"Let not my ministry be approved only by men, or merely win the esteem and affections of people; But do the work of grace in their hearts, call in thy elect, seal and edify the regenerate ones, and command eternal blessings on their souls.
Save me from self-opinion and self-seeking;
Water the hearts of those who hear thy Word, that seed sown in weakness may be raised in power; Cause me and those who hear me to behold thee here in the light of special faith, and hereafter in the blaze of endless glory;
Make my every sermon a means of grace to myself and help me to experience the power of thy dying love;for thy blood is balm, thy presence bliss, thy smile heaven, thy cross the place where truth and mercy meet.
Look upon the doubts and discouragements of my ministry and keep me from self-importance;
I beg pardon for my many sins, omissions, infirmities, as a man, as a minister;
Command thy blessing on my weak unworthy labors, and on the message of salvation given;
Stay with thy people, and may thy presence be their portion and mine.
When I preach to others let not my words be merely elegant and masterly, my reasoning polished and refined, my performance powerless and tasteless, but may I exalt thee and humble sinners.
O Lord of power and grace, all hearts are in thy hands, all events at thy disposal,
Set the seal of thy almighty will upon my ministry."
Valley Vision, pg.338
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
A Godly Troublemaker!!!
When I first start preaching in 1996 I really had no idea where the calling would lead me. All I knew was I was burdened to preach and relieved from the pressure of resisting the call.
I started off excited, wide eyed and really trying to be something I knew I was not. I remember preaching a sermon that was way over my head but I assumed that since I had been called to preach all I had to do was say the words and poof.....lives would change. Wow ...such sophomoric stupidity!!!!
I also remember having the opportunity to present the first Wednesday night Bible study at Fairview. I put together a well versed, illiterated outline, shinning and polished ready to show my young brillance and spiritual swag. I was the new guy on the block and it was my time to shine!! Fool!!
I'll never forget the first few moments into the lesson......an older member of the church stood to her feet...raised her hand....and said "wait a minute....that's not what that means"...I was, shocked, scared and embarassed!! After trying to wiggle myself free from the entrapment and embarassment....I realized she was right. I was humiliated. But this was just the first of many mid-week encounters with this godly troublemaker. You see knowing that she always stood ready to challenge my presentation of the lessons actually caused me to be honest with myself and God, and to make sure I spent more time in the study. I vowed never to be caught with my spiritual pants down ever again!
But you know what happened? That sparked something in me that I thank God, has stayed with me this many years. That is the priority of preperation!!!! I thank God for that godly troublemaker.......I really do. She was my aunt Mrs. Charlene Carter.
The Lord called her home to glory last week at the ripe old age of 90....we funeralize her today at 11am at the very church where I got my start and where she caused me so much anguish. But as our family gathers today to bid her farwell....I'm sure my mind will reflect with grattitude and joy over how God blessed her and used her to help me be a better preacher of the Gospel!!!
Thanking God for you aunt Charlene....the church needs more godly troublemakers like yourself!!!
I started off excited, wide eyed and really trying to be something I knew I was not. I remember preaching a sermon that was way over my head but I assumed that since I had been called to preach all I had to do was say the words and poof.....lives would change. Wow ...such sophomoric stupidity!!!!
I also remember having the opportunity to present the first Wednesday night Bible study at Fairview. I put together a well versed, illiterated outline, shinning and polished ready to show my young brillance and spiritual swag. I was the new guy on the block and it was my time to shine!! Fool!!
I'll never forget the first few moments into the lesson......an older member of the church stood to her feet...raised her hand....and said "wait a minute....that's not what that means"...I was, shocked, scared and embarassed!! After trying to wiggle myself free from the entrapment and embarassment....I realized she was right. I was humiliated. But this was just the first of many mid-week encounters with this godly troublemaker. You see knowing that she always stood ready to challenge my presentation of the lessons actually caused me to be honest with myself and God, and to make sure I spent more time in the study. I vowed never to be caught with my spiritual pants down ever again!
But you know what happened? That sparked something in me that I thank God, has stayed with me this many years. That is the priority of preperation!!!! I thank God for that godly troublemaker.......I really do. She was my aunt Mrs. Charlene Carter.
