Goodbye Y2K Decade!

Psalm 103:1-5 (NLT)

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;

with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.

2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;

may I never forget the good things he does for me.

3 He forgives all my sins

and heals all my diseases.

4 He redeems me from death

and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

5 He fills my life with good things.

My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

What a decade! The beginning of this century, and the year 2000 was one of the darkest years of my life. It was a year that was marked by what assuredly was the greatest failure of my life. The failure was such that I found myself in isolation and alone and wandering outside of the will and the calling of God. Consequently, I spent much of the first decade of the 21st century steeped in defeat, depression, guilt and self-inflicted pain. I was convinced that I was only deserving of, and perfectly willing to accept punishment and condemnation from God. God however, did not desire nor was He willing for me to recieve or accept anything less than His absolute love, mercy and complete forgiveness. And so, for most of this past decade, God pursued me, continually extending His grace and compelling me to recieve the fullness of His redemptive power. Looking back, I am astounded by how patient the Lord has been with me and how determined He has been for me to be totally assured of the immensity of His love.

In 2002, God healed my loneliness, and sent the woman to me with whom I would spend the rest of my days. Barbara became my bride in 2006, and it was through her that the Holy Spirit prompted my heart to once again embrace His Bride and His Church. Somehow, she was able to see something in me, in spite of my bitterness and anger of the Spirit of God, and encouraged me to embrace that something. It was that same year that we both were led to the ministry of Lifepoint Church. My wife was saved and baptized and my faith in Christ was returned to me.

Despite these blessings, I still fought against and unwittingly refused to allow the fullness of grace to bring complete peace into my heart, because I could only see my past and my failure. I was the picture of a prodigal son who had returned home to my Father, but refused to accept His celebration, or the sandals or clothing or the ring of His sonship He offered, or the feast He wanted to prepare for me. Only in the last portion of this year of the opening decade of this century, has my heart been made ready for the abundance of life that Christ has promised us all. It has only been recently, that I have heard the adoring, whispering Voice of my Redeemer over the hatefilled, shouted lies of the Thief, who comes only to steal, and kill and destroy.

Now we stand in the doorway of 2010. I have made New Year's resolutions before and like so many of us have quickly forgotten about them and continued in the same manner without resolve. This year, instead of resolutions for the New Year, I propose to make a covenant with God, not for the coming year, but for the rest of my life.

The covenant that I am envisioning is to make a promise to God to accept and recieve His promises to me. He has promised me victory and I am determined to live victoriously. He has promised me complete forgiveness and I propose to live as one who has been absolutley forgiven. Christ has promised me abundant life and I commit my life to be lived in abundance. God's Word promises me the power of the Holy Spirit and I intend to recieve His power and to use it in service to Him and to His kingdom. My Heavenly Father has promised that I would be His child and a co-heir with Christ to everything that is His, and the covenant I make with God for the remainder of my days is to live like a true son of the King of Heaven's Armies.

In 2010, my heart is healed, and I am restored. God has provided all that I have needed or desired. He has shown Himself to be able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that I might have asked or imagined. 2010 is more than the beginning of a new decade. It is the beginning of a new life, marked not by defeat and by dispair and by guilt, but by the fullness of freedom in Christ Jesus. As the New Year begins, how could I help but feel His might, His encouragement, His victory, His peace, His love and finally....finally, His JOY!

This new year, that is my prayer for you too, my friends. Let the celebration begin!

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.

Merry Christmas 2009

"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." -Galatians 4:4-7

It is Christmas morning. I am sitting alone at this computer. The house is quiet. The noise of Christmas Eve and the joyful din of relatives, children and grandchildren has faded into my memory. My wife and my 82 year old mother are still snoozing in their beds. Ash, my big loving Black Lab is also snoozing at my feet. These are welcome moments, because it gives me time to connect with the Spirit of the Christ whom this day is a celebration of.

My mind is not on brightly wrapped boxes and bows, however. In my mind, my feet are treading on red clay roads in Kenya. My heart is with Gospel for Brazil, in a tiny little village called Ubauna. I am thinking about a street named Greenfield in Wilmington, and a woman who right this moment is huddled under a pile of blankets, in the doorway of an empty business. I am wondering how many young mothers and children will start off their Christmas morning, not unpwrapping presents, but beginning the long walk with a heavy jerry can to retrieve dirty water for their family to drink. And most of all this Christmas morning, I am thinking about all the people throughout the world, who have no intimate knowledge or relationship with this Jesus, who's birth we are celebrating this 25th of December.

