifestations of acknowledged truth in our lives...

With our Actions
The second way in which we acknowledge truth is by our actions. This is where the Holy Ghost begins to confirm His presence in our lives. See, I can SAY that I am a Christian, and yet it would be by our actions that they would “know” that we are God’s own.

There are times where we have to admit by our actions that we acknowledge the truth of God. Many times it is the actions that speak loudly.
I believe that it was Abraham Lincoln that said, a paraphrase, “Don’t tell me what you are while your actions shout to the opposite.”

So we acknowledge truth with our actions. Often the transgression of Truth happens in the arena of actions. There is a demand placed on us that is quite clear that there must be a marked difference in our lives and those in the world that are children of the world.

With our Pens
Often in life, there has to be more than just an acknowledgement of truth in our lives by our mouths or actions, and that is that I must commit to truth with a pen and paper. Try getting a loan for a house without it. . . I suppose you might, but probably will not be able to do so. And so it is with our lives. We probably should commit ourselves to writing out the Truth that we find in the scripture. It is a way of understanding what God has given to us.

Ultimately, though, it is in our minds that acknowledging truth actually comes. It is in the space between our ears that we understand and acknowledge the truth of scripture. Those beautiful passages that teach us great truth are just beautiful parts of a good book until they resonate in our lives.. . Truly, it is not an external issue. Truth stands whether we acknowledge it or not. Yet there is a very necessary bending of our wills and our lives to the Truth. I am not ultimate Truth. Jesus Christ is ultimate Truth.

It is my responsibility to obey the words that were given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. It is my responsibility to bow my head at the Truth.

Scripture reveals that there is a tremendous battle for the mind.. . .and sometimes it is wrestling over truth. It is important to acknowledge truth. It is essential.
There are certain things that are essential to acknowledging-
• There is one who is both the Alpha and the Omega
• There is only one way to heaven, laid out in Acts 2
• He alone is God and I am not.
• He holds tomorrow. And while tomorrow may hold some things that I don’t understand, and much less like, He is still the pilot of my ship, and though some may trust in chariots and horses, I will trust in Him.

It seems to me that what we also battle in the unknown that causes us the most pain and injury. As previously mentioned, Daniel was a prime example of this. But Peter, held in a jail, his head at stake to be removed tomorrow, yet he went to sleep. It was in the known that Peter would rest.

There is something about acknowledging truth in our minds that will have great impact on the outward expressions of our love for Him.

Truth Has a Voice...Finding it is Key.

2010-08-29T23:33:00.005-05:00

Continued from yesterday...
Titus 1:1b
. . . and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

Acknowledging truth seems so elementary, yet sometimes we reject truth based on the bad taste it can leave in our mouths. Much like the Israelites in the Wilderness with the manna, just enough for today was the word of God. Yet those hoarders would have it turn wormy in their mouths on the next day except for the Sabbath.

• Have you ever found yourself with a worm in your mouth when God intended to provide for you day by day?

But sometimes we think that by simply ignoring truth that it will somehow change. Good try, but Truth is bigger than me or you. It’s kind of like raising kids. They will pester and pester you to change the world. . . . “Daddy, why can’t we have more daylight to play in?” The truth is, no matter how big my children may think I am, and that I am omnipotent, I will never affect daylight.

There are three ways that we acknowledge truth.

With our lips

Acknowledging truth requires that we give voice to the Truth. What is seemingly obvious is sometimes overlooked. There are times where we will omit certain things because they seem so obvious that it seems childlike to say them, yet Jesus would tell us that we must become as a child. .. .that is a hard thing to do at times.
But it is with the instrument of your voice that we find that God chooses to establish truth in your own life.

II Corinthians 13:1
This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

This is amazing. Every word? From the mouth.

Yet it is that tongue that is deadly in other instances; James would identify it as a unruly member, full of deadly poison. But the amazing truth is that when we are filled with the Holy Ghost, God chooses that as his mechanism for letting those around know that He has filled them with His Spirit. Other things will affirm the continued indwelling of the Spirit later, but initially, it is by speaking in that unknown tongue Peter spoke of.

• God takes the unholy, what is set on fire of the flames of hell and places the utterance of the Spirit in our lives so that we understand the ultimate power of God.
• When Isaiah saw, in the year Uzziah died, the train filling the Temple, Isaiah 6:5-7 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. His lips were touched by a live coal and what was impossible happened in two worlds-the natural world was defied, and his lips were not blistered and burned, and in the spiritual world, his iniquity was taken away.

It’s pretty nice that it is with our lips that we confess truth at the infilling of the Holy Ghost the confirmation of acknowledging Truth by our mouths. God fills our mouths, controls our tongue, and speaks truth in a language that we don't understand and have no training in.

Giving voice is the first step in acknowledging the unchanging nature of Truth.

Tomorrow, we will look again at acknowledging truth in other ways...but until then, let give voice to the Truth in your life.

The Challenge of Truth

2010-08-28T15:12:00.006-05:00

A few thoughts over the next few posts from

Titus 1:1b
. . . and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

It is amazing what one word can do to an entire passage in scripture. The passage can go from a general idea, a great principle, one that paints broad brushstrokes, to one that locates you with surgical precision and all of sudden, as Paul in writes in the book of Hebrews. . .

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

There are times when we would rather the Word remain in the broad sweeping mode instead of the ½ inch brush that is used to get into the corners of our lives. Precise are the instruments that God most often will use in our lives, though, because our relationship with Him is individual, not corporate.

• While the Tabernacle was the place of corporate worship, the place that all of Israel looked to as the focal point of their existence, the brazen altar required an individual sacrifice.
• And on the Day of Atonement, the collective sins of the nation would be taken away, it was recorded in Isaiah Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
• The sins of the nation will not be attributed to those who are serving Him. . . Thanks be to God. Be covered in the Blood of the Lamb.

Much can be understood about that word “acknowledging.” The Greek word epignosis or acknowledgement gives us some indication of the idea behind the word which can be acknowledging in general...However, it also means a precise and correct knowledge. There is much to be said in regard to having a precise and correct knowledge.

At times there are things that are or may be obvious, but we either don’t think about it because it has been that way for years, and it may be wrong, but simply because it has always been done that way, we accept it until someone challenges us over it, and once we get over the initial shock of being challenged, it soon becomes evident that truth triumphs.

And if you are like me. . . . maybe you would rather ignore it at times in your life. It is easier to ignore something than to admit that it is correct.

• Gravity is obvious to us, but there was a time when it was obvious but not accepted. People had been hit in the head for years by falling apples, and yet it was ignored, even by the scientist of the day. Finally Newton was able to show it to us in a mathematical equation.
• They often call me the “Master of the Obvious,” in my line of work, enjoying my uncanny ability to tell what every one already knows, or should know. The funny part of it is that in the obvious, we often find the solutions to life.
• Often it is in the acknowledging of the obvious that we find great comfort. I can work with what I know. . .but I can’t control the unknowns of life.

It was in the life of Daniel that those knowns became so much more important than those unknowns. He knew that there was a Deliverer for him. So he returned to prayer, just as he had for many years, and in that KNOWN, he found peace in the unknowable.

He knew he was going to be thrown into the lions den. He also knew that the Lord could deliver him. How? Unknown, but he rested in the known. When? Unknown, but he rested in the known. Even the King spoke an unknown and was prophetic in Daniel 6:16Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

Please understand my frankness here, but truth stands regardless...
• Regardless if I like it or I don’t.
• If I recognize it or not.
• If I disregard it, or spit on it.

Truth is rooted in something much larger and grander than you or me, or all of us together. This is the direction that Paul was speaking from in Titus. Truth does exist, but whether we acknowledge it is another issue altogether.

Until the next post...May the blessings of God be on you...

Grace's Simple Promise...and It's Expectation

2010-08-27T16:45:00.005-05:00

Salvation is grace's first work. If it were not for grace, there would be no salvation as we know it. The question looms, then, if grace is so costly, then what should I do to obtain salvation? Jesus answered that question in general, and Peter defines those terms of salvation for us in scripture specifically. Jesus' words to Nicodemus are in John 3.

John 3:3-7 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

So in order to be born again, one must be born both of the water and the Spirit. How does this happen? Peter stands on the inaugural day and sermon of the New Testament church, and declares the answer to being born both of water and of Spirit...

Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Peter's words incorporate both baptism of water and Spirit, and are the key to eternal life.

Yet there is more to grace's work in our lives in our lives. Grace demands something of you and I.

While grace is a gift that demands no payment, and further, cannot be repaid, there are some things that grace will bring to our lives. Change is one of them. If we aren’t changed, then grace has been wasted. The expectation of grace is that our lives will change and we will no longer live or do the same things that we have done before.

Paul, in his discourse to the Romans would have this to say (it is a short excerpt from a chapter that covers it well).

Romans 6:1-6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Grace as a Teacher

Denying Ungodliness

In denying ungodliness, this subject is one that will be aimed at dethroning anything that would presume to the throne of your life over the things of God. We must be careful that things do not become functional saviors in our lives. What I mean by this are things that we would look to in times of duress to provide relief spiritually. Things such as….
• A position in life. What you do is not who you are….
• A thing…a house, a car, travel, etc
• An award, a friend, a place
The word ungodliness is one that means “wickedness.” Wickedness is a concept that gains feet as we read the Scriptures. The verse that precedes this tells us to study to show ourselves approved. .

II Timothy 2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

Ungodliness is connected quite clearly to the tongue. It is no wonder, then, that James would say the tongue is set on fire of the flames of hell. The list of ungodliness can be lengthy, and proves the point that we must study scripture with an eye toward ourselves, and for us to be a just judge of ourselves, however hard and distasteful we might find this search to be.

Wordly Passions

It is the desires that are mistakenly placed in this world that is going to fade away that we find that Paul takes to task here in the things that we must lay aside. Often, distraction plays a heavy role in the development of the passions. If Satan can distract you from purpose, he can replace that purpose with misplaced passion.
What constitutes a worldly passion, then? The deciding factors revolve around God mandated roles in scripture, and further, misplaced passion. Meaning, anything that takes away from the mandates of scripture and places them ahead of relationship with God constitutes a worldly passion.

Often deciding what is worldly and what is not is known within our own lives, but occasionally (wink) we do not want to be that honest with ourselves.

Things that we must embrace.

The sharp idea of discipline comes into mind when Paul begins to instruct in those things that should be lain aside, or further, outright rejected. Of all of the things in life to overcome that is perhaps hardest is being disciplined. Discipline comes from denying yourself things that are available. In some sense, this is the price of success. Denial of self is one of the more important parts of our walk.

Herein lies the difference in the test of poverty and prosperity: One is passed through dependence and the other is passed through sacrifice. Paul would begin explaining this to us in this passage, inferring the idea of sacrificing what we can have and only we control the outcome.
Titus 2:12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ESV

Self control
It is in those two carefully constructed words that we find much to dislike. Self control is a discipline of both the body as well as the mind.
• Self control of the tongue leads to a perfect man, the goal of our Christian walk.
• Self control of the appetites will lead to a more perfect man, and the only way to accomplish this is to deny our flesh what it wants.
• Self control of our minds is the key to winning the battles. “Bringing every thought into captivity….”

Self control is a self imposed limitation of the things that we certainly can have. It is difficult to bring ourselves to this point in life, however it is essential that we do so. It is consumed in the act of fasting, both of food and other things that we normally enjoy. Self control of the tongue is biting it, keeping the mouth shut when it wants to open up

Some don't want to grow up...but the truth is that in your walk with God, you are either growing or dying. Judge for yourself which it is in your own life...

The Violence of Grace

2010-08-26T23:07:00.005-05:00

Some thoughts on Titus 2:11-12...will continue them over the next bit of time.
Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Occasionally there is a thread of uncertainty that traverses the minds of this world that puts into doubt the ability of the Word to be current in our day. The previous study bears out the absolute timelessness of this Book, the Book of Life. It is the chronic state of young men to want to stay without responsibility and to delay it as long as possible. However, there comes a point in which a young man must stand on his own feet financially, spiritually and emotionally and often there is a confusion of how this is to be. Young men often want the family finances, aren’t dedicated to the pursuit of spiritual things, and yet choose chasing the fleeting emotions of the day until there is little or no money, and more importantly, no God except themselves left in their lives and the god of self has bankrupted them, too.

The goal of our lives is to mature.

So with this in mind, Paul pursues a few concepts here in the text that will be with us throughout our walk with God. Some things are relieved from us due to time and age. The wise words of the Preacher echoes into our ears when he speaks

Ecclesiastes 9:10-11 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

It remains that time and chance happens to all of us, both in the sense of age as well as circumstance. So despite the vagaries of life, the changing places, the differing circumstances, as well as the work of our lives, there remains a necessary dedication to some principles that Paul lays down in the pages of Titus.

Perhaps of the concepts of the Bible, one of the most difficult ones to understand and to wrap our minds around is that of Grace. Charis, the Greek word, is used in the New Testament 156 times in 147 verses. Obviously, it is a concept that is recurs over and over again. Trying to give a complete understanding of the definition of grace is a bit difficult. Not because it doesn’t have a definition, but rather it is a concept that is so foreign to our lives that we mostly don’t even think in these realms.
We understand justice, which is a concept that rules our world and often our minds, in that one gets what one deserves. It is a natural law that commends itself to our minds and we find a degree of relief in. However, in the commanding precision of Scripture, grace is not the opposite of justice, because grace looks past what we have done and gives us what we don’t deserve. It is more than mercy, a relieving of what we rightfully deserve, which inevitably creates a bond of needing to return the favor.
Grace, on the other hand, offers so much more than that. Grace gives us something that we do not deserve, and further, have no ability to repay. The ancient philosophers have struggled mightily with this concept, because it is antithetical to human nature. In ancient Greece, from which we get the word, it was exclusively given to a friend, and never on an enemy. It is easy to give something to a friend, one that cares about you and that you care about….however, to extend a gift to one that doesn’t love and care back, and often may throw the gift back in your face is another concept altogether. Not many of us can claim that sort of magnanimity, if any at all.
Our lives consist mostly of giving to those that are able to send back, perhaps in a different way, but signal to us that they appreciate what we have done, or at least are trying to do.
It took the blood of a perfect man to bring us the understanding that the New Testament brings, and changes what the earlier definition of grace had meant. Assuming a brand new meaning via the death of Jesus Christ, no longer did grace carry with it the giving of something to someone that was a friend, but rather, it was a gift that was given to His enemies.
This is a revolutionary change in the meaning of grace. No longer would grace be something that was easily understood, but rather, perhaps not understandable from the human mind point of view, but exclusively a Savior point of view. The mind can only accept it, but to deeply understand it only comes from the working of the Spirit of God in and on our lives. Many words have tried to define it: altruism, etc. However, altruism is infrequently done to those that willfully spit on the offer.
In this case, it is clear that only God, and God alone could offer this sort of gift. He alone had the ability to offer us this particular portion of eternal life. Only through His son, Jesus Christ, was grace available.
So in the annals of time, Christ died for us when we were enemies, made so by our own desires.

Romans 5:6-8 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The only way for this to occur was for Jesus to take the sins that we have committed on Himself. What I have done, He paid the price for, and the gruesome way that He did pay was to be sacrificed.
The Garden of Gethsamane was a mental and spiritual battle that would mirror the physical horror that he would face in the scourging and on the Hill of the Skull. This perhaps will give an understanding of the degree of commitment that it took to bring grace to us. Further, it perhaps is the only way that we can understand grace...Only through the Cross does grace become even slightly more understandable. He died so that grace could be offered not to those who were deserving, but to those who spat on it...grace came by the violence of the Cross.

A Bit of Violent Grace

2010-08-26T22:55:00.003-05:00

Occasionally there is a thread of uncertainty that traverses the minds of this world that puts into doubt the ability of the Word to be current in our day. The previous study bears out the absolute timelessness of this Book, the Book of Life. It is the chronic state of young men to want to stay without responsibility and to delay it as long as possible. However, there comes a point in which a young man must stand on his own feet financially, spiritually and emotionally and often there is a confusion of how this is to be. Young men often want the family finances, aren’t dedicated to the pursuit of spiritual things, and yet choose chasing the fleeting emotions of the day until there is little or no money, and more importantly, no God except themselves left in their lives and the god of self has bankrupted them, too.
The goal of our lives is maturity.
So with this in mind, Paul pursues a few concepts here in the text tonight that will be with us throughout our walk with God. Some things are relieved from us due to time and age. The wise words of the Preacher echoes into our ears when he speaks

Ecclesiastes 9:10-11 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

It remains that time and chance happens to all of us, both in the sense of age as well as circumstance. So despite the vagaries of life, the changing places, the differing circumstances, as well as the work of our lives, there remains a necessary dedication to some principles that Paul lays down in the pages of Titus.

Perhaps of the concepts of the Bible, one of the most difficult ones to understand and to wrap our minds around is that of Grace. Charis, the Greek word, is used in the New Testament 156 times in 147 verses. Obviously, it is a concept that is recurs over and over again. Trying to give a complete understanding of the definition of grace is a bit difficult. Not because it doesn’t have a definition, but rather it is a concept that is so foreign to our lives that we mostly don’t even think in these realms.
We understand justice, which is a concept that rules our world and often our minds, in that one gets what one deserves. It is a natural law that commends itself to our minds and we find a degree of relief in. However, in the commanding precision of Scripture, grace is not the opposite of justice, because grace looks past what we have done and gives us what we don’t deserve. It is more than mercy, a relieving of what we rightfully deserve, which inevitably creates a bond of needing to return the favor.

Grace, on the other hand, offers so much more than that. Grace gives us something that we do not deserve, and further, have no ability to repay. The ancient philosophers have struggled mightily with this concept, because it is antithetical to human nature. In ancient Greece, from which we get the word, it was exclusively given to a friend, and never on an enemy. It is easy to give something to a friend, one that cares about you and that you care about….however, to extend a gift to one that doesn’t love and care back, and often may throw the gift back in your face is another concept altogether. Not many of us can claim that sort of magnanimity, if any at all.
Our lives consist mostly of giving to those that are able to send back, perhaps in a different way, but signal to us that they appreciate what we have done, or at least are trying to do.
It took the blood of a perfect man to bring us the understanding that the New Testament brings, and changes what the earlier definition of grace had meant. Assuming a brand new meaning via the death of Jesus Christ, no longer did grace carry with it the giving of something to someone that was a friend, but rather, it was a gift that was given to His enemies.
This is a revolutionary change in the meaning of grace. No longer would grace be something that was easily understood, but rather, perhaps not understandable from the human mind point of view, but exclusively a Savior point of view. The mind can only accept it, but to deeply understand it only comes from the working of the Spirit of God in and on our lives. Many words have tried to define it: altruism, etc. however, altruism is infrequently done to those that willfully spit on the offer.
In this case, it is clear that only God, and God alone could offer this sort of gift. He alone had the ability to offer us this particular portion of eternal life. Only through His son, Jesus Christ, was grace available.
So in the annals of time, Christ died for us when we were enemies, made so by our own desires.

Romans 5:6-8 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The only way for this to occur was for Jesus to take the sins that we have committed on Himself. What I have done, He paid the price for, and the gruesome way that He did was to be sacrificed.
The Garden of Gethsamane was a mental and spiritual battle that would mirror the physical horror that he would face in the scourging and on the Hill of the Skull. This perhaps will give an understanding of the degree of commitment that it took to bring grace to us. Further, it perhaps is the only way that we can understand grace. Only through the Cross does grace become even slightly more understandable.

To be continued...

Regression of Education

2008-03-28T20:58:00.006-05:00

You know its pretty funny to sit with educated folk. They mostly talk as we do. . . . . A lot of common talk and such like. They don't parse their verbs right and they don't properly enuciate all of the proper consonants. By and large, this is very refreshing.

It is an observation of mine that I will demonstrate my mastery of a matter by my actions and my words. I work amongst some of the most educated people of our society, and it is on a regular basis that I understand that prolonged education sometimes misses its intended mark, while others demonstrate a high degree of mentation without shouting about it.