The Lord called her home to glory last week at the ripe old age of 90....we funeralize her today at 11am at the very church where I got my start and where she caused me so much anguish. But as our family gathers today to bid her farwell....I'm sure my mind will reflect with grattitude and joy over how God blessed her and used her to help me be a better preacher of the Gospel!!!
Thanking God for you aunt Charlene....the church needs more godly troublemakers like yourself!!!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Hermeneutical Hurdle
Today was a great day at Galilee. Our early morning prayer time went well and we had a great time in our early morning study time. Right now I am teaching in a corporate setting on the "Essentials of Discipleship" from the Beattitudes. The study is going well and it is both exciting and educational for me as I share this beloved passage with our church. In a couple of weeks we will resume our Sunday morning small group study with Craig Groeschel's small group study of the "Christianatheist". I am excited about the small group life of Galilee and how the Lord is doing great things through it. We have 2 new facilitators in the pipe who will be leading the next 2 small groups, Sis. Dana Masquat and Bro. Jerry Graham. I truly believe that they will do a phenomenal job!
The message today was from Luke 14:25-33 "The Cost of Discipleship". I got a good start this week on the legwork for the message but Saturday caught me once again still needing to get some more work done. After sharing in our Men's Fraternity on Saturday morning and after a much needed nap, I once again was behind but determined to get the work finished to preach the message. However, I hit a Hermeneutical Hurdle that hindered me. In this passage Jesus is clearly setting the conditions for Discipleship. Beyond a doubt this is the obvious clear meaning of the passage. He states it in verses 26,27 and 33. Then further clarifies the necessity of counting the cost before making a decision to follow Him as a Disciple. However, I struggled and got bogged down in the point of the 2 stories in verses 28-32. The obvious is that Jesus is stressing the priority of planning and assessing first before building and engaging in war. Is His point that the person who would follow Him should be like the builder and the King or is His point that He is like the builder and the King who is both building and engaging in war? The former seems to indicate that the believer should count the cost before engaging in Discipleship unless unexpected contingencies arise that he is not prepared to handle, which could cause one to abandon following the Master. This view seems to put the responsibility for following Christ solely and totally upon the believer. And this seems to be the general consensus among commentators. And I usually follow the consensus when I am come to a fork in the road in trying to understand the text. However, Warren Wiersbe and G. Campbell Morgan, 2 well respected commentators, take the stories as Christ being both the builder and the King. And that Christ has counted and paid the cost for us as believers so that we could draw upon His resources in helping to build His Kingdom here in the world and in helping to battle the sinful evil here in this world. When I first read this take on the text I quickly rejected it as an anomoly, heresy and a left brained idea and thought they were simply trying to make a theological mountain out of a molehill. But the more I considered it the more it made since to me. God never calls us to do anything for Him without equipping us and supplying us with that which is needed to complete the task. I can only speak for myself but when I surrendered my life to Christ I was genuinely sincere but yet unaware of the some of the the spiritual challenges that I would encounter in living for Christ as a Disciple. When those unexpected situations have occurred I have discovered and am discovering that on my own I cannot keep going but through the resources provieded for me through my relationship with Christ I am able to draw upon Him to perserveer.
I shared both takes on these stories but gave the reasons why I believe that the second view is the one which is more consistent with the rest of the scriptures. I drooled over trying to get it right. I'm not 100% certain I got it right or not but that just makes me want to dig harder when I come to my next Hermeneutical Hurdle.