In just a short while, I will be busily about the cooking of ham and the preparation of our little Christmas feast. This will be a fun filled, happy day with family and friends. But, right now, I am spending time worshipping, giving thanks, and praying to and worshipping the One whose name the Prophet Isaiah said would called Immanuel....God with us. Today is Christmas and I am so grateful that He is just that......God with us.....God with me.

I am thinking about the words of the Dickinson character, Tiny Tim. "God bless us every one!" I wish everyone of my readers the very merriest Christmas. May you all be blessed by our Lord this day...EVERY ONE!

Inconcievable Love

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." - 1 John 4:8 (NIV)

They tell us that the current population of this planet is somewhere around 6.8 billion people. I read an estimate today that says throughout history there have been 106,456,367,669 people born. I'm not sure about you, but I cannot even begin to wrap my brain around figures like that, but it got me to thinking even within the confines of my finite mind, about each singular one of them. I mean, somewhere within those inconceivable numbers is you and me. Among 100.7 billion lives there lives, or has lived 1 individual person at a time. Now, just stop a second and sit back where you're sitting and let your mind soak in that thought. Go ahead, I'll wait......... Got it? (No you don't really, but that's okay.) Good. Now listen to this.

Our God knows the name of each one of them. This God not only has known each one, He has known each one personally. Now think about this. There has never even one person, now or ever in the history of the world that God has not loved. Not only has He loved each one, He has loved them in a manner as if there had never been another person in existence. And right now, even in the passing micro-second in which you have read this, He loves you just as though not one other person existed around you, and is still able to love everyone else in the same way, with a love that is not diminished or diluted in any manner. Out of 106,456,367,669 people born throughout history and all of the untold billions who will ever exist, God loves every single person in a way that we will never, in this life, understand, feel, or extend to anyone else.

Here is the point that I want to stress. The love that I am talking about caused God to give the greatest gift ever. At Christmas time we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ as the Messiah....the Savior who would become the Sacrificial Lamb of God who would receive the punishment for our sins. God sent Immanuel, the God who left Heaven and put on flesh and dwelt among us. This God, loved us so much that He sent His own Son to die to atone for the sins of all who would believe in Him. This happened. This love happened and is happening still. And, out of all the numbers that we considered at the start of this blog post, if you were the only one that ever existed, God our Father would still have sent Jesus to die for you.

John's Dilemma

"I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!” - Luke 7:28 (NLT)

John the Baptizer. Son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Cousin of Jesus. Last of the Old Testament style prophets. The one who cried out in the wilderness, heralding the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ saying, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:28 NLT) The same John who, still in his mother's womb lept at the presence of Mary, carrying the Savior within her. John, who reluctantly, but obediently baptized Jesus at the start of His earthly ministry, was langering in a prison, awaiting his execution.

Although he had never had an easy life, and in fact always had eschewed any trappings of worldly riches, now found himself in the most difficult and dark moments he had ever known. From this place of trial and despair, alone with only his doubts and fears, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus with a very humanly question; “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Luke 7:20) In other words, what John wanted to know according to his currnet circumstances, "Did I make a mistake? What am I doing here? Are you not the One I thought you were?" Understandably, John with his back to the wall, and in a perilous position, was anxious. From that prison cell, he must have been asking the same question that many of us ask during our most trying and troublesome times, "Where is God?"

The answer that Jesus sent back was perhaps not what John's disciples might have expected. They probably thouoght that Jesus might sit down and write John a personalized letter. Instead His message was one of action and power and not words. Luke's account tells us that He immediately went to work showing the power of God, not to John, but to the people seeking His ministry. "At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind." (Luke 7:21) Only after this did He give His answer for John to his disciples...“Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.’” (Luke 7:22-23) And then Jesus went back to the work ahead of Him.

On the surface it might seem that Jesus dissed the Baptist. But then His next words to the crowds around Him were, "I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!" (Luke 7:28) Rather than a Divine dismissal, what John recieved was confirmation and a reminder. "Oh, you thought this was about you? Yes, John, I am the One you were expecting, and I am doing what the One you expected is supposed to be doing. And, yes you are important to me, but so are these."