Also what I learned last year is out of date.. . . I must continue to learn in my chosen field. The area in which I work demands that new matters and new techniques be applied to face old familiar enemies of the body. Those errant issues of the heart have been with us long and will continue to be with us until the coming of Jesus.

There is a lot of spiritual application of this matter. What was good for the battle yesterday will not fight todays battle today. While some constants remain, the disease of sin is progressive in society. In fact, those weights and sins that so easily doth beset are in constant need of a healthy dose of new understanding of scripture, a new dose of repentence.

My degrees of yesterday mark only the battles that I have faced and hopefully allow me a better degree of understanding of the battle and how to fight. But still, there is a new wilderness that needs taming and the learnings and leanings of yesterday are quite confined and not far enough reaching to get me through. Perhaps this is why the mercies of God are renewed every day. Perhaps I take liberty with the context of this scripture, but humor me if so.

I need a new degree in mercy, in dedication, in revelation every day. Paul would have said of him that much learning made him "mad." Perhaps it was that the more understanding he had of the issues of life, the more that he would understand his absolute, unabashed degree of need. I have need of Him. The older I get the more I understand that I am a man much more in need of a Savior than I did just yesterday. . . or the day before. . . .Or the past year.

Whether I gained the knowledge and matriculated magna cum laude via a university or a college, or it came on the chin of the school of hard knocks, I cannot allow those lessons to blind my vision of what is in the headlights of this trial or lesson. See, those degrees are based on yesterdays' knowledge and yesterdays' battles, and they may not be the answer to today.

In this sense, my education is regressive, it was designed to treat yesterday's questions and problems, and I struggle to a new day of understanding. I reach forward. . .trying to forget those things of the past. . . and yet remembering the basics of what keep me grounded but also understanding that the more I edge toward the Crystal City, the battles loom larger.

After all is said and done. . . . . I find myself back at the greatest classroom of the ages, hunched forward in the Garden of Pressing, and crawling to the Cross. . . the wonderful Cross.

The lesson of everyday is this. . . .

I am very much a man in need of a Savior.

The Calling's Completion

2008-03-16T21:20:00.006-05:00

On Thursday of this week, I will help to lay to rest a fellow soldier of the Cross. I can't help but to reflect on some of the amazing accomplishments of a man named Jeff to whom most of you probably never met, never saw and never would have as his quiet demeanor didn't lend itself to flash or being out front.

He touched many of your lives, though, in ways that you'll presently understand. He received the Holy Ghost in 2001 or 2002, and began to grow and began soon to bear fruit. He was a willing soldier that would climb on a bike and pedal 62 1/2 miles for Sheaves for Christ, raising money for the missionaries. In fact, he would raise startling amounts of money, some of it coming out of his own pocket, and other funds coming from a willingness to commit to a cause where he would never receive any plaudits or atta boys from those who were the direct receipents of this willingness.

I would say to you that if you gave him a pat on the back, you would certainly embarrass him. He was just that kind of soldier.

But I began to wonder what about the calling that God had placed on his life. He was 35, in the prime of health and life. We were pressure washing a building next to our church and he slipped and fell.

But he was only 35. . . . .

He had only been preaching maybe a couple of years. . . . .

He didn't blow hot and cold, just steady on. . . .

He was one of the first ones to start the worship in our church. . . . .

He would ask me, in fact, the last time he preached a couple of Wednesday nights ago, how to better communicate and "step away" from his notes. . . . He was quick to learn and to listen.

But why was he asked to step into another dimension? Why, when there was a great number of years and good things to come? Why when there were so many sermon's left in his mind, and so many ones yet to preach? Why place a calling on someone's life and yet not seemingly let it have a chance to bloom and grow to a full fledged tree?

I have chewed over this thought for quite some time, as the time seems to have drastically altered since Saturday at 0950 AM.

I can only conclude a very few things.

The calling of God on a man exist much more in the moment than it does in time of the future. When the opportunity of expressing that calling comes, give it all that you have, because there is no promise of tomorrow. Not for us, nor for that calling that exists within you.

The calling is meant to be exercised now, not tomorrow.

The completion of the calling must happen every time that we step into a pulpit, whether in a traditional church setting or outside those walls of the House of Prayer.

While I percieve the calling in my life to be a lifelong journey, while there is a component of the future in my mind, I cannot allow myself to be caught in the future so much that I can't focus on the present.

I leave you with this thought, gentle reader. The Bible is clear that there is not an hour like this hour to achieve and accomplish. I entreat you to not leave anything dangling, or miss any opportunity to exercise that calling.

Jeff Jefferson is and was one of my most dear and precious friends. His gentle disposition has taught me much.

But Jeff had his callings' completion Saturday pressure washing a building for the Lord. Not the anticipated pulpit, but one that reverberates in my soul. He spent his life doing ministry and placing his calling on a high plane.

God Bless you.

Simplicity

2008-02-18T21:28:00.004-06:00

Laplace was a mathematician that lived in the years 1749-1827. His name is known for developing a formulation of an equation that would help to reveal some of the essence of the universe. It is amazing that he would be able to formulate such with little of the “modern” tools that are so essential to “seeing” deep into the universe. It is and was a very complicated offering.
It would be in the 1990’s that a man would develop a mechanism for observing rapid heart rate in a much quicker manner than had ever before been achieved. It is with this technology that he developed that I spend much of my days.

Interestingly enough, I don’t completely understand Laplace’s Equation or the inverse that is utilized in the technology that I use weekly. I could explain it to you in sterile terms, but it would perhaps bore you, and further would not prove very helpful in understanding what was really going on.

The part that I find quite amazing is that the men who developed this technology made something very complex usable to the world of Cardiology. In the complexity of it, it has been made understandable.

Simplicity is an art and an absolute discipline that has suffered many things. Concepts that are passe such as KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid) are preferred to examination of the deeper issues. Often in the short answers, simplicity is further masked by platitudes and generalizations that fail under close observation.

The more I think of it, the more I am convinced that the genius may not have been in the thought processes but more in the fact that it was made understandable to an ignorant boy from Dothan. It makes me think that this technology is a reflection of scripture. . . How something so complicated could be understood by common man.. . . . Scripture clearly enunciates that there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for a friend. Yet the utter simplicity of this love is hard to explain. Try, and I fail. Try to explain it to yourself and I think that you, too, will fail. This simple love is so utterly hard to explain because it seems so complex. Yet the greater simplicity was expained thusly in scripture.

I Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

This is the beauty of the whole thing: Great is the mystery of godliness. . .. It's not how(He's God). . .. the complexity and mystery is in the why? Why would He choose to robe himself in flesh? Ahh, there are those who will hand out quick platitudes, but there is a deeper, more simple reason. . . How leaves us in the external world of ethereal Spirit, and demands little of us. It is the difference between theory and practice.

It is in the desperate WHY that we find simplicity that is at once clear and yet terribly indicting to our souls. It is in the utter simplicity that unless we understand WHY disturbs our well padded cocoons. The precision of why in its simplicity points out the utter failings of my soul, and once again tells me.. . . no. . . It shouts at me. I am a man very much in need of a Savoir.

I only need a Savior when I recognize that what I have will never be enough, and what I have done consigns me to a future without hope. But this simplicity robs me of excuses and reasons. This utter simplicity shouts out at me, and convicts me in light of a Cross.

The simple truth is that it all comes down to a Man on a cross, dying to save the world.

Yes, it is a very simple concept to follow, yet God took up the pen and wrote an entire book about it because He knew that complexity of something so simple would confound our minds.

I have discovered, almost daily, that I am a man very much in need of a Savior. But Saviors aren't needed in the heavens, Saviors are needed in the real world. But a savior can only save those that recognize the failures that need a Savior to save them.

The simplicity of the Savior is in the utter need of Him.

White Coats

2008-01-19T18:43:00.002-06:00

My youngest son decided this year instead of a birthday party, he wanted to go camping. So on a bit of a whim, we packed up for a quick trip to Maynor Creek Lake in Waynesboro, Mississippi. It was a little cool when we left Mobile, but nothing significant, in fact I didn’t even wear a jacket out of town.
I grilled hot dogs on the outdoor grill, and we ate. It was a very pleasant evening. More for the effect than anything, I built a fire in the fireplace. The temperature dropped a little bit, and it started raining, ruining any thoughts of outdoor activity the next day. Curiously, when I awakened around six, it was still raining, but by six thirty it started snowing. Not merely flurries, but real snow. An hour or so later, it was accumulating on the ground.

The kids shot out the door and started playing in the snow.
I watched from the cabin, appreciating the central heating, but got some firewood and restarted the fire that I had let die out the previous night.
I learned a few things about the cold. . . Lessons that those of you who may live in the cold climates already know, but I became familiar with pretty quickly.

The first thing was that dry wood burns rapidly, and seemingly took a lot more of it to overcome the cold. Fires had to be built much larger. Fuel was consumed much more quickly than I anticipated. It took a lot more fuel the colder the temperature was to sufficiently overcome the utter cold. I wondered how applicable this was in the spiritual world, it dawned on me that it was a pretty good analogy. The colder it is, the more fuel we must put back to ward off the cold.
I am quite sure that sixty three words of fuel weren’t the only bits of fuel that preceded the absolute spiritual cold that permeated the area around his sacrifice. In these days of spiritual chilliness, there is a need of greater fuel in our lives. It is amazing how the natural world can induce you to spiritual truth.

Secondly, I discovered that building a snowman without proper gear on is a exercise in futility. I did not have gloves, or headgear. I quickly came back inside to warm myself by the fire.

In building something in the cold days in which we live, we

must first be prepared for the cold. It is imperative to step into the cold to preserve and to build. The cold has no friends, and it is always the enemy. It will destroy those trying to build as much as it does those tearing down. The snowman we built was very stunted compared to the ones I have seen in pictures, but my bare hands were hurting at the limited time I was actually building.

The monuments that we build in our lives, those churches, those youth groups, those relationships with those outside of the welcoming arms of God are built largely in the cold. Be prepared for the winter you will face in the outside in building the monument God has chosen for you. If you aren’t, it will be a stunted snowman, a stunted church, a stunted convert that will result.

Our saving grace was the fire I had stoked up in the cabin earlier, which leads me to the final point I learned. . . .You have to keep a fire burning. The fire will be stoked by you. I can’t build your fire, and neither can mine be built by you.
So when the world puts on its white coat, build a fire.

Land's Final Lesson

2008-01-03T21:22:00.001-06:00

The surface of our planet is covered by both water and land. At a touch over 58 million square miles, it constitutes a little less than thirty percent of the earth’s surface. In essence, water overwhelmingly covers the vast majority of it, a bit more than seventy percent. There is an absolute truth in these figures, even if they are arguable to specifics. That truth is that there is a finite amount of both water and land.
As the saying goes, “they’re not making any more land,” and though geologically not entirely true with the struggle of the earth, pushing upward on the tectonic plates producing a bit of land, it still is pretty close to the truth.
It is true that there is not much more land being built.
In our relationship with God, this introduces us to a cardinal concept. We are either going to capture a finite treasure, or one that is not quite so finite in its end. We mostly spend our time on fighting for new ground, and not facing the reality that there is only so much of it there. Turf war has destroyed many good men. I, though young, will tell you that many more will be destroyed before it is over.

The finite treasures of this life- that of wealth, of fortune, of houses and lands, they all are very restricting. They are appetites that are without peer, only one step beyond where you are now. It is the one more house, the one more car. Yet they seem so available and reachable.
This is the final lesson of land: it has limitations that are confining both in body and in mind. Perhaps it is a turf war inside the church, or more limiting, a clash with a fellow pastor. I am telling you that these turf wars are very restrictive and unhealthy.
As with most of life, there is an opposite. That goal, that aspiration that can suddenly lift you beyond lies merely in sight. The aperture of your mind must concentrate the light not on the limitations of land, but on the limitless bounty of something very different. We can spend our days looking down at the land, and never see the bounty of the horizon. Therein lays the truth.
You will follow where your eyes go. If they are cast down, you will fall. Yet in looking up, there is something victorious about that upward gaze that shouts “I am not bound by the frailties of a limited goal, but I am unleashed on the bounties of a greater purchase.”
While the earth basically is not enlarging itself, there is something that is. The harvest field, where when one grain dies, many more are produced in its place, calls us to its better bounty. While the lands in your town aren’t getting any larger, chances are, your population is. You probably don’t need more land. . .
The better goals in life demand that we broadcast, not hoard.
I don’t remember a scripture that tells us that if we gather lands and houses, that we have accomplished much. But it is chock full of “he that wins souls is wise.”
Perhaps our goals get a bit mixed up at times. Refocusing is essential in life.
Make sure that your priorities don’t lean so heavily on things that are finite as much as the infinite things.

Soft Glow of a Grannies' Illumination

2007-12-24T14:03:00.001-06:00

Stephanie and I drove over with the kids after church on Sunday night to Mom’s and Dad’s. This year, for me, has been the best I can remember in terms of enjoying the Christmas season. It has been laid back for me but not for my wife, who is the primary shopper in our house, but I will admit that shopping is not my forte.

I was driving down the interstate, and begin to think back to the times that we would make the trip from Dothan to Opp and Andalusia to see Granny Harrelson and Grandmother Danford.

There are remarkable things that I remember about those occasions. I am frankly surprised that I don’t recall the gifts that I received, or many of them at all. However, I do remember the dumplings that Grandmother Danford made, along with her sweet tea, and banana pudding(if it is not cooked, it is not truly banana pudding).

Granny Harrelson lived the most distant of the two, and we would trek over to her house. It was a place where a little boys’ memory was given a holiday. She cooked on a wood burning stove, even though she had an electric one. The house, very modest by our standards, was heated by the fireplace that always seemed to be blazing out. We would dig out the Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys, and build a village. Granny was building something much grander.

Outside was the barn, the fruit house, the smokehouse and the wash house. But just beyond those was the small prayer house that was a daily visiting place of Grannies on a daily basis. She met with her best friend everyday. I was a bit young to really understand, and yet I could feel something cosmic going on in that little sanctuary.

I suppose that I could overdo the sentimental aspect of this. . .but there is a strong connection of that little prayer house to the generations that have followed. While the Christmas celebrations were modest in gifts that we could see, there is nothing modest of the huge gifts that were transmitted spiritually.

She gathered with the Christ child daily, and what she lacked in physical gifts, the better gift was that of a spiritual foundation that helped establish the family.

She was a slight little woman, who would never make it on the lists of those who are influential. Yet she seemed to have a much stronger connection of influence than those fleeting influences that we make here in this world. It does seem that some of the greatest gifts come in small packages.

Don’t overlook the gifts that are small in size, yet great in import. Often those nondescript, packages that are placed in the most unobvious places are those that will have the greatest impact in your life. After all, a manger is not the place we look for a Messiah most often. They are often hidden not by the blazing lights of a stadium, but much more often by the soft candle light of a stable.

Have a very blessed Christmas.

They're Trying to Decrease the Doorway

2007-12-22T10:21:00.001-06:00

Micah 5:2
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Luke 2:1-9
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

I. Introduction
Bethlehem. The word invokes such a rush of memories for even those of us who have never set step into the land of Israel. This hallmark of cities has brought many things into our lives. It is steeped in history, even before the portion of scripture that I read as a text tonight.
· Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob, would be buried here
· Ruth settled here, a stranger that was brought into the family record of Jesus from Moab
· David was a son of Bethlehem
· Samuel would bring the anointing oil here to crown the next King of Israel
· It was the well that David’s mighty men would draw water from after battling through the host of Philistines
· And ultimately, it served as the birth ward of Jesus the Messiah
Much has changed in the years since then. Bethlehem is an unsettled place. There is a concrete curtain that surrounds the city, allowing for only one entrance in and out of the border. It seems to me that the entrance of to the city of the Messiah has gradually been reduced in size so that there is very little way to get to the city where Jesus was born.
The steel gate booms behind you if you allowed to entrance into this small town about five miles south of Jerusalem. This city where the angels would herald from the hillside, has closed its doors to those seeking the Messiah.
Around the traditional place of which Jesus was born, a church has been built. A small cave served as the place where Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. Pilgrims still come to this church, kneeling in worship to the King that has already come, yet those get fewer each year.
So tonight, I preach to you, “A Decreasing Doorway.”

II. Text
In our text, we read verses of what are the most familiar passages of scripture. It is the culmination of the entirety of prophetic utterance from the Old Testament, beginning with Mother Eve. Even amongst those who aren’t believers, this portion of scripture is widely known.
It is the beautiful story of the birth of the redeemer. Imagine- a virgin is found with child and this story of redemption and grace suddenly steps to the forefront of history. Yet it was the small prophetic utterance from the mouth of Micah that would illustrate that greatness is not dependent on place, time or circumstance.
Though thou are small. . . . .it is the small places of life where greatness was and is born.
A. Jesus was born to the refrains of Angels
The entrance of the Messiah was accompanied by the refrains of the angels, as the songs so beautifully puts it
While shepherds kept their watchingo'er silent flocks by night,behold, throughout the heavensThere shone a holy light.The shepherds feared and trembledwhen lo, above the earthrang out the angel chorusthat hailed our Saviour's birth!
It was not an entrance that was hidden from mankind. The shepherds heard the voice of the angels ringing out over the quiet hillsides announcing the glorious birth of the Messiah. While Herod couldn’t hear the angel band, these simple shepherds understood clearly what was happening.
· I would rather be a shepherd on the hillside and hear, than to be a King whose deafness destroyed him
As the angels clearly and with clarity announced this occasion, the birth of Jesus was confirmed to the world. Obviously, there is and was great need to shout the news of His birth to the world. Those simple shepherds were given a great gift so they could come and worship at the manger. God chose these men to attend to the Messiah. I believe that He is still choosing men to attend to the Messiah.
· For some, it comes like a blinding light
· For others, it comes as a gentle voice
· And then, for others, the angels still appear to announce the arrival of the Messiah
Amongst the hay, and the sound of animals moving about in the stable, Jesus was carefully wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid down in the manger. Is it any surprise that Jesus was laid in the manger?
Yet in the beauty of the angel chorus, the doorway of hope was hidden from some of those that were in the surrounding area. It was in those same hills that other shepherds lived. In Bethlehem, there were many gathered, and yet it is not recorded that any of those attended to the Messiah.
Somehow there was a doorway that had been flung open for the shepherds, and yet others had not had the same invitation or worse yet, ignored the heavenly gathering outside on the hills.
B. Jesus was born, and the Wise Men came
From the simple shepherds, to the echelons of wisdom, the wise men heard the call, and followed the star. The voice of God came to those that would hear.
What, then did the voice of God sound like to these men? What does the voice of God sound like at all? Often the heralding voice of God does not come in angel choirs, nor is there a star.
· Samuel would here the voice of God in his bedroom, and there he would rush to answer Eli. The voice of God came to young Samuel with the same voice of the High Priest in his life.
· Mighty thunder and lightning came, yet it was in a still, small voice that the prophet would actually hear the voice of God,
These wise men came from a far country, perhaps that of the Medes. But regardless of origin they came from, they heard the call of God. Perhaps of all things, hearing and obeying the voice of God is paramount. If we don’t hear the voice of God, we could easily miss the birth of the Messiah in our lives.
Wise men still search for the Messiah. It is imperative that we understand that searching for Him is the most important thing in our lives. Yet in this search, you can be assured that God is definitely calling to you.
These wise men were looking for the Messiah, and came and knelt at the Messiah’s side. Sure, the gifts came in handy at a further date. But you will find what you are looking for.
· Abraham looked for a city whose builder and maker was God, and I think that he found it
· He looked for a sacrifice, and he found it stuck in the thicket
Still, there is the necessary ingredient in hearing the voice of God. It is the absolute of obeying that voice. Time and circumstances will do their best to wither the voice of God in your life, and suddenly, a wise man’s journey is short circuited on the altar of personal pleasure.
These wise men would approach Herod the Great regarding this Christ child, and receive a chilling answer. . . “when you find him, let me know. . . .” This hallmarked the double meaning of Bethlehem’s name. On one hand, it was “the House of Bread,” but on the other it is also known as the “House of War.” While Jesus was laying there in the manger, a great battle had been set in array, and it was absolutely appropriate that Jesus would be born here in this place.
Bethlehem will either be known as a “House of Bread” to you, or it will be the “House of War” that defeats you. There are no neutrals in this decision. This decision of Herod of not embracing the House of Bread committed him to the House of War. He killed thousands of baby boys in his war on the House of Bread. And he lost.
C. Jesus Came, But Man Started Closing the Door
In the days and weeks that followed the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph were forced to go to Egypt to escape the hand of Herod. It would begin a pattern of rejection that Jesus would come to know closely. There, the King of Kings that was born a King would not reign in splendor, but would serve as a helper in a carpenters shop.
It is amazing to note that He was born King. Don’t think that this has ever happened, and I don’t think that it ever will. Kings are made. Yet this one was born a King. There in the rough outskirts of Jerusalem, a King was born and lived his first days. It would be the opposite of what I would want.
Although He was attended by the Wise men and the shepherds, it seems a little less than what a Kings arrival would require. The doors had began to shut almost as soon as He arrived. It seems as though as the swaddling clothes were wrapped around him, his rejection had already began.
As it is in Bethlehem now, with the walls rising around the city of His birth, there is a closing of the door on Him. The tradition place of his birth has now been surrounded by concrete and where a large door used to be, the church has been encased in concrete, and the door that held such hope has been gradually reduced in size so that now, in order to get inside, you are almost forced onto your hands and knees.
The doorway has been blocked, little by little, and one day, it stands to reason that it will be completely blocked.
I stand tonight to tell you that He didn’t come to stand in an ever Decreasing Doorway, but that he has flung open the door for us to walk through.
III. Conclusion
I stand here tonight to let you know that
· He didn’t stay in a manger. . .
· He didn’t stay in Egypt.
· He didn’t stay sitting on a well
· He didn’t stay in a rocking boat
· He didn’t stay on a rugged cross
· He didn’t stay in a tomb
It would be Bildad the Shuhite, in his talk with Job, that really spoke a truth that was prophetic in utterance, and I don’t think that he meant it to be, that really applies here.
Job 8:7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
The door may have closed on the manger and the stable that He was placed in, but that wasn’t the door he was bound to stay behind. He came out of all of these, and the next time He will return in the eastern sky. Here is the key. Jesus didn’t stay a baby in a manger.