The message today was from Luke 14:25-33 "The Cost of Discipleship". I got a good start this week on the legwork for the message but Saturday caught me once again still needing to get some more work done. After sharing in our Men's Fraternity on Saturday morning and after a much needed nap, I once again was behind but determined to get the work finished to preach the message. However, I hit a Hermeneutical Hurdle that hindered me. In this passage Jesus is clearly setting the conditions for Discipleship. Beyond a doubt this is the obvious clear meaning of the passage. He states it in verses 26,27 and 33. Then further clarifies the necessity of counting the cost before making a decision to follow Him as a Disciple. However, I struggled and got bogged down in the point of the 2 stories in verses 28-32. The obvious is that Jesus is stressing the priority of planning and assessing first before building and engaging in war. Is His point that the person who would follow Him should be like the builder and the King or is His point that He is like the builder and the King who is both building and engaging in war? The former seems to indicate that the believer should count the cost before engaging in Discipleship unless unexpected contingencies arise that he is not prepared to handle, which could cause one to abandon following the Master. This view seems to put the responsibility for following Christ solely and totally upon the believer. And this seems to be the general consensus among commentators. And I usually follow the consensus when I am come to a fork in the road in trying to understand the text. However, Warren Wiersbe and G. Campbell Morgan, 2 well respected commentators, take the stories as Christ being both the builder and the King. And that Christ has counted and paid the cost for us as believers so that we could draw upon His resources in helping to build His Kingdom here in the world and in helping to battle the sinful evil here in this world. When I first read this take on the text I quickly rejected it as an anomoly, heresy and a left brained idea and thought they were simply trying to make a theological mountain out of a molehill. But the more I considered it the more it made since to me. God never calls us to do anything for Him without equipping us and supplying us with that which is needed to complete the task. I can only speak for myself but when I surrendered my life to Christ I was genuinely sincere but yet unaware of the some of the the spiritual challenges that I would encounter in living for Christ as a Disciple. When those unexpected situations have occurred I have discovered and am discovering that on my own I cannot keep going but through the resources provieded for me through my relationship with Christ I am able to draw upon Him to perserveer.
I shared both takes on these stories but gave the reasons why I believe that the second view is the one which is more consistent with the rest of the scriptures. I drooled over trying to get it right. I'm not 100% certain I got it right or not but that just makes me want to dig harder when I come to my next Hermeneutical Hurdle.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Friends
It is so easy to take true friends for granted!!! So let me simply say to my friends who read my blog how truly grateful I am for your friendship. Though you may have not heard me say it to you in a while.....I truly thank God for all of you and for His providence in allowing our paths to cross. I know that genuine friends are far and in between....but you are special to me and though we may not see each other or talk on a regular basis...not a day passes that in someway you all don't cross my mind and heart. Friend you are loved!!!
1 Samuel 18:1-3 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
Thank God for True Friends!!!!
1 Samuel 18:1-3 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
Thank God for True Friends!!!!
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Privileged to Serve
For the past few weeks at Galilee we have been using instrumental tracks during our worship time. It has been a little different but God has breathed upon our efforts and as my father-in-law would say...."it just keeps getting gooder and gooder."
While I miss hearing the Hammond humming on Sunday's it has truly been a blessing to watch God honor the faithfulness and effort of the choir members at Galilee. And you know what? A strange things is starting to happen! People are really listening to the words of the songs. Wow....I mean it's like the congregants are much more attentive to the words of the songs being sung and are a lot more involved in the singing of the songs.
Today the praise team sang William McDowell's song "I Won't Go Back" and Fred Hammonds "You Are the Living Word." And the choir sang "I Almost Let Go" and "Grateful"....phenomenal....phenomenal job!!!
The more I see what God is doing with the music ministry at Galilee in the absence of a minister of music the more I'm convinced of what I already knew.....God always takes care of His people!! I believe that! No one person has a monopoly on anything in the service of God. No one!!! God has ways of doing things that are truly beyond human comprehension. As the prophet Isaiah reminded the people of God in captivity....if God can put a river in the dessert then certainly He can take care of His people.
It's truly a privilege to serve God in any capacity and not a right. And if you think that's an untruth...die and watch God's program keep moving right on along!!!
Great job praise team and choir......to God Alone Belong the Glory!!!
While I miss hearing the Hammond humming on Sunday's it has truly been a blessing to watch God honor the faithfulness and effort of the choir members at Galilee. And you know what? A strange things is starting to happen! People are really listening to the words of the songs. Wow....I mean it's like the congregants are much more attentive to the words of the songs being sung and are a lot more involved in the singing of the songs.
Today the praise team sang William McDowell's song "I Won't Go Back" and Fred Hammonds "You Are the Living Word." And the choir sang "I Almost Let Go" and "Grateful"....phenomenal....phenomenal job!!!