And the message to us? We have been given the same task as John. We will face troubling and difficult times. No one, in God's eyes was greater than John and in His eyes no one who believes and follows the Lord Jesus is less great than John in Christ's estimation. So the next time we might be tempted, because of our darkest moments to ask, "Where is God?" He is still "the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) He is still in the healing business, still in the sight giving business, still making the lame walk and the life changing, life giving business. Don't turn back. Keep on pointing to Him and telling people, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!"

Get Back in the Game and Sweat!

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12 (NIV)

My daughter, who is an 18 year old woman now, was always a prissy, frilly, pink-wearing, Barbie doll playing, girly-girl kind of a child. So, you might imagine my surprise (and sceptism) when she came to me in the first grade saying, "Daddy, I want to play on the soccer team." Never the kind of dad to discourage my kid from succeeding in anything positive she thought she might like to try, I still said, "Honey, I don't think you'll enjoy soccer." Sarrah was adamant and pled her case with resolve and passion. Finally I told her that I would invest and equip her in all the pads and uniform and practice balls and socks and shoes, but also cautioned her that if she started and then decided that she didn't like it, she could not quit and must complete the season. She agreed and we became a soccer family, with me agreeing to be an assistant coach for her team.

In the very first practice, I watched her intently as she trotted around behind the rest of the kids bashing a black and white ball around the field in a mob. Of course, Sarrah always trailed the pack, pony-tail bobbing, hands daintily held to the side, running on her tippy toes. She never got close enough to the ball to kick it. After about a half hour she came running over to me, blew the hair out of her face, and said disgustedly, "Well, I don't like this." I asked her why not and she replied in her most diva-like voice, with rolled eyes, "Because Daddy, I'm sweating!" "Well honey," I returned, "you're going to sweat alot more before this season is over." Sarrah finished her season, never played soccer again, but has never been a quitter at anything else she has sought to do. She persevered! She still perseveres, even in times when I knew she wanted to quit. She makes her father proud. Ironically, my Heavenly Father has brought this story to my mind and has been using it in a similar way to discipline me and to teach me an important lesson.

Some years back, I told God that I wanted to do something, and He said yes and called me and enabled me to do it. He gave me all the necessary equipment to do it. I got off to a pretty good start at it too. But then a while later things got really hard, and I didn't perform nearly as well as I thought I would. In fact, by all human standards, I ended up failing pretty miserably. I quit! After I quit, I thought it was the right thing to do. Many people around me affirmed my decision saying, "Yeah you need to quit, because you have shown that you're not good enough....you're not qualified." My greatest mistake was that I never asked my Father what He thought. I still had all the equipment that He gave me. He never took any of that back. In fact, I never got my Father's approval when I quit, because I just assumed that I had so disappointed Him with my performance that He certainly didn't expect me to continue. I was wrong!

Lately I have heard my Father's voice asking me, "Who told you you were a failure? I never called you that. Yes, you failed and you failed badly, but your name is not failure. That is not who you are, nor is it what I call you or ever called you to be. 'Why [were you] fearful, O you of little faith?' (Matthew 8:26)" Today, I am starting to think that I'm "going to sweat alot more before this season is over." Time to get back in the game!

Planting the Seed: The River of Leland

He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." - Matthew 13: 31-33 (NIV)

The last time I was part of a core-group church plant, it was held under a brush-arbor, looking over a vast valley in Kenya, Africa. We sat on hewn logs for pews, on the side of a lush green mountain, and in the distance we could see Lake Victoria shining brightly, reflecting the sun. Oh, and did the people sing! There was an overwhelming feeling of anticipation and joy in what God was about to do. It seemed victorious. I remember thinking, "This must be what Peter and John felt like seeing the Lord Jesus transfigured." And I also remember being reminded by the Holy Spirit, like Peter and John, not to get too comfortable here because this was not the permanent place for me to serve Him. As much as I loved it there in that spot, I dared not pitch a tent there intending to settle down to stay. It was only a school-room and a place of preparation for much more.