-Close the door on his birth, and you don’t have much. . . .he is gone.

-Try to kill him the crowd, and he'll slip through, because it is not his time yet.

-Close the door via unbelief. Even try closing the door to his tomb. . . .but He didn’t stay there either.
There will be no way to close him out, to Decrease the Doorway, but there will be a sky that was made for him to step through. It just seems to me that His doorways keep getting a little bigger and bigger.

And there's one place where the doors never close, and never get smaller. That's the stable I want to pull into one of these days.

Growing Larger by Looking Smaller

2007-12-17T23:36:00.001-06:00

Modern digital cameras obtain their images in an extremely inefficient way. They obtain millions of the basic building blocks of images, called pixels, in forming a picture of the subject matter. The images are then compressed ten to fifty times, and then a picture is finally formed that you are able to view.

One of the modern problems that seemed unsolvable was eliminating the excess pixels that were never “needed in the first place. It took a genius professor of mathematics overnight to solve the issue. Terence Tao was able to apply certain knowledge to an existing problem that had been unsolved by those who were in the know. He was made a full professor of mathematics at UCLA at the age of 24.

In solving the problem, he proved that you could obtain just the needed pixels instead of gathering all of the excess and then eliminate all of the rest. This inefficiency created an extra amount of work.

There are times where we see so much that it is difficult knowing what is good and worthy, and what should be jettisoned. Our focus can produce a great number of in focus pixels and still miss the proper portion on which we should be looking.
Demas spent much of his time with the proper things in view. Yet, it was focusing on the improper elements of the journey that cost him a valued friendship in Paul, and it all points that his salvation was left along with his friendship also.
The millions of pixels of this “present world” were far greater than his ability of sorting and removal.

However, this is not a signal, lone event in scripture. It occurs with such repetition that it quite frankly is frightening. Time fails of telling of Cain, Hofni and Phineas, and even Uzzah.
Placing a hand on his disciples, Jesus would indeed steady a boat, but much more importantly, steady a life. He would encourage them, “Let not your heart be troubled,” but rather grow much larger by “believing on me.” He was, and is the part of the picture that should not be eliminated.

Yes, indeed, he is everywhere. The viewports of life, the eyes, are constantly recording imagery. Yet the discipline of eliminating excess is often hard, and inordinately easy to eject. He is definitely in every picture that your eye will ever take. Everything is not God, but His Spirit is everywhere at once.

This principle is most in evidence around the Christmas season. The nativities are arrayed, carols are sung on the elevators and halls and yet the blessed Jesus remains in the background, relegated to the part of the picture that is soon eliminated in favor of a much more festive time. If I can successfully remove the Christ child from this time of the year, I will easily become self centered, and concerned solely with myself. This prescription is much in favor these days. Yet it is the dynamic opposite of the one written on the greatest prescription pad of all time. John the Baptist said it best when he reported, “He must increase, and I. . . . . . must decrease.” John remained constant in his ability of focusing and eliminating, seeing the precious portion of the picture that mattered the most.

Yet the magnificent words that Jesus said, “Never has there been a greater prophet than John" prove that looking and being smaller indeed caused him to be much larger than he ever could have on his own.

The Limitations of Friendship

2007-12-13T10:31:00.001-06:00

Cyberspace is a ubiquitous word that describes much of our commerce and connections with each other. Bridging the worlds of both communication and business, it has, at its core, a desire to exchange information and ideas without the borders of usual person to person relationship.
There have been some startling patterns to start emerging as scientist began to scrutinize the information about how people connect. It is stunning that most of the relationships that exist in cyberworld are not in far flung places amongst vastly differing people. It is an assumption, wrongly made, that communication is far apart in context of distance. Our worlds have not changed since Stanly Milgram's famous experiments of the 1960's, wherein he established the small world phenomenon.

Tracing the connections across the internet establishes the fact that relationships, even where distance should not matter, are extremely dependent on proximity. This causes one pause, thinking that there could be some latent bias that prevents a clear picture from being formed in the mind.

Limitations are inherent in everything. The degree of pushing that we do in overcoming these are the key of connection. A few remarkable relationships mentioned in scripture remain somewhat mysterious in my mind. Considered that David and Jonathan should have been forsworn enemies, and yet a bond existed between them that was unbreakable.

Jonathan should have been more interested in killing David than Saul his father was, and yet there was a connection that prevented this. Limited only by death, this relationship was encouraged by a direct relationship. Yet there were periods of time that they were not close together, blessing this relationship with distance and perspective.

However, Gehazi and Elisha had a breakdown in values that ultimately proved the undoing of Gehazi. Gehazi, albeit a servant, would certainly developed some affinity and friendship to Elisha. Yet the ability of Elisha to Gehazi was hampered by an obvious inability of Elisha of transmitting spiritual insight into his life.
The limitation of this friendship existed in close proximity. Problematically, it was between two men of whom had to have a high degree of closeness. It seems that physical distance did not help in this case, and yet the distance between David and Jonathan did not serve to sever.

Perhaps the most deadly thing of friendship is the limitation of perspective. I need friends. You need friends. And then, we need truth. Often it is impossible because of commonly held notions differentiating in knowing what is truth and what is bias in the context of relational issues. Gehazi, and to my mind Elisha, was hampered by the sheer closeness.

Often, as it was in the Garden and on the Cross, it is in the forsaken friendships that we find ourselves at crossroads of destiny and time. Friends cannot go through it with you. You forge ahead, with God as your guide. Peter could not walk through the Garden with Jesus. Even John, the beloved disciple, couldn't stay awake. The inner strength for the coming battle arrived under an olive tree.

To See, Step Back; To Understand, Step In

2007-12-10T22:27:00.001-06:00

Georges Seurat, the French painter that was one of the champions of a style of painting that is called pointillism, utilized color in a new way. He would apply millions of dots of paint to a canvas and the interaction of these would produce a striking work of art.

It was a fresh way to consider the use of color. Only by stepping back a few feet can you even see the image that was created. In order for our brains to “see” the image, you cannot stand close. You must have the perspective a few feet, and even a few yards. The brilliance of this technique is that it took an ability to perceive from a few feet away while he painted within a few inches. There was a direct connection to this significant ability that allowed perspective when he was so close to the surface, and yet he could perceive from a distance.

There has recently been a movement, small as it may seem, that has discovered a direct correlation between the local actions of men and women and the grand affairs of nations. It is not well received, yet the connection is without challenge. The issues of Tiananmen Square have resulted in a bit more openness in China, and the small scale nuclear protest have worked their way into the policies of the United States of America.

But not only can the affairs of the locals affect the affairs of nations, it is without contest that the affairs of nations definitely affect the local population.

Scripture had promised since Adam and Eve had abandoned a close relationship with God in the Garden that there would be a rejoining of this closeness. God promised that the seed of woman would restore the relationship. Yet, for many years, the distinction between God and man threw the relationship into disarray.

But as God stood back in the heavens looking into the populace of the earth, it sat fresh on his mind that He could see the frailty of man. It was readily apparent that the Law only pointed out man’s sin without a real way of restoring a relationship. It was as if the points of color meshed into a picture that was not pleasing. The individual strokes on the canvas weren’t at all what He planned. So He could see the picture as it was, but more importantly, for what it was going to be. However, for all of the strokes there needed a bit more. . . a bit more of the artist standing close for the picture to come together.

The most stunning passage in the New Testament came when He stepped into this world in this manner: Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. God could see from his perch on the throne of Glory, yet understanding was far away.

He needed to understand what and how we feel in order for the picture to be complete. He was God, and as such had created man, yet He could not “feel” as a man felt. So he robed Himself in flesh, coming as a child in Bethlehem, in order to understand the picture. He had painted it from the foundation of the earth. Yet there came a time where he wanted to understand it.
The Bible quite clearly states that he can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He came to understand what He had painted. It is amazing that this little child created an understanding that only by being born into this world, God would understand.

Perspective is one of the hardest things to master in life. . . it is hard both see the big picture and participate in the action. Yet God placed Himself into this position in order to both see and to understand.

In His struggles to and on the Cross, watch the interaction between seeing and understanding. “If it be possible. . . .Let this cup pass,” and “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The chasm of seeing and understanding finally closed. . .and Jesus died for all. . .He had stepped back, and He also had stepped in.

You Can Always Find a River

2007-12-07T23:47:00.002-06:00

America, the broad and beautiful land that flows from sea to shining sea, has been explored broadly. Perhaps there are still some pristine areas that have not seen the eyes of mankind, but they are surely few and far between. The exploration of the North American continent was, of necessity done by following the rivers that flow through the plains and the mountains.
Rivers provide far more than just a cool place. They provide both water and life sustaining food sources that are usually predictable. Lewis and Clarke would stick with rivers as much as they could on their magnificent journey westward. Spanish explorers that preceded Lewis and Clarke would also follow this safe pattern of exploration.
Finding a river proved to be the essential item of long term success in the exploration of the natural world, by large. The pattern for finding a river was to go to the lowest point and there a river should be. Sometimes there were rapids, other times a small stream that hardly constituted a river, but the life giving waters of the rivers called to the explorer.
As time has moved on, better systems have developed in obtaining water for consumption, and yet there still is a cry for a river in all of us.
Rivers never flow on the top of a mountain. Their domain is in the valley. It is in the depressions of the earth that the swelling sounds of the life giving river flows. It was in the valley of Elah where David knelt down and chose five smooth stones.
He would record a bit later in Psalm 46 that “there is a river, the streams thereof shall make glad. . .”
The hard part of a river is that you have to go to the bottom of the valley, or across a broad, open plain to get to the flow. Often, we find ourselves despairing over the valley, but the river is deep and needful.
Just an observation in our Christian walk: wells are good, but they are for those that have settled. I am sure that settling is not what Christian had in his mind on his way to the Celestial City. It takes a river that moves to keep you alive.
Finding this river can be challenging, but you can always find a river. In fact, when you need it the most, at your most desperate hour, that is where you are likely to find it. It is in the exposure of the broad open fields that a river will be found. It is in the recesses of the dark valley that you will hear the rush of the river.
The rivers of America are becoming more and more polluted by the trashing of them. There is a movement afoot that is trying to clean them up.
There was river that welled up back a couple of thousand years ago, from the place of His darkest hour. It has washed away many sins, and yet it is still as pure as it can be. This river started and has never stopped flowing.

There Is a River

There is a river that washes you clean

There is a tree that marks the places you've been

Blood that was spilled, although not your own,

For all of your tears, are the wages for things you have done

And all of those nights

Spent alone in the darkness of your mind

Give it up, Let go

These are things you were never meant to shoulder

There is a river that washes you clean

There is a tree that marks the places you've been

Blood that was spilled, although not your own

For all of those tears, love will atone

So, give up the right

To control the waves that empty out your life

Above wild skies

Are the rays that break the shadows we design

Give it up, let go

These are things you were never meant to shoulder

Give it up, let go

There is a river that washes you clean

There is a tree that marks the places you've been

Blood that was spilled, although not your own

For all of those things, love will atone

For all of those nights, that you cried all alone

All of your tears, love will atone
Written by Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason and Matt Odmark

Lending to the Lesser

2007-12-03T10:24:00.001-06:00

We are all investors. Some invest on a grand scale, manipulating billions on a weekly basis. It boggles the mind the immense amount of money that is traded back and forth across the Wall Streets of this world daily. Then, most of us invest on a far smaller scale, investing toward a distant day of retirement that will hopefully pay dividends through our waning years.

The choices for a 401K retirement plan are offered at most places of employment, investing in a mutual fund that conglomerates many different stocks into a single entity. These are much safer options. Individual stocks are offered publicly, yet carry with them significant risk of failure, if proper choices are not followed in purchasing these stocks. In purchasing these, whether mutual funds or individual stocks, you purchase a limited share of the business. Either way, there is no guarantee that you will make anything from them.

Perhaps it is not the stock market that attracts you, but land, your children, or education. Reality is that we are all spending our finite amount of time here on earth on something.

Over the recent past there has been a emergence of investing in microloans- those business that will never make it to the stock exchange, but offer a much more direct relationship to the business. You can invest, say, in a herd of goats in Uzbekistan. You can invest in a grocer in Timbuktu. The list is endless. It seems almost quaint on one side, a bit humorous on the other. Yet these loans can and do account for real lives that are affected, not simply another dollar. In fact, there is little accountability of the money once it is invested. Yet the good far exceeds the gains of the stock market. People are fed, clothed and provided for as a result.

Much in the same fashion is the intent of the Word. We can and ought to spend time investing in the Bride of Christ. It is one of the best investments that you will ever make. Yet it is a hedged investment- the Bride is predestined to be taken out of here. Scripture is replete with this principle. I can invest my time and money in the physical buildings and necessary accoutrements of the business of the Bride, and yet it takes the investment of the other to really get a grip on the core investment of the Kingdom.

There are microloans of your time and effort that often exert themselves on your live in such a strenuous fashion that will provoke exhaustion in your mind and spirit. The time spent in a one on one bible study is strenuous, and heart rending. It requires much time and effort, yet it is scriptural in reaching them house to house.

Sheer closeness of this requires a great emotional deposit, knowing that the core of salvation is presented. Preaching is required for salvation, but there is somewhat an emotional detachment in doing so. How? At best, you have maybe an hour or so, invested in someone. You preach with no one particular in mind, allowing God to target. It is not at all the multiplied hours that you have placed into a Bible Study group, knowing the person, with the implicit knowledge of their individual salvation.

This is not guaranteed in any way. The ones that you have spent so much time with can part without so much as a return. I call it lending to the lesser. The investment is so much greater, and makes it a much more risky loan. The general stock market has seen an average increase of about 12% a year since its inception in America. Microloans haven’t.

It will exact a great cost on your life, both in preparation and time. Yet these microloans pay great dividends when the harvest comes. You will decide for yourself where you will spend your finite time on earth. I encourage you to lend yourself to the lesser.

Fire isn't the Problem; Fuel Is

2007-11-30T15:13:00.001-06:00

Life is never easy in the life of the refuge. Often it is not a question of simply shelter, but it is a question of every day that the Sudanese refuge of food and the ability of finding a way to cook it. Some two million people have been uprooted in the African nation of Sudan, where a severe civil war has created great tumult.

As with all wars, the combatants are not the only ones that are affected, it is the women, the elderly and the children that bear great hardship in the fighting. When the refuges began arriving at the camps in which they thought that great safety would be, other problems began to assert themselves.

It would be a problem of food, and though the international community has come through in a myriad of ways, there are very basic assumptions that we make that are often wrong. If you have food, and have fire, yet have no way of fueling this then it is at best a hardship, and at its worst, torture.

Christina Galistsky discovered this problem of inefficient cooking of the food, burning so much fuel that the natural resources were being depleted alarmingly. She decided to develop a stove that cooked efficiently and was cheap to produce. She achieved that feat with amazing results.

Those women who cook in Darfur faced great risk when collecting fuel, as they were preyed on by Arab militias. It makes gathering the fuel to cook the food as dangerous as not eating. Both kill.

Hidden in the problem is one that scripture addresses. Fire is not the problem. It is present, and yet the problem of fire is that it needs fuel to burn. It doesn’t matter if the fire has been banked against the night and everyone is in bed, getting needed rest or the bonfire is roaring. Fuel is necessary for both.

While this is so basic that we would tend to dismiss it as overly simplistic, remember that when fuel is available, these things don’t occur to us. Often the essence of problems are cured, not at the top, but down in the basic issues of them. Think that gathering fuel is easy? Not in battle, it isn’t. Think that fuel lies all around in the middle of the safety of camp? It doesn’t.

Paul would forcefully tell us in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

It was a wood burning stove that would warm our house as a kid. Although young, my dad, my brother and I would collect wood for the fire during the winters. It involved chainsaws, hauling and splitting the fuel by hand. Quite frankly it was hard work. I did not do the majority of the work due to my age, but I was expected to help.

Fire wasn’t the problem. Dad had a box of matches. What was hard was the fuel.

What’s hard now is what was hard then. Fuel doesn’t come with a cheap price tag. It doesn’t come free. It doesn’t cost a little or a lot. It cost all.
When I present myself as a living sacrifice, I am placing myself as a fuel for a very different flame, one that isn’t interested in wood, but in a life that is well spent on an altar. I am a different fuel, for a different fire. Fire is not the problem, but sometimes this fuel is. If I want to be warm this fuel has to be willing to be offered. Am I able? Yes. Am I willing? Are you willing? That is the question that resounds.

Blooms that Silently Sound

2007-11-27T21:50:00.001-06:00

You have seen them. There, on the walls of the dentist that you use in your town, those single bloomed paintings that are often replicas of the original hand tinted versions that were painstakingly draw and colored by hand. Often these paintings were made by the Spanish, as they explored what is called the New World.

Just as the volumes that were written by the explorers themselves, they were what we would currently call the illustrators toiling mostly in the silver silence. Men of great constitution, carefully protecting the pens and paper that they would sketch and paint on, rendering the stark, yet beautiful flowers of another land far from their own.

And as it were, these men were akin to those paintings that they presented. . .silent in presentation, yet speaking from great depth to those around them. It is almost stunning to think that these men are much more published in these long years after their death than those hardy, full blown explorers ever dreamed to be.

It has recently become a study in the Art world that these images have become not a picture to be critiqued, but studied on the level of a visual history of the past. These images were extremely instrumental in their time in forging empires ahead in the pursuit of raw materials. While the great explorers told of the riches, these paintings demonstrated the richness of the lands, and goaded kingdoms into great exploits.

Sometimes, it takes a painting provoking us into the next step. Hearing is not quite enough for furthering our vision. It is in the blooms of life, no matter how spare the terrain, no matter how tough the journey, no matter how dogged the explorer was in getting there. It is the hallowed pages of scripture that we see that God understands this and paints beautiful pictures of his grace and mercy so that we can understand.