The more I see what God is doing with the music ministry at Galilee in the absence of a minister of music the more I'm convinced of what I already knew.....God always takes care of His people!! I believe that! No one person has a monopoly on anything in the service of God. No one!!! God has ways of doing things that are truly beyond human comprehension. As the prophet Isaiah reminded the people of God in captivity....if God can put a river in the dessert then certainly He can take care of His people.
It's truly a privilege to serve God in any capacity and not a right. And if you think that's an untruth...die and watch God's program keep moving right on along!!!
Great job praise team and choir......to God Alone Belong the Glory!!!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
A Good Place for Rest
Learning to rest in the comfort of God's Word and promises is the lesson the Lord is teaching me in this semester of life!
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word, Just to rest upon His promises, Just to know, Thus saith the Lord.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I've proved Him o'er and o'er! Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!
O how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood, Just in simple faith to plunge me Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!
Yes, tis sweet to trust in Jesus, Just from sin and self to cease,
Just from Jesus simply taking Life and rest and joy and peace,
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!
I'm so glad I learned (I'm learning) to trust Thee, Precious Jesus Savior, Friend
And I know that Thou are with me, Wilt be with me to the end.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I've prved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!!
Monday, January 16, 2012
From Death to Life
"....The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." John 12:23b-25 ESV
These verses captures in paradoxical fashion the essence of the Christian calling and experience, Life through Death! The understanding that life is found through death. Of course Jesus himself spoke these words as God's Son, the Incarnate One. Through His incarnation He would die for the sins of the elect and through His death alone would be born much fruit. Namely that many would be saved through His atoning, sacrificial, vicarious death. "If the seed does not die it remains alone....but if it dies it bears much fruit."
These words have arrested me....life through death....not incarnational but yet incarnational! These words are spoken by the Christ. Only through His death could the Father produce much fruit. Only through the Incarnates death...not through ours. But yet incarnational....in the fact that in a real sense Christ calls us to adopt the same attitude as believers. A sort of incarnational death....death to self...death to sin...death to the flesh....death to ambition...death to pride...death to selfishness.....death!!! Not physical death but a certain putting to death of that which hinders real life...the different quality of life God has promised....eternal life.....starting here and now!
This death is just as torturous, agonizing, and painful as any other kind of death. A death that causes invisible tears to flow, the bowels to wrench in agony and gush out, the mind to split and be uneased, the heart to be torn assunder and stop........real pain....death...six feet under in spirit while walking about above...death!!!
But there springs from this death the beautiful promising bud of life. How long the death? Who knows..each seed blossoms at its own appointed time...but with its first sprouting brings forth signs of promise, hope, destiny and a brighter future........LIFE!!!!!........"but if it dies, it bears much fruit"....incarnational ...can God, will God really honor this kind of voluntary, incarnational death?
He gave His very life to prove that He would!!!!!
These verses captures in paradoxical fashion the essence of the Christian calling and experience, Life through Death! The understanding that life is found through death. Of course Jesus himself spoke these words as God's Son, the Incarnate One. Through His incarnation He would die for the sins of the elect and through His death alone would be born much fruit. Namely that many would be saved through His atoning, sacrificial, vicarious death. "If the seed does not die it remains alone....but if it dies it bears much fruit."
These words have arrested me....life through death....not incarnational but yet incarnational! These words are spoken by the Christ. Only through His death could the Father produce much fruit. Only through the Incarnates death...not through ours. But yet incarnational....in the fact that in a real sense Christ calls us to adopt the same attitude as believers. A sort of incarnational death....death to self...death to sin...death to the flesh....death to ambition...death to pride...death to selfishness.....death!!! Not physical death but a certain putting to death of that which hinders real life...the different quality of life God has promised....eternal life.....starting here and now!
This death is just as torturous, agonizing, and painful as any other kind of death. A death that causes invisible tears to flow, the bowels to wrench in agony and gush out, the mind to split and be uneased, the heart to be torn assunder and stop........real pain....death...six feet under in spirit while walking about above...death!!!
But there springs from this death the beautiful promising bud of life. How long the death? Who knows..each seed blossoms at its own appointed time...but with its first sprouting brings forth signs of promise, hope, destiny and a brighter future........LIFE!!!!!........"but if it dies, it bears much fruit"....incarnational ...can God, will God really honor this kind of voluntary, incarnational death?
He gave His very life to prove that He would!!!!!
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