Last evening, I was among some wonderful followers of the Lord Jesus, who were the core group of an exciting new church plant. This time the frontier was not Africa, but Leland, North Carolina and the church was called The River of Leland. We sat on comfortable chairs in a small room in a pretty plush hotel. But, oh did the people sing! Just as in Kenya there was the same feeling of anticipation and joy in what God is about to do. There it was...that familiar feeling of victory. And I thought, "I love this! I feel Your presence here. This is where I want to stay."

Last night, after I returned home, I had a hard time settling down and getting ready to retire to my bed, and so I began to pray. "Is this where You are calling me to settle down and stay, Lord?" Is this the place where God wants me to serve Him and minister to His people for the rest of my days? Today, my sense is the same one that I had on that Kenyan mountainside. This is where I am to sit at His feet and be schooled, to be prepared, to be positioned, to continue under His discipleship. This is today. This is not yesterday (praise God!) and it certainly is not tomorrow. All I know is that I love knowing that He is not done with me yet!

Desert Flood!

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. - Isaiah 44:3 (NIV)

When I was a small boy, I visited my uncle in Southern California. He and my Aunt lived in a tiny little community (a valley actually) in the Mojave Desert. It is a remote, very hot, dry and arid area, with sparse vegetation and rocky, sandy ground. One day, in the middle of a typical high heat, desert day, there suddenly came a strong, but brief rain storm. My Uncle took me out for a drive around the region shortly afterward and I was amazed by what I saw. Entire roads were totally washed away. Huge boulders from hillsides blocked highways and streets. The landscape was altered and changed by tremendous gullies and Joshua Trees and large Cholla Cactus were eddied into massive piles. The rain could not have lasted more than ten minutes, maximum, but the land was too hard and dry to be able to contain the water and drink it up fast enough.

I happened to remember this event today, because in the last 24 hours my wife and I have been witness to such an outpouring of the Spirit of God that He has washed away many of the things that may have been hindering or blocking the flow of His overwhelming power. Of course, if you even occasionally have followed my blog in recent days, then you know that the Spirit has been affecting me in new and unexplored ways, and changing my mind and heart about many things I thought I was absolutely sure of but misunderstood or misapplied. Now, I am filled with a new expectancy and anticipation about what He desires to accomplish, not only in me, but in others around me, and indeed especially in His Church and this country.

The heart and soul within me, although secure in the knowledge of the saving grace of the Lord Jesus, was more of a desert region than I could have suspected. Lately, I have become aware of a thirst and a hunger for more than the standard fare that the world and what we have come to know as "church" has been serving up. While it may have effectively stemmed certain gnawing pangs for a little while, and I probably learned to be content filling my belly with the same pods intended for the livestock, it has proven to be unsatisfying for nourishing my inner man. Once I began to realize this, I came to my Father and asked Him to allow me to sit at His table and enjoy some of the Bread and Fruit grown only in His fields. Not only has He opened up a feast, but opened a floodgate of life giving Water and sustenance, and He has invited me to want and ask for more!

Brothers and sisters, we in the "Christian Church" in the United States have been dwelling in a sweltering, parched, and fallow land for far too long. It needs not be this way. Our Father stands ready, and in fact is already serving up the flood of His Holy Spirit, in revival in far away places that we have always thought of as being "third world." But, the "third world" is the same world in which we live. And the God that we have arrogantly believed we had a corner on is actively sending a flooding rain of the Spirit and His power is bringing growth to seeds in those countries that have been long buried and forgotten in our land. Those seeds are buried beneath a hard, barren soil of institutionalism, tradition, legalism, errant theology and what I have come to refer to as "churchianity." But, in these most recent hours, God has sent me hope!

I believe there is a flood coming! At first it will have the effect resembling destruction, because there are some structures (strongholds) that need to be washed away and removed. Then a more fertile land will be exposed and fertilized by God in such a way that untold multitudes will see and be drawn to drink and to feed in the wake.

LORD! Send the rain! Abba! Pour out Your Spirit on America! Refresh and revive the dry and thirsty land and invite the people to come and taste! I have seen glimpses of Your power and I have felt the cleansing of the water of Your Spirit and I want more! I want more to share with others. I want to stand in the flood with those who do not yet realize and know You and enjoy the fellowship of feasting with them at the bountiful table provided only from Your fertile field! Only help us to know how thirsty and hungry we have been, and then send Your life giving power pouring down from heaven in torrents of Your Holy Spirit!

In Jesus' Name, let it be so!

Amen.