It seems that it was Joshua who would bring back grapes, and say this is the best picture of what I found. He didn’t bring back a giant. The giants weren’t worthy of a picture as the grapes painted for him. Did he ignore the giants? No, but they didn’t rank high enough for him to drag one back.

Often we look, as the children of Israel did, at the giants instead of the grapes. It seems that our pictures are skewed by the height of giants, and not the pleasantness of the grapes. Our battles shouldn’t be the beacon. . the beauty of the land should.

Not only did Joshua hold the grapes in high regard, but another picture that was solely his sustained him through the faithlessness of a whole generation, and that was of a mountain.

I'm afraid it's been too long to try to find the reasons why
I let my world close in around a smaller patch of fading sky
But now I've grown beyond the walls to where I've never been
And it's still winter in my wonderland

I'm waiting for the world to fall
I'm waiting for the scene to change
I'm waiting when the colors come
I'm waiting to let my world come undone

I close my eyes and try to see the world unbroken underneath
The farther off and already it just might make the life I lead
A little more than make-believe when all my skies are painted blue
And the clouds don't ever change the shape of who I am to You

When I catch the light of falling stars my view is changing me
My view is changing me

Written by Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason and Matt Odmark

Sometimes you grow beyond your walls without realizing it. Perhaps it was that Joshua walked around those forty years and did not think about those around him dying. . .they frozen in their unbelief, and him growing beyond them because he had enough vision. His world grew far beyond the reaches of his limited reach. . . Can yours?

The Worth of Roots

2007-11-24T10:59:00.001-06:00

Sometimes, our roots are surprising. It seems that when you think you have it figured out, someone comes along and wreaks havoc on preconceived notions. Jason Moran one such character. Most of the stars in the world of jazz have come from less than favorable backgrounds, yet rose to prominence as a result of the ability to practice and rise above the surroundings that they were raised in.

Jason Moran, one of the prominent young talents in the world of Jazz, came not from poverty, but came from wealth and privilege. His father was an investment banker. Yet Moran feels a definite connection with those men who are the giants of another time, yet their shadow is clearly cast into the world of music today.

There comes a recognition of the past as a guide for the present and the future. You cannot reinvent the wheel. . .it’s already there. Yet the frontiers of today are for those who were born for them, and by hooking into the past, you find that there is stability in the knowledge of what was gained there.

Pursuing the notable frontiers of revival and growth must be fueled by a connection to the past. It is often projected in the scripture as returning to the “old paths,” a concept that is falling quickly out of favor. Yet with the implied knowledge of today, how are we to navigate the streams of life that were not present in the past? This is that probing question of the future health inside of our lives.

Perhaps the most stunning problems of our day have already been solved, and yet the voices of the recent past are saying differently than what I want my present to say.

Jeremiah 6:16. . . . ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. . . .

A man would be very foolish not to acknowledge that there is a marked difference in today, and ignore the fact that there are differences in our worlds. The “good way” that Jeremiah spoke of goes a long way. You can’t have a new composition if you ignore the old ones. There are treasures that are buried in the past, that are yet to be mined.

So when you set down at your “piano” to compose those beautiful refrains that God has committed to you, don’t forget that the underlying themes of the past where rest is found.
It seems that roots are ignored until the storms start, and then we really examine them. I have never really thought of a root as being restful, but it appears that might be one of the greatest descriptions that they could have.

Yes, I realize that you may not sit at a piano, but in those pulpits,

in those Bible studies, remember that God has no back up plan for getting His word out, except you. If we fail in our task, there are enormous consequences. Don’t forget the roots.

Whispers of the Olmec

2007-11-19T16:10:00.001-06:00

Southern Mexico around 1200 BC was a fairly busy place, all things considered. The Olmecs became what experts consider the first Western Civilization proper. Not only did they build permanent structures, they traded raw materials and finished goods across hundreds of miles.

Later Aztecs and Maya culture left much more in the way of pictures and evidence of their common daily life, but the Olmecs left little in the way of day to day culture, much of it deteriorating in the humid region in which they lived. The massive stone carvings that they built in their cities parlayed little to us in the way of the demise of their cities and states. While dramatic and frankly a bit overwhelming, these enigmatic stone structures offer little in the way of the loss of the society.

However, despite the clarion call of studying the massive heads and stones, the key to the massive dying of their civilization is not held in the massive structure, but in the minutia of the mundane. It would take someone looking at the issues from a much different aspect, one that looked to the everyday life as opposed to the massive monuments that are still there.

In some ways these are monuments, not of success, but of strict failure. Yes, they remain. Yes, they still stand. Yes, they are beguiling. And yet, the ones that built them have no future.

Digging around in the ruins, the answer of the loss of this civilization is found. It seems that their culture destroyed the surrounding areas by simply depleting the area of food. This was followed by a dependence on maize, and it simply took a few years of drought and disease to ravage an entire culture.

It is in the small things that we find death and life. We can build great monumental church buildings and be forgotten overnight. We can erect monuments that perpetuate our legacy without explaining how and why we got there. We are guilty of the sin of forgetting the small things. . . .

There are times where it is a small prayer that touches heaven, a 63 word prayer that brought fire down, that got the job done that day. I submit that there were times of prayer that were day by day, week by week that are and were the key of understanding how this prayer worked. It is true that some things come not but “by prayer and fasting.”

We can become so preoccupied with the monumental things of life and soon forget that there are small things that need tending to. It is not in the ethereal world that we often find ourselves bogged down in, but it is the practical world that we lose sight of the important things.

It is a truism that loss can happen on a magnificent scale, yet it usually happens that things don’t blow up, rather they fizzle out. Isaac and his wife had a beautiful relationship from the outside. . .yet the inability of Isaac to communicate found its ugly end, not in massive fireworks, but by fizzling into a feud between his two sons that was fueled by the parents. It works like that in the spiritual world also. Simple noncommunication across the spiritual world leads to demise in the relationship.

When we leave the essentials in pursuit of the massive monuments, usually we are confined before long in the coffins of carnality. Monuments may stand, but it is my observation that these merely become a mocker of our lives.

Prayer is the investment of the kingdom. . .study, its sustainer, and fasting oddly enough the food of choice. . . . Don’t forget the lessons of little things.

Thymus Trouble

2007-11-16T09:24:00.001-06:00

I just received my flu shot for this year. It was a mere prick in the muscle of my upper arm, followed by a couple of days of soreness, and then it is over. I took the injection in hopes that I would not wind up with the flu that percolates during the year. At best, I have bettered my chances by thirty three percent, as at any given time there are two to three circulating the globe.

The vaccination utilizes killed or inactivated flu viruses to introduce immunity into the body via the immune response. It really is a pot shot, as guessing, if this years flu shot is going to have the right sequence of DNA that will prevent this years flu.

There are brilliant minds that have turned to a much more basic way of attempting to find a vaccination that will introduce immunity into the body regardless of the variety of flu of this year or that year.

It involves causing the body to create a deeper immune response, by causing the thymus to produce cellular immunity, a deep seated immunity that lasts a lifetime. What is critical, though is that the thymus gradually reduces in size after puberty and by the time you are sixty, it is at the size it was at birth. It continues to reduce in size until death.

At birth, you are granted immunity via your mother’s immune system, but soon thereafter, you must begin building your own. Essential in living, this immunity cannot be cast off, as death is the sure accomplice.

It seems there is a rich spiritual parallel in living the Christian life. . . At the New Birth(Repentence, Baptism by immersion, in the name of Jesus, and the reception of the Holy Ghost with evidence by speaking in an unknown tongue), you are granted immunity from sin. However, you must rapidly begin to cast off old things that are viral in nature, that are killer to your walk with God.

Paul was direct in his statement, “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,. It is leaving things behind that we begin inoculating ourselves against the virus of sin that tries its best to kill the spiritual man day after day.

There have been times in which the thymus, where the T cells that grant immunity, has been removed. It is almost always followed by an infection that normally wouldn’t kill an individual doing just that. . .killing them. We can ill afford to take away things that are cornerstones of faith. When we remove those, without having any idea of the effects long after they are gone, we consign ourselves to death of things that wouldn’t have matter in the prior years.

The thymus isn’t reimplanted after it is removed. It is gone forever. And along with it is the immunity of the past, and no protection for the future. Should we be paralyzed by the future? Not at all, but in order to face the future, we need to retain those essential ingredients that are protective, even if you don’t understand them.

Wobbling into a New World

2007-11-12T14:26:00.001-06:00

Looking into the night sky, you recognize the extreme smallness of man. There visible, away from the city lights and sounds, you discover the billions of points of light. It has been so seemingly from the beginning, when God would demand of Job, that of man looking up to discover what no other man has found.
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?”

So it is in the recognition of our smallness that we begin to look for greatness. It seems that the smaller we recognize that we truly are, the more we look for a new achievement in life.
Man has chronically peered into the heavens, searching for the keys to life and control of the seasons. Others have looked into the starry sky to find a future that really only exists in the hands of God. As the Tower of Babel was built, perhaps as an astronomical observatory, its completion was inhibited by God, as man would do whatever he put his mind to do by reaching for the stars.
Sometimes you find yourself flattened by the cares and stress of life, laying supine on the battlefield, and only then, looking up do you find yourself mesmerized by the twirling of the stars.
Science will tell you that there are undiscovered worlds that you can only find by using some unusual methods. Planets are found in relationship to stars, and as stars are so bright you can’t see through there brightness, you must pay close attention to the abnormal movement of these stars to discover the world of which you are looking for.
It is called a wobble, a decidedly unscientific term, but when you are reaching for new worlds, a new vocabulary comes with it.

On the one hand, there are wobbles in your world. Holding on to stars that have no future, there are those that are causing a bit of a wobble in the orbit of the star, and only by discerning will we have the spiritual “bump” that prods us to discover a new world of one more lost soul.

But on the other hand discovering those new planets involves a search of epic proportions, as they are found by discriminating between photons of the star and contrasting them with those of the star. The Bible is clear regarding the day of small things. . . those things that otherwise might be overlooked and passed by.

David brought cheese and wine to a battlefield and came away a hero. It hounded him for a number of years before he ascended the throne, yet if it were not for a bit of cheese and wine, David might have lain undiscovered.

Sometimes we stand in the place of Gideon, discovering something that inside of us only by the wobble of a threshing floor. When God came near, Gideons’ world began wobbling around. It introduced him to greatness.

If your world is wobbling back and forth, have courage, for when God is near, the brightness of his expressed glory begins to move your life around, but there is a new world that is about to be opened to you.

Fragments that Explain the Mountains

2007-11-08T09:59:00.002-06:00

The earth is a controversial place. Voices resound with a myriad of ideas that are far apart, swelling to the point of a dull roar that often cancels each other out. Truth is obtainable, but it is not in the sea of ideas and voices that ought to know when to be still, yet clamor louder in an inalienable right to sound. Often there is only one way to separate the fluff and resonance of sound, and that is to get to the most basic denominator.

Our physical world is a mirror of this idea. Comparatively, the crust of which we call terra firma, is a thin overlay of the forces that work underneath our feet. Those forces that are at work, the mostly iron core of our earth and the molten nature of the core creates all of the utterly astounding terrain that we call home. In understanding the formation of land mass, you look not to the mountain height, but instead look deep into the valleys to understand where the upthrust of hills and mountains arise.

The Himalayas, jutting upward of 23000 feet, achieving the title of the worlds highest mountain chain, were thought until recently to have happened many million years ago in an orderly fashion, yet in looking into the depths of a garnet, the truth seems far from that. It is in this small semiprecious stone that we find the solution of the mountains. It does not sustain the height, but is the key to it all. Hidden in the valley jungles of the Himalayas, the story unfolds a bit differently. Garnets are excellent indicators of age of rock, forming miles under the earth’s surface, and in analyzing these rocks, it has been discovered that the upthrust of the Himalayas was neither orderly nor old. It appears fairly recent, geologically, that these mountains were formed.

Mountains are what create the vastly different terrain of our world, and yet the solution of their formation and conquering is in the valleys.

We often find ourselves searching for the solutions of our mountains in the wrong places. It is easy to decry the valley as valleys are often associated in our minds with negativity, and extreme spiritual poverty, yet it is where the truth and understanding of the mountains come from.

It was in the midst of the valley that we find David discovering the truth of fear for his life. “Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” that the garnet discovery of the mountain of deaths’ secret became apparent to him. Death’s shadow was cast by a mountain that was between him and the sun, yet it would be a garnet that said “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”

Garnets that held the secret of the heights were discovered by Hosea, when he was told that the valley of Achor(trouble) would be given as a door of hope. Therein lies the key to the heights. . .there’s hope where trouble is found. When you look up at the heights, often undiscovered underfoot is the truth of the mountain.

Don’t allow the valley to be wasted, as this is where the fragments that tell you much of the mountain are discovered.

Protect the Pearls

2007-11-05T09:26:00.001-06:00

The city of Zhuji, China is known for one thing and that alone. It cultivates pearls from oysters. That tiny grain of sand or irritant is placed inside the shell of the oyster and over time, the oyster will coat it with a hard substance and there it will produce a pearl. While the pearl is being formed, it is a grating process on one of the animal kingdoms’ most disgusting looking creatures, yet produces an object of beauty.

Pearl making is not a new concept. . .but the particular method in which they are grown in Zhuji is striking. In order to produce them, they acquire discarded milk containers to serve as floats in the waters. This obviously is a terrible eyesore, not to mention the fouling of the water if the milk containers get away.

So in the middle of the pristine bay, there is a junk yard of life’s leftovers that is utilized in making something of desire. An up and coming painter said this of the garbage beds that produce greatness- “I was completely enamored of this idea of precious objects being cultivated from garbage. . . .”(Lisa Sanditz, Smithsonian Magazine).

There are a number of times in our lives that we stand on the bay of life, looking at all of the carnage of refuse, wondering how and why the Lord has brought us to this shore when other shores have much more beautiful sights. Despite all of our attempts to understand, we do not know what is being cultivated under the flotsam of life. Underneath the trash of life there is a bit of beauty being made.

Often we have to dig past the appearance of the water, and also to dig past the appearance of the oyster to get to the pearls. The scraping and stabbing shells of people can bring and will bring wounds to our lives. Inherit in this pursuit is that there are diseases that are contracted, if you aren’t careful with the outside. . . .a small infection of vibrio can cause loss of focus, and death if you aren’t careful.

Indeed, there is a great spiritual truth here. Reaching into the garbage of life to rescue something is going to cause pain. You must be vigilant in prayer and in study. The wounds of those of whom you have reached for and touched yet dropped out can often serve debilitating wounds of the spirit.

As the surface is marred with garbage, and the shell quite ugly, the oyster itself is unattractive. How can beauty come from such? Yet much sought after pearls are made there, and implicit in this a lesson that is hammered home every time you pass a pearl.

Perhaps one of the natural things to do with a pearl once it is to display it. However, pearls are soft, and contact with perfumes, cleaners and acids will destroy them. Navigating a pearl through the perils of life can be a monumental task. We must be careful about allowing the world to coat the pearls with their perfumes, their supposed “cleaners,” and most certainly the acids of life. Whether the acids come from within or without, both will destroy the pearl. Jesus would decry the Pharisees for the leavening they introduced into the kingdom. “Guard your heart,” the Bible declares, and if you will allow me a little space here, I think it was saying “Protect the pearls.”
After you have rescued the pearl, don’t let the pearl dissolve in front of your eyes.

Lessons From a Bone

2007-11-02T09:25:00.001-05:00

There is a compelling interest in the world of science to resurrect the animals that have once been alive, but due to attrition, have become extinct. Over the past few years, a number of authors and filmmakers have responded to this idea and produced a number of books and a blockbuster movie.

Much progress has developed utilizing a number of techniques to reacquire the basic building block of the animals. The science of it goes something like this. . . You must first obtain a non fossilized sample of bone(it’s the only thing that doesn’t immediately deteriorate), drill a hole in it about the size of your pinkie finger, take that sample and grind it up into a fine powder. After that you mix it into a water based solution and then mix it with magnesium, heat it to 150 degrees to break the DNA chain into two pieces, cool it down, repeat about thirty times and then you will have about a million copies of gene in a test tube.

There are times in our lives where we must resurrect things in our past in order to succeed in the present. In fact, those times can serve as our only saving grace. There is a compulsion of looking into the past as that is where stability starts. A new building cannot survive unless the building is anchored deeply to a firm foundation. The past serves as an anchor. . . it was a learned man of old that would espouse that “I know a man by his past.”

Essential to the process is a non fossilized portion of bone. It can’t be hardened and brittle, as this is relegates it to absolute deadness. It must be a segment with some life. That is the way it is with our spiritual lives. . .there is a compelling reason that the Holy Ghost is spoken of as being “alive.” There is a reason that the numerous miracles are in the tome of scripture. It reflects for us the way that things have been, but more importantly, how things have to be now. The Bible is very much alive. . . but sometimes men can be dead. Resurrecting a dead ministry can involve reaching into the past. . .

Secondly, the drills of life come harshly to us. When the coring process is going on, it is neither fun nor enjoyable, yet the biblical maxim of dying to bear fruit comes into focus. It is heartbreaking to see yourself die. The confusion of the mind that accompanies this is at times debilitating, and understanding seems far away. Sometimes, even the voice of God is shut to you, as the sky is brass and the heavens silent.

The human body can tolerate a bath of approximately 115 degrees. . . anything hotter is uncomfortable to the point of unbearable. Yet in the process of resurrecting the things that are dormant, you must submit to the process of heat not once, nor twice, but over and over.

If that is not enough, you will find your soul being rent into two pieces, a necessary function of separating the flesh from the spirit. Paul was clear when we said that spirit and flesh war against each other. One part of us needs to die for the other to live.

There is where a little of the past produces a lot in the present. Where the expectations of the past are met in the reality of the moment. There is a witness of dead bones coming alive in the Old Testament, and the dead were raised to life in the New.

This is when the dead bones are more valuable laying in a grave than when they were alive. . .In order for them to have value, they had to die. . .seems like that must be God's way of dealing with some things in our lives.

2007-10-29T17:43:00.001-05:00

A Little Warmth for Winter: Come Before Winter

Every year, a group of hardy men and a few women will attempt to scale the tallest, most majestic mountain in the world. At 29035 feet, the mountain seems to have a voice, almost a tangible presence in the life of those who live and work around it. Some will pay the $65000 fee just for the chance to attempt it. Now, due to advances in technique, the numbers are increasing for successful attempts. Yet in the midst of it all, over a thousand have touched the top of the world, but over two hundred have died in the attempt.
What Hillary and Norgay first mastered in 1953 is the goal of men and women of mountaineering dream of. . . .Hillary would, in the attempt, scale up and down the mountain a total of three and a half times its height in the successful attempt. Everest can only be scaled in confined window of time during the year. You don’t attempt it in the winter, because sure death will follow.
Forty three years after the success of Hillary, the single most deadly twenty four hours on the mountain occurred. In the brief span of twenty four hours, eight healthy men died as a result of a storm that happened near the summit. It would be poor judgement that brought some of it on. . . while others succumbed to the fever of trying to reach the peak at all cost.
As I read the account of one of the survivors, it captured my being. I read of the men and women who were pushing upward. . .some of them going snow blind, others running out of energy in the open. I read the account, willing them all to live, despite the failure of the guides to stop them from killing themselves, I wanted them so desperately to live.
It was a lesson in timing. . . it was a lesson that was forcefully brought home. As I mentioned just a few moments ago, the mountain seems to have a voice, and the locals believe it so much so that they consider it to have a spirit of its own. Just as this mountain reputedly has a spirit, I believe that scripture is clear in its definite attention to our lives. Often we are told of how He is the God of the valleys, and the that He is the God of the plains. Our walk with Him is compared in scripture to climbing mountains.
It would be in the end of the life of Moses, when he begins to bless those tribes that are represented in the Old Testament that he turns to the tribe of Joseph, a nd thus blesses them.
Deuteronomy 33:13‑15 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,. . . . . And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
There are treasures of the heights. . . there blessings of the hills. . . . yet hills and mountains cannot be approached as if it were a plain. There is danger the lurks in the snowy peaks of Lebanon.

Remember with me the plight of Paul. Sitting in a cold and lonely prison cell, he and his
companion Luke would begin to look for ways to stay warm in the winter. There were a few things that Paul wanted-
· A Cloke that had served him well in previous winters, kept him from freezing
· Books- often the main companion of Paul, so that they became close to him to the degree that there was a cry from his heart, not for deliverance, but for something that would feed his soul.
· Parchments- those things that Paul had written down, perhaps as a personal record of the church, perhaps the list of things that God had done for him.
In the end though, in what is considered Paul’s most human moment, it would be that final urging of Come Before Winter that we find ourselves tonight. Come before winter. Probably the most human call that we hear from the pages of scripture from the lips of Paul.
Paul, who had endured much, as he records in II Corinthians chapter eleven,
· day and night in the deep
· shipwrecked three times
· journeyings
· hungers
· perils
· stripes
Paul stands that day when his progress is not measured in feet or yards, but this time merely in inches, and from the depths of his soul comes this cry. . . . come before winter. It is in the nuances of scripture that we find a range of emotions, from the height of a returning Ark, to the tramp of a donkey as he brought a Triumphant Messiah into Jerusalem, to the painful triumph of Psalm 23, to this particular scripture. Paul stood as close to death at this scripture as he probably ever had, and I think that he knew that death awaited him.
In the midst of those circumstances, Paul stood as one with hope. There was, in the middle of what seemed hopeless, hope. The confession of his mouth was a testimony that His life, his ministry, was still potent, that he hadn’t laid down in defeat. There in the ashes of what was to be the greatest ministry of all of the Apostles, Paul would not allow himself to be defeated.
As I take up this scripture tonight, I want to bring light into a heart that is darkened by the circumstances of life. I want to bring hope into a heart that beats defeat. I want there to be a surge in the spirits of man from the Spirit of Hope. It does not matter how far down you may be, or what prison you may find yourself in, there is a greatness that comes, even when you say, Come Before Winter.
There must be an intent to climb to the End
One of the things that is essential in finding a flame in the midst of a coldness is the condition of the mind. Jerusalem had lain in waste for many years. . . The Temple destroyed, the houses there open to the elements, the land basically desolate and returning quickly to its wilderness state. Yet a court prophet by the name of Nehemiah with a vision of what could be.
He stood, trapped not by walls of iron and locked doors, but tied relentlessly to a King. He had been brought here by no act of his own, yet regardless of why, he too was in a prison. Jerusalem might as well have been the tallest mountain that he could only faintly remember, but the land cried out to him to come.
Jerusalem need not lay in waste. . . . Jerusalem, the land of which Melchisedec was both priest and king. . . where the headquarters of the Promised Land lay. Jerusalem, the birthplace of prophets and dwelling place of Kings lie in waste.
But Nehemiah would convince a King that had no real interest in the area into allowing him to come back and rebuild the city again. Those that came to Jerusalem would come with purpose. . . . there the heckling of Sanballat and Tobiah would remind them of the prison that they were in.
Nehemiah 4:6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
But the fire begin in the mind. . . fueled by the Spirit of God, the seed of what can be seized them all. If you’ll seize the seed of what can be, you will find yourself, despite the circumstances of life beginning to feel the warmth of the flames of revival.
Watch the powerful words of Isaiah when he prophesied these words. . . .
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Peace brings with it a quickening of the spirit.
Look forward
Scripture is clear. Our focus in life cannot be down here. There is simply too much defeat and dismay that invades our lives. Our prison can be one of self imposed defeatism. Our judgement is often clouded by what might have been. We must look forward.
Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Too much hinges on you to allow prison doors of isolation, sin, or defeat close you in. Our focus cannot waver from the simplest truth of them all. He left us to carry on His work on earth. Entrapment is one of the slyest ways the enemy has to conquer our purpose.
Let me make this practical. Our lives are constantly bombarded with things clamoring for our attention. Make sure that you set your foot down on solid ground. Don’t let the world, or those who simply aren’t spiritual be the advisors of your life.
Watch where you are placing your feet. The strains of that old song comes ringing true. . .
“. . . Lord plant my feet on higher ground.”
Look up
One of the principles of walking and climbing is this. . . you are going where you are looking. When we walk patients at the hospital, we require them to look up, out in front. If they look at the floor, that is where they will go.
That is a good spiritual principle. . . .you are going where you are looking. What ever it is that has your eye will lead you that way. That is why an old man named Caleb could at 85 years old, claim a mountain.
Joshua 14:12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day;
It would be David who would pen these words
Psalm 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
Focus in life often determines success.
Look for the Finish Line
There is a final principle in finding our way in the midst of great winters of our life. I must remain dedicated to the calling that God has placed in my life. I must not be moved by every stray doctrine that blows through.
“He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. . . . .”
Paul refused to allow his present condition to determine his allegiance. Sure, it was cold, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Sure he needed the items before winter came to his part of the world. But there is something much more scary than the physical, mental, or emotional coldness, and that is spiritual coldness.

The Danger of the Cold
When Paul began to close his letter to Timothy he included this last personal communique to Timothy. “Do all diligence to come before winter.” There is much hidden in the phrasing of this scripture. Paul had become concerned for his son in the Gospel, Timothy.
One of the things that Paul seemed to say was this, I need you now, but in turn, you need me also. But I think that Paul’s greatest purpose in encouraging Timothy lay in this. . . .
He didn’t want Timothy to simply let the days slip from the sunny days of summer into the glorious days of fall. To allow those cool fall days to slip into winter. . . and thus fail to come before winter.
Paul seemed to be reminding Timothy that come now, not later. . . . that winter would be on him and he wouldn’t know it. There is our reminder tonight. I want to be as kind as I can but I felt the Lord in this as I was putting it together. . . .there are some here tonight that is going to allow winter to come and you will not have made that step.
· Perhaps one of the saddest things in life is the case of what might have been
· the position of could have
· the place of almost, but not quite
Paul understood the urgency of the moment. . . .He had stood in front of a man that told him, Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a christian. As we stand in the presence of Jehovah tonight, I send out a call, Come Before Winter. Come before winter.
The passes might be snowed in.
Winter has come to some men’s hearts already, and though it is never too late, they always seemed to think that tomorrow I will.
Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
There is a cold storm that is blowing in this world today. The cold is beginning to affect parts of the church. It is pulling on some of you harder and harder. There seems to be a distance between you and God. At first you couldn’t tell, but now you realize that there is a distance in the relationship.
I am standing here tonight as a weatherman.. . . no, I can’t read a front, nor can I predict a thunderstorm tonight, but I can be certain of this one thing. The coldness is coming, the storm is breaking, the snow is starting to fall. At first it is the pretty snowflakes, and you think that you can control them, but it’s getting heavier now.
You are on a mountain side tonight, and being caught in the open will kill you. Self reliance will kill you.
The world is intruding into your life and Satan desires to have your soul.

1996 witnessed the most deadly 24 hour period that Mt. Everest ever. In the short period of time, 7 men and one woman would die. Of that number, there were several experienced mountaineers. The problem was that a storm approached in the death zone, above 26000 feet.
The story of one man in particular captured my attention. A physician from Texas, Beck Weathers, would attempt to climb this mountain. As the storm blew in, he became snow blind, and lost his direction. After attempting to locate his camp and safety, he huddled into the snow, and there gave up to die. The night and storm raged on. Winds that are cause by the turning of the earth were bearing down on him. At day light a search party was organized, and they located Beck. But Beck’s arm and leg were sticking out in the snow, completely exposed.
They couldn’t see any breathing. . . so they left him there in an icy grave. A few hours later, a man stumbled into the camp, blinded, frostbite so severe that amputation was the only option. Yet Beck made it. One of the most frightening things that he said was this that the closer that you are to death the less cold it feels. Are you feeling the cold tonight?
. . .some of you are perhaps in the middle of a storm. . . . some of you are safe at camp. . . .but there are a few of you who are laying down. . . . but I can see a fire just around the bend. . . . the flash of forgiveness is there, alongside of a new commitment and new anointing.

A Little Warmth For Winter: My Parchments

2007-10-26T17:39:00.001-05:00

The old ways have or are fast disappearing. I remember going to my grandmother’s house as a young child and watching the way that she and my grandfather lived. They lived simply, and though they had running water in the house, they still had a well that they could draw water from. I remember looking down into the well and thinking of how deep it looked.
She had four buildings out behind her house. One kept all of the canning she had done over the years, pears, green beans, peas, other things. The middle building was the smoke house, and though I never saw that in action, I would go inside and imagine the stove inside going and smoke seeping out from around the eaves. She also had a wash house, where the bath tub and her ring style washer were. There was not hot water to bathe in, and she had to heat every drop of hot water on a pot bellied stove inside the wash house. The final house was the smallest of these small out buildings, and it sat out behind the others. She called it her prayer house, and that’s what she did.
I promise you this. . . . I have watched my own mom can some tomatoes, can some green beans, and I have even smoked a little meat, but I am sure that I could not do any of it to preserve beyond a day or two. The Foxfire books are full of mountain knowledge, and they taught us how to make lye soap.
We laughed at the books. . . titles I had never heard of, teaching things that I had only read vaguely about, yet it would be in those pages that so many years of self reliance and wisdom rested. Not only did those pages contain the way to survive, but if you would listen to what they were saying, you could do more than that. . .you could thrive in a hostile environment.

There inside those pages, described in such vivid, homespun wisdom, was the way to make soap, to dig a well, to build a house, to plant a crop. . . ultimately to live a life in struggle, but not just struggle, but also to love life to its best. We live in a hostile world. There are constant battles in our lives. Paul was living in a jail, probably on the brink of death some of the time, and there he wanted, not food, not a palace, not a soft bed, but he wanted a cloke. . . some books and his parchments.
The Value of a Book
Paul had left some things behind on his journey. Perhaps it was by mistake, or more probably, had left things behind as a safeguard against theft. While he sat in the prison waiting on what was coming his way, he became acutely aware of his need for some of the things he had left behind. It was the common practice of the day to take whatever the prisoner had in his possession away from him.
So if the reason for leaving them was fear of theft, or simply for ease of quick travel, he knew that there were some things he had left behind that he needed now.
I’m not sure if Paul understood that his writings were going to be included into the volume of scripture, but he was adamant about them coming to him. There is something about the power of the written word. I realize every day that there are false hoods that are printed, yet it seems as if it is printed, it carries greater weight. But I stand here with a book in my hand tonight that is not
· a fable devised by some old men to justify an existence
· a wildly written lie, sprinkled liberally with the quotes of a few madmen
· a periodical that simply reports in passing the acts of another day.
· an email from those who call themselves authorities
· a historical novel written over time
· bestseller that can be read and thrown away
· a classic that can’t be repeated
· a book that can be critiqued
Ladies and gentle men, I stand before you with
· the Truth
· The Living Word
· The Sword
· a book that has withstood the onslaught of evil rulers trying to stamp it out
· the book that scientist have tried to disprove, yet in all of there disproving have in fact reasserted the truth of Scripture
· It is the great Moral work of all time
· It is the greatest book of both literature in the world
· It is the guide of history
· It is the only book that can claim to be alive
· While there are those who will oppose it, none can stand against it
· It is the book that God himself has exalted above His own name.
· It holds the distinction of being a classic and still is current.
· It all hinges on the first words printed in the first division of its pages. . . In the Beginning GOD
· and it will end exactly as it does in the final page, Surely I come quickly.
Paul had left some books that he wanted, needed now. The Bible is the book that should be the most central book in our lives. Out of it flow the words of life. It is a book that directs us to glory.
It’s story is really his story. . .the story of love so great that He laid down his life for us.
He hasn’t hid from us the things that we should do. . . it’s a test that we have the complete answer key to. Integrating the Word into our daily lives is essential to our spiritual health. Just a few verses earlier, Paul commanded Timothy this
II Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I want to be approved by God. That’s one of the reasons we gather here on Wednesday nights, to get understanding. When we begin to understand the power and promise of His word in our lives, something almost electric happens in our spirits. . . the quickening of His Spirit in our lives.
David had understanding when He said
Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
There is saving power in the word. It will keep you from sinning. There is great strength in the word. There is even a promise just by reading the book of Revelation, you will receive a blessing.
This is the greatest book ever written. There will never be another book that even comes close to the words that are contained in the pages of his word.
Ultimately, and sadly, most who own them will not read them. It mildly steams me that those same people will assert their superiority over it, and yet somehow, excuse themselves from the portions of it that they find hard.
When What Is Written Is Written By Me
We live in a time where the Bible is lessening in the impact it has in the lives of the world. That is the most obvious, the most oversimplified thing that I have or will say tonight. It is read less and less, and its directions and principles are applied with less frequency than in any other time in this world.
It would be the words of Paul that illustrate for us well:
II Timothy 3:2‑4 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
There’s something about reading the word of God that will cause change to come into your life. There is a powerful spirit of conviction that reaches out to those areas of your life that do not measure up. You simply cannot read it and not be touched by it. In the last days there are going to be those that are going to obey there own lust.
Since God knew that there was coming a day when the Bible would not be read as it should, he put in place a way for those who refuse to read it to be faced with it every day.
· There is a reason that you may be singled out among the crowd. . .
· There is a reason why they come to you in the midst of struggles of life
· there is a reason they rely on you for spiritual advice, even if they don’t take it
· there is a reason that they want your approval on things that they know that they shouldn’t do.
· There is a reason that you will occasionally feel the backlash of public opinion
God placed in us the Word. He has written His book into our lives. That’s why we feel the power of His word in our lives. That’s why we have the privileges of living this life. Paul put it this was in II Corinthians.
II Corinthians 3:2‑3 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
You have the word written in your life. That’s where we can find warmth in the midst of the cold nights of our lives. The storm may be brewing, the blizzard may be bearing down. But there is a fire that burns in our souls. We must rediscover the power of His Words.
There’s something that will stir up a cold bed of coals when you read those passages of scripture. But we must be diligent about scripture. Only twice did God actually write down with his own hand any words. Both times they were either destroyed or the winds of time blew them away. The only thing that he wrote and is eternal, is what He has written on the inside.
One of the most incredible things about God is this: He left His Word in the hands of the people, and left no other option besides you to present Himself to the World. . . there is not a back up plan. You are His Church.

One of the most incredible things about God is this: He left His Word in the hands of the people, and left no other option besides you to present Himself to the World. . . there is not a back up plan. You are His Church.

What I am saying is this. . . the only Word that most people will ever read is you. You are the only chance that some will have to see and read the Gospel. They will see your life and know that there is something more than just a label of Christianity.
Let the word live in you. . . it’ll bring warmth to a winter.
Especially the Parchments. . . . There’s Fire in Some Things
Paul oddly enough made a distinction in the way the He referred to the things he was asking for. It was the cloke I left at Troas, and “the books.” But when He referred to the parchments, He didn’t just call them the parchments, He said especially the parchments. . . . . if you can’t bring the other stuff I asked for make sure that you bring the parchments. The books, i may not have written, but these parchments are the things have written are personal. They are the crux of what I really want.
Of all the things that Paul wanted those parchments. . . there must have been things that Paul had decided to write down for future reference. . . He was needing those things to help him keep warm in the winter.
I wonder if it was those passages like
· I Timothy 1:15‑16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, . . .
· II Timothy 1:5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.
· II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
· II Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
Those parchments held some warmth for Paul on a cold winter’s day in prison. The warmth of knowing God had came to the world to save sinners from their sins is beyond measuring. The mercy is there. But not just sinners, but this sinner. This gospel wasn’t made to simply exist in a vacuum, that it only applies in the vague sense of theory. What this book does is personal.
When you stood that day at an altar that is truly your own, and God poured out his spirit on you. It means that if I am in need, He is an ever present help in time of trouble. There was warmth in the old pages of the parchments. In this day and age of email and voice messages, there is something about receiving a hand written letter that brings with it a warmth that a cold screen never will.
There is something that we need to discover about the word of God. The epistles were simply that, hand written letters that would certainly have brought a warmth along with them. God has placed in your life those letters so that you become epistles known and read of all men. . . . you provide warmth to a cold and dying world.
That’s why you find yourself so attached to special passages in the Bible. . . .those scriptures have become your parchments so to speak. . . . so when winter comes you’ll tell others bring my parchments.
While others may run for horses and kings, we cling to the fire that was started so many years ago. The book of Acts doesn’t end with a word of ending. . . It is open ended. When the parchments of your life are opened you find yourself reading again of the magnificent things that God has done for you.
· I like reading about the marvelous things that were done by the hand of God in Scripture, but I like it better when it happens here.
· I like it when we hear of healings that we prayed for
· I like it when victory comes here
· I really like it when there are people are filled with the Holy Ghost in this church.
We are headed in the right direction. . . let’s not side track ourselves. Let’s make yet another entry into the parchments. . . the books may have already been written, but I believe that there is a parchment that we are writing here, for warmth in winter.

From the perspective of a young man. . . I realize that I haven’t lived nearly as long as some of you, and do not have the wisdom that comes of simply living through things, yet from this perspective I watch and learn. It seems to me that we all, being young or being old, want to leave a mark on the world in which we live.
I happen to believe that our lives, regardless if they are published and read of all men, are constantly being recorded and placed in lives of those around us that we come into contact with. When Paul asks for these books, it is my firm belief that it was not those books that perhaps had been published about him, by him, but those books that had become so ingrained into the character of Paul’s life that he was able to call them his own.
I want to be able to call this BOOK my book, because it’s very character has to become my character. I want to truly call this MY BIBLE, and not just mean the black leather Thompson Chain, but that the words there have been hidden in my heart.
I couldn’t can anything here tonight and have any reasonable expectation that it would last beyond tomorrow. I couldn’t smoke meat and expect it to last beyond the dying embers of the fire that smoked it. It is the final place that my granny would go that I had better never ever forget.
On the inside of the prayer house, that tiny place that you could probably stretch out and touch both side with you hands, my granny would stencil in the dates that were in important . . . .The day that she was filled with the Holy Ghost and baptized in Jesus’ name. The day that my aunts and my uncle and dad received the Holy Ghost and were baptized. Ahh she had scripture there on the walls. . . it seems that my granny had her parchments written on the walls of that little place.
She knew how to gather warmth on a cold winter. Shall we gather around that same fire?

A Little Warmth For Winter: Please Bring My Cloak

2007-10-23T18:59:00.002-05:00

It would be in a children’s book that would capture the essence of it. It was allegorical, though, and it seemed to really be an adult’s book. The children involved would be playing in the house, going from room to room on a rainy day when one of them would discover a wardrobe. There in the back of that wardrobe they would find a new land, one that had been frozen as a result of sin.
I had read the series of books and thought I would add a chapter or so during our family time that we have. As I begin to hear the sounds of those beginning to walk into a world that did not care if they lived or died, the Land of Narnia begin to hold a bit of interest for me.
As they stepped into the snowy frozen world, they would meet some characters and things that would shape their lives. It would be there that they begin to discover some of the things that Paul was talking about in our portion of scripture tonight.

The Second Book of Timothy was written by Paul in the waning days of his life. He as been cast into a prison, those dark and wet places in the Roman empire that would house Paul for much of his last years here on earth. Some have called this the swan song of Paul. . . But I think it is his celebration. Although his life here on earth had been marked, especially over the recent years of Paul’s life had been spent imprisoned, he was still writing, influencing, doing the work that God had called him out to do.
Often I found that I tend to place those men and women in scripture on a pedestal. . . to the point of them almost assuming a mythological status. While I don’t mean disservice to them, and they were great men and women, they were men and women like we are. Often we miss the human side of them. . . that every day grind that we all live in but sometimes we forget that the grind was also with those men.
It would be in our text that we find Paul at one of those points in his life. He was in a cold drafty place with little or no creature comforts. It would be here that Paul would begin looking for something to keep himself warm. In perhaps this extraordinary portion of scripture, unlike anything that I have ever come across, the pain and cold were working on that old soldier of the Cross. His requests, only after offering much encouragement to Timothy, were few. He wanted his cloak, his parchments and books, and made one more request. . .come before winter.
Genesis 8:22 established a principle by which God designed into the fabric of the way this world works.
Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
So long as God’s divine design is in this world, there is going to be seedtime and harvest, cold a heat. They are all promised, and as much as we prefer the spring, with the re awakening of the earth and its bursting forth into green after the cold and bareness of winter, the freshness of spring gives way to the intense heat of summer. Then the fall comes, cooling off and the changing of leaves, but then winter comes.
It is here that we find Paul. Fall is fast becoming winter and Paul is looking forward into a coming winter. . . and he is preparing for the certainty of the coming cold. Every one wants a little warmth in winter. . . no matter how cold their spirits are, everyone needs a little warmth for winter. Be sinner or saint. . . backslider or preacher, everyone needs a little warmth for winter. Paul begins to draw on those things that had warmed him in the past winters of his life. I would like to look at a few things that will help you through the winter. No, I’m not talking about the physical cold. . . I am preaching to you those periods in your life where God seems to be a million miles away and headed in the opposite direction.
When the sky seems to be a dull grey with the coming storm of cold and snow, there’s some help in the swirling storm.

Paul sat with only his faithful lieutenant, Luke. Apparently, they both sat, knowing that winter was fast approaching that he begin to write the letter to Timothy. He would, as often he would, give instruction in the faith, spurring on both Timothy and the church to better works. While he spent the vast majority of time instructing, it would be in the final chapter that he would include some personal things for Timothy and others in the church. It was as he begin to close the letter to Timothy that we see his mind turning to the past for a little warmth. There is great value in going back and remembering the things that God has done for you. It was as if Paul had began to go back and remember the relationships that he had that he held dear.
Perhaps it was in the days and months that he had spent in the cell that he had been forced to remember the fractious relationship he had with Mark. I’ve occasionally had a fractious relationship with him, myself. Paul and John Mark had a severe disagreement to the magnitude that it severed a relationship. Acts 13 records that
Acts 13:13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
The next occasion in scripture that we see these men together it is in sharp dissension. What cause that particular break? No one can say for sure, but it is evident from the Acts 15:37-41 that Barnabas and Paul departed company, and left for parts without each other over the issue of John Mark.
But there in the prison, Paul had began to reflect perhaps that the cause of the disagreement was ill founded. It was there that he begin, in looking for a little warmth, that he discovered the Old Testament truth contained in the Proverbs.
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
I’ve noticed that when iron sharpens iron, there is friction oftentimes, there is a grinding of wills, that makes a better me. It was there that Paul’s life began to be shaped by the hand of one that he had not held in high regard. When those friendships in our lives that are beneficial sometimes brings us to the place of facing exactly ourselves it can be hot, rough and at times fractious. I have some friends in my life that will stand me up and tell me the truth. . . Even if I don’t want to hear the truth at that moment. They aren’t scared of me. . . they aren’t intimidated by me. . . .but it is those same friends that bear me up in the winters of my life.
I recommend that you find a friend that will so that for you. It will be in the winter of your life and you may be in a cold drafty prison that you’ll remember the truth that they told and suddenly those years of division will seem to melt away.
Not a prophet, nor the son of one. . . yet I know that there are those of you who are in the position of Paul. . . a profitable relationship was severed at a particular moment of truth. I am not speaking of severed trust, but of truth that had the ability to set you free, and yet you drew back from it.
The Bible is crystalline in its mandate for us to be in the world, but not of the world. Those friends that you have in the world are going to steer you in the ways of truth. . .its those that are after the face of God that you need to be pursuing.
Maybe tonight, in the midst of a cold storm, it is one of those friends that will bring a little warmth back into your life. Maybe there’s a phone call that should be made that has been waiting to be made for months, may be years. . .
It was in the memory of Paul that he begin to gather a little warmth for the coming winter. That tight circle of friends that would bring him comfort and closeness with God. Winter is coming and your going to need some.
Imagine with me
· David without Jonathan. David would not have been the man he was except a friend named Jonathan.
· Elijah without Elisha. It was in the fertile ground of that relationship that a double portion of spirit was obtained.
· Mary without Elizabeth. I realize that both John and Jesus would have been born, but it was in the commonality of public embarrassment that they gathered strength.
It would not only be the memory of past relationships that Paul would find great comfort. There was surely a reflection of the Damascus road. If ever he had questions, I am sure that the reflection would bring flush of heat to a soul. The many miracles that he had seen with his on eyes. Memory can bring you great peace. . . .and even a little heat for you winter.

But there are times that memory will not be able to bring you the warmth that you need. Paul, in what seems to be his most human moment, sends a request for a cloak that he has left behind. The cloak, perhaps left by mistake, or maybe by simply being in the heat of the summer, was deposited with Carpus for safe keeping. That cloak had surely seen a winter before and Paul knew that it was a worthy covering.
The humanity begins to speak to us from the pages of the word of God. . . .Paul. . . despite all of the things he has endured, all of the battles he has fought, and yet here he is asking for a used old cloak. I can almost see the bit of urgency in the voice of Paul, and almost feel the depth of emotion that Paul was expressing in this portion of scripture. What was it about a cloak that found itself worthy of mention in the word of God?
Was it that important? There it speaks aloud from the supposedly silent pages of the word of God. What was it about that cloak that Paul wanted so badly. . . someone surely would have given him a cloak. Yet it was a particular cloak that he wanted, one that he knew would bring him some warmth.
The historians are silent about the cloak. But I think that there are some things that are able to wrap themselves around us a give us some warmth.
I must find myself clothed with some things if I am not going to be left out in the cold.
The inner garment, the undergirding clothing that keeps me warm in the midst of the wintry night is that of salvation. There is a certain warmth that comes with a soul that is in contact with the Spirit. You may wonder how some people seem, despite the raging snow and sleet, appear to keep warm in their lives. There is a certainty of knowing that God is walking with you that helps guide your steps to be firm and for you to hold your chin high.
If you have been filled with the Holy Ghost, there is a connection to a fire.
Psalm 132:16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
It would be in the case of Joshua listed in the book in Zechariah that God would chose to take away filthy garments that were torn and ragged around the edges. God would replace them with new garments to cover the sins of Israel.
Zechariah 3:4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Seems like to me God has been in the business of covering up our sins if we would just ask him for a long, long time. When God covers us, something happens to our lives and what was once cold and dark becomes warm and light. Watch what happens when we try to cover our own lives. . . .
Haggai 1:6‑7 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
You try to clothe yourself and you wind up worse off than when you were when you started. But we have a promise that goes something like this. No matter how much I try to surround myself with, the toys of life, the houses, the land, the cars, the hobbies, and the clutter of life. . . I cannot make myself warm.
· I may be able to temporarily warm myself on the outside with things, but that deep cold of man’s desperate soul can only be thawed by the brilliant flame of His presence.
· When it comes down to it I must throw myself onto the grace and hands of God.
Matthew 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you,
He’s able. I know that He is able to clothe you. In fact, one of the final things that is mentioned in scripture that God does is to clothe us.
Revelation 19:7‑8 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Paul, I think that I have something on the other side that is a cloke. One that I will never be
separated from. One that will keep me warm forever. No more cold drafty prisons. . . for more cold trials.
I am fully persuaded that Paul had discovered a great truth in an old Cloke. . . The warmth from a old truth is much better than the temporary flash of a quick fix. There is value of going on.

Perhaps most of all of the things that Paul would have liked to have had would have been a fire. There’s something about an open fire that galvanizes us. It is the flames that seem to speak to us. I realize that Paul could not start a fire in the prison that day or that winter. The Bible, though speaks to us of a fire that burns when it is lit.
God has so often shown up in fire that it has become synonymous with His nature
· Moses had a burning bush
· The Children of Israel had a pillar of fire
· The Tabernacle was anointed with fire
· Elijah went out on a whirlwind and a chariot of fire
· The Temple was anointed by fire
· and there in the Book of Acts the church was anointed by fire
It first occurred in the book of Acts. It sat on each of them. While the fire doesn’t sit on the head of those who receive the Holy Ghost to day, it still ignites a fire in our souls. May be it is time for us to stir up that gift.

Cold kills. Even in mild Mobile, where it hardly reaches cold status, we had someone to freeze to death last winter.
I wonder how many of you are sitting in the midst of the coldest winter of your life? If you were really honest with me, how many (don’t raise your hands here) are in the middle of an ice storm? You may be sitting here tonight in the balmy weather of a church house, and yet inside you are weathering storm of a lifetime. I know that there were a few bits of laughter that floated across your mind when we started here tonight, but there is a raging whiteout while you have need for a Little Warmth For the Winter in your life. But just as I read to you from the eighth chapter of Genesis that there is a certainty of the seasons, there is another promise in that same verse. . . they may be certain in coming , but that season is not final. It may be dark today, but light is coming in the morning time.
You can die in the midst of a winter. There’s a few things that you can do to provide warmth for your soul. There is an altar that you can find yourself at to warm yourself up with.
I offer to you tonight the one that is called the Fire, the Consuming Fire. If you will allow him , those icy moments of your life will soon fade, and you can stand in His Presence.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

I guess that I could, by asking to bring my cloke, be asking the same thing that John said in the end of Revelation. . . .Even so, come quickly Lord.

Some Toxins are Only Purified by Gold

2007-10-19T23:48:00.002-05:00

Michael Wong lives in a world of high science. His walls are filled with degrees from CalTech and MIT, and is a tenured professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas. At thirty five years old, that is quite a resume. But really, there are those that have attained that sort of honor before him.
So what makes him special? He was given problem three years ago of trying to clean up a very common, but highly polluting substance called TCE. It is associated with a number of maladies that range from the mundane to the life threatening. You probably have been exposed to it yourself.
Previous attempts at cleaning it up merely moved it from one place to the other. The cure was not practical, because it was switching the TCE from one place to the other and those that were cleaning it were being exposed to the stuff itself.
Wong decided to approach the cleaning from the molecular level, and he found that one very precious metal can cleanse the TCE. Combine gold with another rare substance and you have a cleansing agent one hundred times more potent than what you have had in the past.
It seems to me that Mr. Wong got it right. It does take gold to remove some things in life, TCE is the least of them. Through the example of the tabernacle, Jesus was typified in the acacia wood of the Ark of the Covenant. That wood was covered with gold, and it was only when the sacrificial lamb was slain and its blood placed on the Mercy Seat of the Ark did the sins go away.
It took the death of Jesus. It took the burial of Jesus . It took the resurrection of Jesus. But it took that application of the precious blood at the throne for sins to be atoned for once and for all.
That is why it is not enough to simply repent. To stop here circumvents the process.
That is why it is not enough to simply be baptized in the name of Jesus. To stop here results in partial salvation. Although it is clear that the ONLY way that sins are washed away is via baptism in his name.
That is why we must continue on to receive the Holy Ghost, to complete the salvation process.
There is redemption to be had. . .It is not complicated. But it is very specific.
We must be in his likeness of the death, burial and resurrection.
Our sins are as toxic as toxic can be, and it takes a little gold from the man who was God robed in flesh to save us from our sins.

The Hazards of Immobility- I'm Losing My Mind

2007-10-15T23:30:00.001-05:00

Psalm 31:12-13
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

The elemental fact is that immobility affects our minds in a number of ways.

· Immobility affects the relationships that you have had by severing them
· Immobility causes a decrease in motivation to learn
· Immobility causes a decrease in learning new things
· Immobility decreases the retention
· Immobility throws problem solving out the window
· And perhaps most insidious is the loss of ability to make good judgments because the world is limited to the place where you are, it causes you to lose the ability to discriminate from good relationships, from good judgment.

It is amazing that when we pull back into our shells that we think that we are harming no one, and yet in this cocooned state, we are slowly and surely killing ourselves. We kid ourselves to think that we are an island that survives at our whim. It is in the dark recesses of life that we find ourselves withdrawing from a dark world, and yet there is a deeper darkness that happens when we find in our own minds a place of total retreat.
We were made to go into the world; yet not to BE of the world. There is a definite line that if we retreat back into our shells that we will never accomplish the task we have been set out to do. If we remain in the confines of our “Pentecostal homes, our Pentecostal cars, our Pentecostal places of society” we are drastically missing the Great Commission of going forth.
If we sit around all day in the confines of our homes, caught up in the business of church we will slowly but surely find ourselves saying.“I’m Losing My Mind.”

David was in a place of great brokenness of spirit in the thirty first Psalm. He has been assaulted and finds himself in a place where he is so forgotten that he placed himself amongst those who were dead. David had obviously retreated, whether it was in the confines of the palace, or even the confines of his mind, that he sees himself as one that is dead.
David, that transparent man that was a man after God’s own heart, would reveal to us the raw emotions of an anguished soul. It is in the places of darkness that we retreat and find ourselves. David is a lot more transparent than we are.
Either way, we find David at a point in his life that is pushing him into a cave. It is at these points that danger presents itself. It is insidious, because it is so unexpected to find that the enemy sometimes is our own minds. We face a giant that lay not at the door, but inside the room that we live in. There are significant problems with dwelling in the cave, in the isolated rooms of our minds.

The Expectation of the Future is Darkened
Of the things that are a problems, the first is that our future is darkened.

Understand that I am not negating the past; but if we live there, we are relics of a bygone age, waiting for death. The present is our place of great struggle, and it is the realm of miracles, signs and wonders. But the future is our greatest hope, and if we lose it, we have lost it all.

The future serves as the greatest beacon of our lives. I can’t live in the past victories- to do so is to live for what happened yesterday. I can gathered strength from yesterday, but the truth that is established in the past must be brought into the present or else we have a dead God.
The future is where I find my greatest strength, because today is the placed where I can become mired into and it is where I will find defeat.
It is in this context that I introduce the first, deadly attribute of immobility. My perception of the future is much darkened if I allow myself to get caught in the trap of immobility.
The Bible is clear about the effects of immobility-
The Ephesians were warned of the impending effects of understanding the times and seasons wind up alienated from God
Perception of the times is essential to life
Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness that was marked by relative Biblical silence, thought his usefulness had ended, he was blinded to the future.
Abraham traveled for extended periods of time without hearing the voice of God, and I am sure that it felt like he had been locked out of a relationship with God.
When my circumstance demands that I retreat, I cannot allow myself to stay in the condition of self imposed exile, or my perception of the future begins to overwhelm my entire outlook on life.
Whoever said that perception is reality came pretty close to the truth. . .at least in the confines of our minds.

We can only understand our world and the things in it through the eyes, the ears, the skin, tasting and the sense of smell. If my world is confined to the smallness of a fortress of offence, then I will understand only through the musty walls of self deception. As the prophet called out to God in II Kings, after all of the thunder, lightning and fire, God asked him a probing question.
I Kings 19:13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
What are you doing in a cave? It was in a cave that had provided a place of refuge, but had become a place of self deception. His perception of the future had been clouded by his present circumstance.
His view of the future had been darkened by immobility. In fact, it had caused him to be driven partially out of his mind.

The Perception of the Present is Limited
There are a times in our life that we find that the things of today can cause us to temporarily loosen our grip on reality. Think that you are exempt? When the ship starts rocking on the sea, don’t tell me that you don’t think for a moment that you are going to lose your mind?
Jesus will lead you into storms that you cannot manage on your own, notwithstanding the toughness of your soul. He did so in the Book of Matthew.
Matthew 8:22-25 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
The disciples were lead into the ship and Jesus promptly went to sleep. Must have been something about the rain on the deck that helped rock him to sleep. The small ship had become a place of immobility, weirdly enough. How can you say that? By the disciples reply. . .if you don’t arouse yourself we are going to die in this tiny ship. We are confined by the sides of this boat.

Some of you have walked in places where that you knew Jesus had led you to, and all you found was a storm and a sleeping Jesus. The problems of perception in a storm is closely related to the place from which you weather the storm

If you are weathering a hurricane from about 100 miles from the coast, it is a lot different than watching it from the perspective that the coast gives. It is easy to forget that Jesus led you onto the ship, and more importantly, he is still right beside you.

But there are other hazards of immobility, that cause a loss of perception
· Demas suffered from spiritual immobility that wound up manifesting itself as a love for the present world.
· Diotrephes loved preeminence and wound up obscuring his sight, so that he spoke against the beloved John
Destruction of our ability to perceive the present will cause death. We spend all of our time in the present. . . and perception is paramount.
Time hangs heavy when the perception of the present is faulty.

Thankfully, we need to remember that Jesus led us here, and when our perception is limited because of our weak faith, call on Him as his perception is never off.

My Interactions with Others is Closed Off
Not long ago, a man had to be hauled out of his house due to his morbid obesity. He weighed so much that he could not stand on his own power. His world was that single room and bed that he lay in. The most pathetic part of the whole thing was the fact that someone had to bring him the enormous amounts of food that he consumed. He was being killed by the perceived kindness of others.

When my interactions are so controlled, I lose any ability to have perspective on the situations of life. If I am being fed a steady stream of negative things by my circle of friends, then I am as bloated with deception as the man was with obesity. It is a sickness that tends to feed on itself.
Peter had a way of getting to the crux of a matter pretty quickly, and he was on target when he said that

IIPeter 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

He was obviously referring the fact that it is natural for these animals to find themselves right back in the place where they started. It is true that there are besetting sins, and you must be very wary that you don’t return to the things that gave occasion for you to sin in the past.
But when we find ourselves closed in, unwilling to reach out to those perhaps that can help us most. It is in this confined world that our problems overwhelm any solution that we might otherwise be able to secure.
· Daniel was in such a place when he flung open his window to pray, and yet from the pit of lions, he was able to find rescue
· Three Hebrew boys found rescue in the midst of a burning fiery furnace
· John found rescue on an Isle of Patmos
· Job found rescue when he was reduced to just him and God
· It was in the lonely confines of a Mamartine prison cell that Paul gives us the epistles
There is a table in the wilderness David. . . There is a table in the wilderness of self imposed solitude that is deadly.
David was able to pull himself up with the help of those around him and a God that cared for him. He ends that chapter of woe by saying these things-

Psalm 31:22-24 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

When you get to the bottom of your barrel, if there is no other one to strengthen your hand, he will strengthen your heart.

Salt Loss is Killing Me

2007-10-12T23:24:00.001-05:00

There are some things in the Bible that I wish weren’t there. Yes, I know, before you pile on me, that this is a bold statement. But consider with me when God said this to Adam in Genesis-
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

One of the things about sweating when you work is that you lose sodium and other electrolytes. That is expected. When we exert ourselves in the gym or running, we expect to lose these electrolytes.
My mom used to tell me stories of her dad, a sharecropper, when he would come in from the fields from a days work, he would have a salty crust on his face and shirt from working in the fields during the hot summer days when cotton was picked by hand and not by a machine. While we may find this sort of distasteful, this description of salt stains on the collar, we understand because at some point in our lives, most of us have faced the very same thing after working outside.
But what we don’t expect is that immobility will cause the same sort of electrolyte loss as heavily sweating does. The problem with it is that there are no salt rings, no crusting of salt on the face. . . and that is a deadly problem. In fact, if I had not experienced it myself via the patients that I have cared for during my years as a nurse, I would tell you that you are crazy.

Salt loss happens when you change temperatures.
Salt loss is caused by the dilation of the vessels in your body. Even in the extreme coolness of the hospital room, I have seen sweat on the patient who is bedridden.
· Saul somehow lost his ability to move on, and as he waxed colder and colder, he began to lose his spiritual mind and wound up consulting with a witch
· In fifteen years that were given as the result of a prayer, a king lost his way. . . Salt leaked out.
· It seems that the sons of Eli wound up cooling down, and Hophni and Phineas were trapped by their own immobility.
There is great danger when you begin to cool off in your relationship with God. The problems of sitting down in the midst of the fight will get you killed.

We have many songs that deal with sitting down and resting a while. . .but let that rest wait til you reach the other side. Sitting down in the midst of a fight will get you killed.
It really is amazing the effects of the salt in your body. That seemingly inconsequential substance is what is keeping you alive.

One of the hardest things in life to be is honest with yourself. Honest enough to understand that we are all the center of our universe and that our ideas may be the best things that have ever crossed the horizon of man’s thinking. You know why I can say such a bold thing? Because deep down we “know” that we are right. Even if I am dead wrong, I am going to promise you that I am right.
The problems of salt loss when you lay down your weapons of war and simply recline, is that this salt loss will cause your mind to begin to play tricks on you. Then Satan will come in and begin to prey on your mind.
I would remind us all that there is a place of rest that the Lord takes us too on occasion, but DOES NOT INTEND for us to remain there. I will submit to you that

I Kings 17:7-9 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
Elijah had declared that there was to be no rain, and then he goes to the brook Cherith, having been sent there by God to “hide” himself. God sent him there to rest and to be cared for in the midst of this drought that swept through the land. While there , the ravens, those birds of prey, that would never have given up a morsel of food, brought Elijah food everyday. Two times a day, bread and flesh came.
What was a blessing became a place that Elijah would probably have stayed in for a prolonged period of time, so long as the Brook was there, and breakfast and supper was coming day after day. It is amazing that in the middle of a miracle, Elijah could have simply lived his life out here, and there would have been no further miracles. Miracles that were
· Destined for him to perform
· Destined to change the lives of others
· Destined to save lives
· Destined to return a nation to the worship of Jehovah

This brook that was a place of blessing became a place of paralysis. The brook dried up before Elijah got out of there. I realize that Elijah moved when the Lord told him to do so, but in my mind, I can see Elijah praying. The brook had dried up. . . and Elijah was beginning to sweat the essential salts out of his body. He was beginning to suffer from immobility. There were miracles left in his life, but only if he got out of the brook mentality.

Places of rest are not meant to be lived in

How many of us have been caught in the trap of letting things slide simply because it is easier to stay still than to go on?

There are miracles that are in your future. . . but Cherith has dried up, and it is time for you to move out. There are those souls that are depending on you to reach them. . . but the ravens have stopped bringing the bread and meat, and to stay here in this one place is death. There are those that are depending on you for furtherance of the truth. . . there is a prophet that is plowing a field that will never be more than a farmer if you die with Cherith. There is a chariot and a whirlwind waiting to carry you home, but only if Cherith doesn’t cause you to die.
See, when you get out of sync with the body of Christ, things in your life suffer. But the effects on others last because you are part of something that is greater than yourself.

One of the things that begins to happen early in immobility is the loss of calcium. While your body begins to turn in on itself and self consumption is destroying you, your bones are getting weaker and weaker by the day.
We were made to stand and walk. These simple task were designed by God to strengthen our skeletal system to keep us upright. It is also true in the spirit. We were meant to move.
Give me scripture, you say. . . The greek word for spirit Pneuma means wind. Wind is simply air on the move. When we are filled with the Spirit, we must press forward out of our ruts of thinking and doing. There is a structure made for our lives in scripture that is designed to strengthen our walk with God.
The problem with the loss of bone is that we become very fragile and our bones easily break. Scripture is full of the command to arise, but not very often are we instructed to lay down for comforts sake, if at all.
I can’t resist the enemy very well if my bones are soft and not ready to accept a load. Elijah could have stayed in the midst of a place where the miracle had once been, but I will submit to you that he would have died there. His bones would have grown weak and he would have died. It is time for us to arise and to go to where the miracle is going to happen in our lives.

The sad conclusion of one that simply lays down and becomes immobile is recorded like this. . . . . .
Matt 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Salt that is no good winds up trodden under foot. It’s utility is this: it is nothing more than used to line foot paths with. If I am the salt, and have lost my saltiness, then Salt Loss is Killing Me.
The last insidious work of savorless salt remains long after it is wiped from the surface of the ground. It will destroy the fertility of anything it touches for many years to come.
Even Jesus would instruct for the tares to be left alone. . . .I don’t want to cause infertility in my life, much less than anyone else’s.
Don’t lay down and forget to get up. . . .don’t lay down and let a whispered word in the back of your mind keep you from the miracle that God has for you.

Streams are not Optional

2007-10-09T21:31:00.001-05:00

Security of the foundations of houses had never really interested me until Katrina swept through Mobile a couple of years ago. I began to be seriously interested after the fact. I found a portion of scripture that Luke recorded, and paid close attention to its inclusions.

It is in the Book of Luke that we are apprised of a situation that is most interesting. There in the pages of the same lies a story that is often untouched, overlooked and in general left in the crumbs of a similiar story in the book of Matthew. There is a remarkable difference in the way Matthew tells it as the way Luke gives it to us.

The story unfolds as Jesus is telling the gathered crowd about the ones who will survive in His kingdom.

Luke 6:47-49 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

It is apparent from the scripture that two things were not being laid to task: 1. Building a foundation of stone, 2. Surprisingly, building a foundation of earth. What is taken to task is this-building a house without a foundation. In both instances, the stream is figured deeply into the assault on the house that had been built.

I don't have the precise numbers, but living in coastal Alabama, most, if not all, houses are built on a foundation of sand. Our modern form of rock foundations are concrete, but underneath them is a platform of sand.

Sand is actually an excellent foundation on which to build a house. The hurricanes blow pretty good down this way, and yet the vast majority of houses are as stable as they can be. The problem is that you can't build a house and expect it to survive if you don't have a good foundation.

The problem is with the stream. It is apparent that we will be faced with the raging torrents of life that only a stream can give. The raging stream is often precipitated by a storm. After the thunder rolls and the lightning flashes, and you figure that you are through the storm, you are suddenly assailed by the fact that the river is rising, and what precious little purchase you have for a foundation is suddenly being beat by the water. We often wait for the end of the storm and think that it is over, and in that mode, the wall of water overflows our house, doing its best to undermine the things on which we stand.

You have been assaulted from the sky, and now the ground is going to test you.

Jesus was equally clear when He said that "it musts needs be that offences come." Offence is most painful when it comes by the hands of a comrade in arms. I suppose that may be what Solomon was saying when he said faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful when the enemy kisses. Sometimes its hard to know who the enemy is and who the friends are.

There is a certainty of the storm. At least you should have some indication of when it is coming, as the thunder and lightning will give you a bit of forwarning.

I suppose that hardest thing to understand is that both houses seem to be equally made. The problem was what the foundation was made of. Both houses were presentable. Both houses faced an equal assault on them, yet when it was all over, one stood and the other fell. I will be willing to venture say both had been in the same place, listening to the same words. The simple difference was a bit of action.

It seems that action made all of the difference in the world. We have got to dig a little deeper. We don't have a option of living away from the stream.

The Dangers of Juniper Pass

2007-10-05T23:19:00.001-05:00

In my last post, I told you of a weird "classroom" that I attended in the early part of summer north of Denver, Colorado. This is the second part of things learned in the wilderness mountains.

I had climbed Lookout Mountain earlier in the week, and was intent on climbing a pass in the mountains, and had been directed by one of the local shops to climb Juniper Pass. It was one of the few passes that were above 11000 feet that was open at the time. I offloaded the bike that I had rented, from Cherry Creek Bike Rack in Denver, and checked the air pressure in the tires as well as the brakes. I filled my water bottles and stuck an extra into the pocket of my jersey.

Knowing that it would be cold, I had layered on clothing. I was soloing up the pass, and so I took great care to make sure everything was as it was supposed to be on the bike. I had been advised that there was a store on the pass somewhere, and I could rehydrate and grab some food while resting. This turned out not to be true. That could have been a fatal issue had I been relying on that totally, but as it turned out, I had taken plenty of both water and road food.

I started out at the base of the mountain, in Evergreen, Colorado. I as told it was about 7700 feet above sea level from the place that I started out, and would summit at 11140 feet. About 3400 feet of climbing, and as I am from Mobile, Alabama, with my house sitting about 100 feet above sea level, I was in for a "treat."

I launched out of the parking area, and started a very slow ascent of the pass. It was about 16 miles or so to the summit, and I meandered slowly toward the top. I met several riders coming down, but very few were pushing toward the top. I was shocked that at 9000 feet or so I began to see snow. Lots of snow. I thought that I would be cold, but with the effort I sweated a bit. I climbed past Squaw Pass and made my way further up. About two miles from the summit, my legs, and almost my will gave up. I cramped, and standing there on the side of the road, near a ski resort, I thought that I was going to have to turn around and go back without reaching the goal. A rider came past me, and I asked him how much further to the top, he told me just a couple of miles, and I decided if I had to walk to the top, I was going to do so.

I finally made it to the top. It was one of the most isolated, but beautiful places I have ever been. It was in the mid forties and the wind was blowing. Yet I didn't feel very cold at all. I stood there, drinking in the beauty of the place, sipping on gatorade and progressively getting colder, and did not even recognize it.

There is a brotherhood that exist on the top of the mountain. There were a couple of guys that came up and stopped and we talked a bit about the summit, got one to snap a few pictures of me. It was as if we had conquered some common enemy, and even though I did not know them, they were part of those that had climbed the pass that day.

However, the struggle to the top of the mountain was not the lesson that burned into my brain that day. It was the few minutes at the top that taught me a huge lesson. Some songster said that "fame only lasts fifteen minutes. . . ." and then leaves you behind. I learned that cold at that height is the deceptive enemy. If it can lure you long enough with the view it will kill you.

It is a favorite trick of Satan, and even to some degree, maybe lesser, perhaps more, yourself that will linger at the summits of a spiritual success, and you will die there, because the cold of the height is deadly. It is colder by degrees. You have struggled to the top and being cold is not the problem, but the collective struggle has left you with a coat of sweat that quickly becomes the enemy.

While glorying in the present victory, the cold will reach its cold fingers into your soul and latch onto your spirit, and though alive, there is a deadness that happens to you.

I decided it was time to roll back down the mountain that day, and giving one of the riders a few minutes start, I rolled down the incline. I was about to get the biggest lesson of the day.

I didn't have a computer on the bike to tell me how fast I was going, but from past experience, I knew that I had quickly achieved 30-40 miles an hour. As I descended rapidly, eventually bleeding off the miles in 25 minutes what had taken me 2 1/2 hours to climb, I begin to get cold. It's odd that this was the first time I really noticed it. But at that speed, I begin to appreciate the clothing I had on, wishing for a shell that was impermeable to the wind.

I am fairly certain that I achieved 55-60 miles an hour on the descent. It was the fastest I have ever been on a bike.

I began to catch up to the gentleman I had spoken with on the top of the summit. I thought he was acting a bit strange, but he was a local and had a very expensive bike. As I began to overtake him, I slowed down, and watched as he shot through the gravel on the side of the road and flipped several times into a snow bank.

I stopped and checked on him, and as he said he was OK, I pressed on.

It was the most valuable lesson that I learned that day.

The hypnotic speed, when uncontrolled, will cause wrecks in your life. The mountain doesn't care if you are rich or poor. It could care less if you have climbed the mountain before or this is your first time. Remember, the isolated places that we walk in are far from help of a brother. . and we desparately need brothers to help in times of need.

I also noticed that when you bend around the corners of the road, the potholes are on the edges, and to combine this with great speed is asking for wrecks to happen.

There were a few signs that were memorials to riders who had wrecked and died on that very pass. There are men better than I that have died on the very passes that I will have to climb.

It was one of the greatest classrooms that I could have ever been in. . . it taught me a few unexpected lessons.

-Never leave without proper food and hydration.

-Don't forget the cold can kill just as easily as falling can

-The mountain has no feelings one way or the other

-Speed is not a factor going up. . . . but coming down, it is the only factor.

We can't live on the mountain tops of spiritual success all of the time, and we probably would sit down and die there if God would let us. We spend most of our time trudging across valleys and up mountains, but be careful when you are coming down not to slip. On the other hand, there is nothing like the sheer feeling of speed when you are coming down. Learn to enjoy the state. . .Paul said it like this- Whatever state I find myself in, there I am content. Be careful on the ascent, but even more careful on the descent.

Lookout Mountain Revelation

2007-10-01T09:21:00.001-05:00

I took up cycling some time back in an effort to raise funds for Sheaves for Christ, a program to fund various missions programs. It all began with a 100K ride several years ago but has provided an excellent outlet for me, as a place of stress reduction and exercise. It has helped me to lose some 75+ pounds, allowing me to get off of blood pressure medications, and also isolates part of a day that is not interrupted by cell phones and emails.

I have learned a few things over the course, especially the past three years, that only a bike could teach me. Since I have started riding, I have covered some 12000 miles. Back in May, I went to an interesting "school" north of Denver, Colorado. As part of a business trip, I rented a bike and decided that I was going to ride up the mountains.

The first I rode was Lookout Mountain where you climb to the top in a very short distance. I think that that it was about 5 miles from where I started to the summit. It has an 8% gradient over the distance, and the record holder is Tom Danielson. He did it in 16 minutes and 2 seconds. It took me 45 minutes to cover the distance, a distance that I would cover in just over 15 minutes in my home turf in Mobile. It was funny that I got passed by a number of cyclist, those who obviously were in much better shape than I. I did happen to pass one gentleman, struggling up to the top but well advanced in age. As I summitted he rolled up a few minutes later, and told me the story that was striking.

I explained that I was in town for a meeting of medical professionals, and he told me his story, as people will, often telling things that are quite embarrassing to me about their medical history.

He explained that he was extremely sick for many years prior, but three years ago had a heart transplant that now allowed him to ride a bike up a mountain that some professional cyclist have ridden and trained on. It was quite amazing that this old fellow had the gumption to throw a leg across a bike and peddle it to the top.

He described to me that he was training for a ride later in the summer called the Triple Bypass. It is a monumental, 120 mile ride through some forbidding terrain that makes recreational cyclist shudder.

We spoke for a few minutes, and then he took some pictures of me for me to prove that I had actually done the ride. As I descended that day, bleeding off what had taken me 45 minutes to climb in about 7-8 minutes, I began to think about the lesson of the transplanted heart.

He told me to be very careful on my next planned ride, as storms can blow up on the mountain peaks, as they were while he and I conversed. It is amazing that three years prior he would not have had such information to tell me, but because he had been there, it was knowledge that he was imparting to me.

It seems that we struggle for the mountain peaks, and when we get there, we are celebrating so much at the summit that we often forget to keep our eyes focused on what is happening in the atmosphere. It is from a perch of success that danger awaited. It is not an easy thing watching when you would rather be celebrating. The danger also lies in the fact that you have expended great deals of energy to get to the top and it is when you stand on the mountain top that you are really at your weakest. I believe it was Solomon who stood at the pinnacle of Jewish power and because he was distracted, he missed the gathering storms of life and his nation, and forgot to keep an eye out for the approaching storm.

The old gentleman proves another point, though. If you are given a new heart, you will ascend to heights that you would have never went to. There is a powerful message in knowing that when God implants a new heart into your life that you are enabled to step up a little higher.

Sometimes I have wondered at the energy and conviction of a new born saint that has been exposed to all sorts of stuff in their former lives, but when I met this man, I think that I finally began to understand. He was dying, and there was no other hope for him. If he did not get a new heart, despite of the salve that medicine could apply to his wounded body, it was just that, a salve. So at 70+ years old this man can ride a bike up the side of the mountain. It doesn't matter that he isn't going to get there first. . .but it does matter because he can do things that most others won't even try. That's the secret of someone who has had a heart transplant spiritually- they were applying salve to the wounds of their soul, and it death was not a prospect, it was a certainty. And then, with one stroke of a brush covered in blood, Precious Blood at that, they were given a new lease on life. They are going to try things, because they understand what it means to be close to death and by the grace of God, be delivered.

As I rode down the mountain that day, I realized that a new heart is a gift that is priceless.

The Brocken

2007-09-25T13:59:00.001-05:00

In 1998, the Portland Oregonian said that the tallest peak in Germany, the Brocken, listed at 3747 feet on all the maps of the world, was not exactly 3747 feet tall. It was, instead, 3741 feet tall by more precise measurements. In order to "fix" this problem, and to change the mountain to reflect truth on the maps, a construction company decided to haul in 19 tons of granite to add to the top of the mountain so that it would be the stated height on the maps. In order to build the necessary 6 feet, 19 tons of granite had to be hauled to the top and placed there. The central question still remains. Is the Brocken really 3747 feet tall or is it 3741 feet tall?

The problem of a mountain often lies and lives in the fact of its height, although the forbidding terrain can factor into the equation. Good men have lived and died on much lesser peaks than the Brocken. Many mountains of this height are within easy driving distance of most of the United States. The mountain certainly doesn't care if it is 3747 feet or if it is 3741 feet tall. The duty of the mountain is to remain constant to the task it was set to do, that is, just to be a mountain.

Mount Everest has received much attention of late as a result of the Olympic Torch being carried to its peak. Despite it being the tallest peak in the world, I can say with certainty that it, too, does not care if the Torch comes or the torch goes. We impute human characteristics onto the mountains in trying to understand them.

Understand that the significance of the mountain lies in the minds of men. The efforts to "correct" the Brocken's height, or the bearer of the Torch to reach the summit of Everest are not appreciated in any measureable fashion by the terra firma. Surmounting the summit only increases the stature in the minds of men. . . not the hill you have climbed. The mountain is not the enemy.

Often in our lives, we are approached with the same sort of problems. There are times that we feel compelled, whether it be peer pressure, or be it pressure that we have applied to ourselves, to present a much taller silhouette than what is actually there. We feel pressured to perform outside of the level that God has placed at our hands, and will often go to great lengths to prove our superiority in the realm of relationships.

Sometimes there are comparations made within the body of Christ, and often it will leave you drained and empty. As a result, those who are exerting themselves for the Kingdom to falter. Understandably, some will hide in the crevices of self delusion and self aggrandizement, yet there are those climbers, who neither look left nor right, but keep putting one foot in front of the other. It was so when a prophet looked around finally and had to be told there are 7000 that have not bowed their knees. He had begun to build a mountain in his mind that was not as tall he thought. The granite of self delusion will leave you worried and building things so that there is no escape. But just as God demonstrated in the Old Testament, he is the God of the valley, but He is still God of the heights. Isn't it a bit strange that we find ourselves struggling with tons of granite that we are carrying to place on top of the mountains that we then must struggle over?

I find the scripture in II Corinthians 10:55 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;, that we often build up mountains that aren't really even there. It is comforting to me to know that someone in Corinth was having some of the same struggles as I have. They obviously were building up mountains, adding to the mountains, and generally inventing things that are not really there.

It has been proven that our minds will purposefully fatigue our bodies in order to protect us from ourselves. Winning and losing begins in the mind, and if you are so fatigued in your mind, not so much by the sheer height of the mountain, but of the invented heights that are so real in our minds, we will never summit.

The Brocken has a sordid history. It is the mountain that has been a favorite of witches and devils. Goethe took up this in his book Faust. It is known to have a phenomenon that produces weird effects on the human form, it even has a name, the Brocken Spectre. It was used by the East Germans as a military post.

And to think that someone built it up a little higher.

It seems we have a choice in what we do with the inevitable mountains in our lives. We can build up the Brockens and spectres that arise, having the illusions of defeat, while all the while it is really making mountains out of molehills.

However, the song of Caleb sings aloud to us Joshua 14:12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. This mountain was years coming, still had Anakins there, but they were real and it was not a giant of the mind that was keeping him from his mountain.

There are enough giants in the land, both flesh and real, just make sure you know which you are fighting. Make sure that the battles you are facing are real and not merely Satan attempting to build up a mountain that has little height or form to a towering peak.

Rivets and Rust

2007-09-20T10:43:00.001-05:00

As time has marched forward, the shipwrecks of the past have slowly began revealing the secrets of their sinking. Often, there are tremendous treasure that is onboard the ships that have challenged the great seas and by storm or otherwise have slipped into a watery grave. It is to this end that the searchers of the seas began their exploration of the depths of the oceans, probing to find what has been lost.

With great interest, I follow the search for these ships. What has been in the past an interest in Spanish gold, or Persian spice has been replaced by an interest in why these ships sank.

-It is at least palatable to consider that there are storms that come and destroy the ships.
-There are those that lay in deep water as a result of battle
-There are times where there seems to be no reason for the sinking. . .it just happened

All of these are acceptable to me, but there are times, where great loss of life and great loss of treasure that has no reason that an explanation of what happened would help me to make sense of a world that was but now is not.

These times are the most troubling, those that seem to have no real reason for sinking. It is disturbing to note shipwrecks that happened as a result of carelessness or simply failing to keep focused.
The RMS Titanic sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic on its maiden voyage. It was touted as the "unsinkable" ship. As a marvel of then current technology, the ship had many innovative features to keep it from sinking. It was compartmentalized so that if a hole was punched in the side, it could stay afloat. It had remarkably modern amenities onboard. In the days prior to the use of radar, it was a pair of binoculors that provided ship safety when navigating in the presence of the iceberg fields that they traversed through. Despite the innovations and careful watching, the HMS Titanic sunk.
The most sobering thing is the tremendous lost of life that happened. The captain certainly shares part of the responsibility, but he could not stay awake all of the time the ship was at sea. He had other duties that had to be taken care of, other than the requisite sailing of the ship. As is the commonplace practice, someone was on night watch. It was the ugly piece of ice that was not seen until it was too late that the ship broached and then sadly sank.

It has been since 1985-1986 that the reasons for the sinking of the ship have become apparent. The ship should have been able to take the blow and still sail. The problem was ultimately with the connecting rivets that were engineered to be a little maleable and in the 3 million small rivets, disaster waited. The metal utilized for these small rivets had a higher slag content than the metal of the hull, and in the water where she sat while the interior was completed, the mild electrical current accelerated the corrosion. Oddly, these rivets were designed to be of inferior quality to allow expansion of the joining plates. It was a mistake that was made on the engineering table. She was doomed before she was launched.
It is the scripture that we find such a rich inclusion of so many stories that resonate with this principle. While Paul pushed, Felix trembled, but did not do anything. It was the introduction of slag into the spirit of Felix that he suffered shipwreck before he sailed. There is a story of a rich young ruler, when faced with the price of sailing, rivets began popping off in his life. It is the story of almost, but not quite.

Understandably, there is a time while we are in the slip of reconstruction that we should carefully examine the materials that we are allowing our lives to be made of. Sometimes that takes removing certain people, places and thoughts that are not easy to remove, whether by them rusting themselves to our lives, or the slag of their spirits invading our own.

Slag. It even sounds inferior. Why then do we allow there to be those things in our lives? It is because we are not vigilant. Jude tells the story of those that have crept in unawares and turned grace into lasciviousness. Somewhere on a table of someone's life engineering, there is a introduction of slag that is intended for good, and yet it will wind up creating shipwreck. Things such as hobbies, football games, basketball games, and yes, even the bike, even things that are constructive: remodeling a church, remodeling people, sermon preparation, the business of a church, the day to day grind of being bivocational can become slag in our spirits that will lead to shipwreck. All of these can become slag in the rivets of our lives. No matter how much care and how skillful the technician was that put them on, they can become rusted and cannot meet the forces of life that are brought to us.

It is compelling to note that when the Titanic was found, there were not the gaping holes that were thought to have been created, but much smaller, elongated cracks that ran quite a distance down the length of the hull. The pinging sound that the passengers heard as they stood on the deck were almost certainly the rivets popping loose. Do you ever feel like your spirit is being rended from one end to the other?

Take the time to step back from the frantic business of life, and carefully examine the joining plates of your life. It is much easier to replace faulty rivets one by one instead of being a million miles from no where and all of them pop loose. It seems like that was the case with Demas in II Timothy 4, when the rivets of his ship finally rusted away in the constant onslaught of this present world, and there the epitaph of a life was "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." You can almost hear the rivets popping loose from the ship of his life.

One final word of caution. The cares of this life. . .ministry, counselling, encouragement and other good and proper things can cause a sheering of the joining plates of your life. Sometimes it requires rediscovering who you really are. . . . after all of the slag is stripped away, it all comes to a Cross, a Man and you. The Master of the Sea is careful with all of his ships. . .Don't be afraid of the ships, nor the sea. It is here, as David said in Psalm 107:23-24, that there are tremendous works that God does. It is only those who are brave enough to face the great seas that see God, as the Hebrew would have it, as the Wonder Worker.

2007-09-18T08:53:00.001-05:00

The Problem of Sleep

It has been noted that moving from one time zone to another can create many problems. Not too many years back a airplane overshot LAX because the pilot and co-pilot fell asleep and awakened to see that they were 100 miles out over the Pacific, and turned the plane around in just enough time to make it back safely. The Armed Forces have discovered that it takes a week or so for troops to adjust to the local time zone before they are ready to fight.
Sleep is a process that was created by God from the beginning to restore the mind and body. It seems that from the beginning there has been creativity associated with the process of sleep. Adam was caused to fall into a deep sleep, and Eve was created out of this process. As we are made in the image of God and should follow his example, creativity will come as a result of proper rest. It has been well said that renewing your vision occasionally means going to sleep.
Many mistakes are made in the deficit of sleep. There are scientific studies that have conclusively proven that lack of sleep produces the same effect of several alcoholic beverages. In essence, there is a place of drunkeness that comes from an intense effort to be all and to do all. It is no wonder that there are times when you simply can't make determinations that should be relatively easy as a loss of sleep. Some of the greatest environmental disasters of the day have come as a result of the lack of sleep. What an illustration of not paying attention to the small things that have led to shipwreck that affects not only the captain and the crew, but has far reaching effects on the world as a whole. It is frightening to know that lack of sleep can cause acute psychosis. It is necessary to the vital functioning of the body, but sleeping with your eyes wide open can also occur. Sleep can cause missing the vital points of the day, the seasons and even the years. Like the fairy tale of awakening to find that years had passed by and finds that the world has completely changed, we can find ourselves lost to what is going on around us.

Therein exists a cardinal issue regarding sleep. What can serve as a creative place can become a prison, as sleep can beguile you into its welcoming arms. Solomon so correctly pointed out there was a time for everything, including sleep. Sleep lost is never regained, despite attempts otherwise. Trying to catch up on what is lost is impossible. Sometimes, you don't know what you've lost until it is gone.

Sometimes you can walk around in such a fog that you are not able to distinguish between the times and the seasons, and the only indication of what is going on is if it is extremely hot or extremely cold. It is frightening to live life based on seasons and not in full awareness of what is going on around you. We will decry the use of alcohol, quite correctly, and yet in a state of not really awake, and neither lying in a bed, are just as inebriated by our own enamoured approach to life, that we are just as guilty of inebriate behavior as an alcoholic is. Our inability to see our own motivations and better yet, our own ego, can cause us to be in as deep a sleep as has been described in medicine.

It is in the part of sleep that we call REM (rapid eye movement) or dreaming that we find the greatest problem. Instead of living in reality, we impose the ego driven dreams into the days of our lives, and ignore the reality of the present. It is a recipe for disaster. It is a complicated problem where the integers are people and the multipliers are egos. The sum of the problem equals much more than the individual parts. . . . disaster can occur when while we sleep.

Scripture is full of references that demand "Awaken thou that sleepest." It was in the bottom of a ship that Jonah slept while the storm raged. . .It was in the garden of Gethsamane that the disciples slept, while Jesus wrestled with the coming battle. It is incumbent on us to arise and shake ourselves and meet the battle with our eyes and minds fully awake.

However, I don't recall many times, if any, that the Bible demanded anyone to go to sleep. Jairus name probably says it best when interpreted to mean "He will awaken." Somehow in the turmoil of his day, he forgot that the answer was the monument of his name. The answer to his little girl's problem was in his name. . .we must never forget the answer to our problems, it is in the Name.

2007-09-14T20:54:00.002-05:00

Goin’ Fast. . .

Standin’ Still

Our world is constantly moving. Take a moment, and consider that the ground under your feet is constantly in motion. The science of geology and something called plate tectonics shows that the plates that form the surface of the earth constantly rub against each other, moving anywhere between a half inch and four inches a year. Unless you stand on the North or the South Pole, you are rotating around the axis of the earth at somewhere in the vicinity of nine hundred forty miles an hour, given our location in the state of Alabama. To top that off, the earth rotates around in orbit of the sun, traveling some 93 million miles a year, or 66000 miles per hour. But wait! We are not through yet. . . the sun is part of the Milky Way, which is orbiting the center of that galaxy. In order to accomplish that rotation, (forgive me that the math at this point gets beyond me), but we are traveling in that orbit at 486,000 miles per hour. Whoa, hold up here, that is a little quick for us, but the entire Milky Way is traveling a southerly direction at 1,000,000 miles per hour. It is amazing that sitting here reading this you are actually going a little over one and a half million miles an hour!

Our lives are consumed with motion. It is clear from scripture that God anticipated that we would be faced with the speed of our present world. I Corinthians 9:24 instructs us to run, Galatians 5:16 tells us to walk and Philippians 1:27 defines the final posture of our journey. Paul, the author of all of the scriptures above knew with certainty that differing points in the journey would require different paces.
He would define for us the portion of our lives in which we should run. It is in the stretches of life that we are running for the prize that was set before us. The runners that Paul referred to were very dedicated to their sport, training as much as ten months of a year for competition. It is quite amazing that Paul would instruct us not only to run, but how, two verses later. . . run with certainty.

When the body is challenged physically, the entire being is strengthened. Those who exercise have fewer ailments, live longer lives, and are less prone to stress. But the Bible is clear that exercise profits little, but if the “little” profits us that much, how much more will running with the purpose of God in our lives benefit us and those around us?
There are times where we run to the battle, driven by the Spirit to intensity of prayer and fasting. There are times where the sword of the Spirit is unsheathed and as it is raised, those that would oppose scatter to the winds. Distinguishing ourselves in the marathon of life requires focusing and not diverting from the plan of attack and finally keeping your eye on the prize.
Secondly, Paul instructs us to walk. Walking is also a spiritual necessity that is born out in scripture, as Paul would say “Walk in the Spirit.” There is a sureness that we will spend more of our time walking than we will running. Enoch “walked” with God and God took him. Noah “walked” with God and was saved by water via the Ark.
Walking, it seems to me, allows for a closeness that running never will. There is communion in walking that steadies our shaking world, allowing us to clearly see the prize. Walking allows for a careful observation of the ground in front of you, so that you can see the path that the Lamp illuminates.
Paul’s missionary journeys were not a foot race, they were measured steps on his way to Rome. He changed his world one step at a time. There is something powerful about a man who changed not only his world but the course of history by walking.
Perhaps of all of the things Paul said about our journey, it is the portion of time in which he instructed us to stand. Philippians 1:27 records that we should “stand fast.” Standing means perseverance, or persistence. There is something active about this stand that Paul is referring to. Even with the wind blowing and the storm rising, stand. Turn your face into the wind and plant your feet on the rock.
It is amazing that Moses said with Pharaoh’s army running after the Israelites “Stand still.” Most of us would have scattered. David said in his collection of Psalms “Be still,” and God will be exalted among the heathen. Jesus stood and the wind calmed on the stormy sea.
So there is a great value in scripture placed on standing in storms. When the world whirls around and directly at us, stand. It is one of the hardest things to master, but stand and see the winds and waves calm. See the enemy retreat.
There are times when the world seems to be crashing on you. If you will stand, God will arise. While in reality the world spins at one and a half million miles an hour, moving in all sorts of directions, sometimes our lives are buffeted by errant winds that seem even faster than that, just plant your feet on higher ground and stand. If you do that, then, that is when you are really goin’ fast. . . . standin’ still.

The Dilemma of The Exile

2007-09-13T15:20:00.001-05:00

II Samuel 15:19-22
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee. And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be. And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.

I. Introduction
We are a nation of many nationalities. Mixed amongst all of our blood is the mingling of the nations of Europe, those of Asia, that of the hot arid deserts of both the Arabian Peninsula and that of Africa. Mixing us from the beautiful isles of the Pacific to the wastelands of war torn Germany, we stand not as pure breeds that distance ourselves from the common people.
It was through the portal of Ellis Island that many of us came, tromping from the holds of ships, into a land of promise. I love America.
Between the years of 1892 and 1954, some twelve million immigrants would place their lives into the hands of the fabled land of America.

· They would leave both family and friends.
· They would leave both house and land
· They would leave an uncertain future for just that, an uncertain future.
· They were giving up the security of a lacking present for the promise of a possible future.
· They were picking up stakes and moving to a land that held only the promise of security
· The immigrant, sometimes pushed to come by unyielding tyranny, sometimes by official persecution, and almost always by a idea would sail on a ship of dreams across an ocean of life to come
· The bravery of attempting the crossing is commendable
· Often not even speaking English, and if so, broken at best, the possibility of this nation so integrated the soul that the call was impossible to ignore.
· When they were obliged to leave some things behind- lands and possessions for sure, but often enough, their names were changed at the behest of the immigration officer on duty.
· What was required was that they must learn a new language as the future was tied to that ability; they were suddenly required to seize their future and sink or swim.
· And then, the possibility of going home was not a real one, because once freedom had touched their lives, nothing would ever be the same again. It would mark them as surely as a branding iron marks a steer.

So here tonight, as we take up the Word of the Lord, I would like to preach a few minutes to you about “The Dilemma of the Exile.” I speak both to the seasoned saint as well as those who are new, I appeal to those of you who perhaps have never tasted of the sweetness of the Holy Ghost, I am here tonight to tell you that God loves you and you aren’t here by accident, nor by chance, but God elected to have you here in this place tonight.
II. Text
Ittai was a foreigner in the land of Israel. It would be in a portion of scripture that we take as our text that reveals to us the picture of the exile. Ittai had little to gain by staying with David at this juncture of life. Here he stands, facing the problem of that would define his life. .

· If he decides to take the advise of David and either leave or join Absalom, he will not be mentioned in scripture
· If he decides to turn and go home to avoid the battle altogether, he is relegated to those souls which know neither success or failure, but live in the mediocrity of life, dangling in the middle of indecision.
· Yet if he decides that he is going to stay, his identification remains with the man that was called a man after God’s own heart
· There exists a decision that tells us of our identification with destiny
Regardless of the outcome of this decision of Ittai, he will be marked. He will be marked by the decision of today. Many things will be decided on the brink of this momentous day in his life. He will walk away marked in one way or the other by this time.
· His speech will be changed-as he spoke to the man of God.
· His body will be marked from this time forward by the decision that he makes. The body of Jacob was marked by the wrestling at Jabbok.
· His song that defines his life will be changed. It took a Red Sea for Moses to bring the beauty of Exodus 15. . . .
Hanging on the threads of the voice of Ittai was a future that actually lay behind him in his children. The decisions of this day would decide the future of Ittai.
David himself had been exiled from his own country by his son. But Ittai towers in the this portion of scripture.
A. The Speech of the Exile Changes
Ittai stood that day with David. There were precious few others that stood with him that day. It seems that mostly all that was left was the women and children, that most of his men had deserted him.
And yet Ittai stands up that day and declares to David his allegiance. . . . there he would declare
II Samuel 15:21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.

There is something about declaring with you voice that demands that changes are made.
· The sound of the voice is a battle cry- Psalms 47:1O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
· Regardless of the status, lifting your voice I Chronicles 16:23-24 Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.
· The shout of the Exile brought the walls of Jericho down. . .Joshua 6:5
· The voice of those plants and trees exiled from the garden were commanded to shout. Isaiah 44:23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

The voice of the Exile is forever changed- once you have left the country of your nativity, you are changed into something that is dramatically different than the voice of those who remained behind. There is a certain authority of the voice of the exile, because there is nothing to loose.
I have left the land of my nativity. . . I was born in sin and shapen in iniquity. The voice that I lift now no longer depends on myself. . .but on the hand of God.
Even with the fact that Peter had betrayed Jesus did not stop the fact that Peter had spent many hours with Jesus. . . .and his speech made it very apparent.
Matthew 26:73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Bewrayeth you is a Greek expression that could be more accurately be interpreted exile. His speech exiled him. If you have had contact with the Messiah, you will be exiled by that very fact.

B. Your Body Will Change
When Ittai made the statement that day, many things were decided for him. He was immersing himself in a conflict that would cause there to be marks in his physical body that would forever change him.
This is war! May I repeat to you that this is WAR?
Luke would clue us into the fact that when our lives are consumed with Him, our whole bodies will be full of life
Luke 11:36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

The rigors of the life as the Exile would cause Ittai’s body to be hardened to the elements. Hardened to the pressures of fighting the battles that were sure to come.

Paul would reveal to us this when he said in
Galatians 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Jesus would tell his disciples of the coming trial where his body would be destroyed, but in three days he would raise it up again.
There are going to be changes that are in the body when Jesus comes near.
But I also submit to you that not only is your body changed, those around you are changed also.
· Peter stood in Joppa that day and the dead body of Tabitha arose through the power of God.
· The exiled and captive Ezekiel looked there by the river Chebar and suddenly the heavens were full of the things of God. It had not only marked his body, but it had also marked his mind.
C. There is certain stigma that comes with being the exile
When you are an exile, you are constantly on display to the world. It was not David that day that was on trial, it was Ittai. It was on that very public forum that Ittai made his declaration of truth.
You wander sometimes why you are looked at with such a fine toothed comb? There is a reason for that. . .you are an exile in this land.
In the opening pages of the New Testament we find that Joseph stood there exposed to his world by a betrothed woman that was found to be with child. It was going to be obvious if he married here that the child was born rather quickly and there he would find himself stigmatized by the birth of Jesus in his house.
There is a stigma that comes with being exposed to the supernatural . . .
· Like Herod, there are those that will want to kill the Christ child in your life
· Like Joseph you may have to find a safe place for the Messiah
· Like Joseph you may have to face a little ridicule for birthing something spiritual in your life
· Life Joseph, you may have to face the intense whispering of the crowd
Those are some of the things that Joseph had to deal with. Ittai had left his home to come and fight alongside of David. I am sure that there was a great deal of trouble that he had to deal with. Ittai was a Gittite.
A Gittite was one that was from Gath. David’s first human foe that he faced down was Goliath. Of Gath. David or his men had killed several other giants that were relatives of Goliath. That made David an enemy of Ittai. Yet Ittai had discovered something about David that was worth giving his life to David’s cause over.
There was a connection that said to Ittai that more than just a man is here today. Something said to Ittai that the impact of this man is far reaching. Something rose up in the spirit of Ittai that identified David as the rightful heir to the throne of Israel.
Joseph would stand there that day, knowing and enduring the ridicule of the surrounding community. . .
· But what the surrounding community did not know was that an angel of the Lord had visited them.
· What they didn’t know was the fact that Jesus was promised
· Joseph probably did not comprehend the fullness of the Christ in his life
· Joseph didn’t understand all of what it meant for this child to be placed in his hands
· Yet supernatural had already touched his life.
· Joseph was not a priest yet he had the eternal Spirit of God had reached down into his life

Perhaps it brought a bit of being uncomfortableness into the life of Joseph to notice the stares of those that were around him. Probably had led to a few discussions of how the child was not his inside the family structure outside of Mary.
But it really didn’t matter-they both had been visited by God.

III. Conclusion
There is a Dilemma that the Exile alone knows though.
We have been touched by the power of God in our lives. This church has seen a commanding presence of God in it. By that token, we are exiles in this foreign country.
The Dilemma of the Exile is this- I don’t belong in the land of my nativity anymore, and trying to go back is not going to do you any good.
Ahhh, but the benefits of the exile are numerous. . . .
· We get to believe the unbelievable- a virgin birth and healings
· We see the unsavable saved-
· We see the unseeable-they say you can’t see God, yet I am like Isaiah I saw the Lord high and lifted up
· We live the unlivable- this life cannot be lived with out the Holy Ghost
· We can love the unlovable- we can love our enemies
· We can see the uncleanable clean- the stains of sin can be washed away
· We can touch the untouchable- that coal touched the lips of the prophet and that same spirit can touch your life. Tonight.
· We can know the unknowable- we are told how to save ourselves
· We speak the unspeakable- we speak in tongues, that unruly member that is set on fire of the flames of hell is instead controlled by the Holy Ghost
· And we can reach the unreachable- heaven has never been inhabited by mortals, but I am going there.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have come to tell you that even though we are strangers and pilgrims in this land there is something unusual in the air. . . all of this points to the fact that I was made for another world. . . .

I can’t go back. . .
I can’t stay . . . .
I am forging ahead. . . .