Worthwhile Prayer

"God, let me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am." - David Brainerd

Thomas More (1478-1535)

Last Sunday I began a book titled, Spiritual Classics - Selected Readings on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines. The first discipline is the inward discipline of meditation. The editors, Richard Foster and Emilie Griffin decided the first selected reading would be one of More's prayers. It is challenging. I hope the rest of the book is like the first.


I share the sentiment of Richard Foster, "This selection by Thomas More simply does me in. The breadth of it exhausts me. One line maybe I can enter into a little, but even then some single sentences contain a lifetime..."


The prayer can be found at this link:
http://www.apostles.com/moreprayer.html


Herein is a challenge to put Christ on the throne of my life, and leave all else behind.

I Am Resolved

I am resolved no longer to linger,
Charmed by the world's delight;
Things that are higher, things that are nobler,
These have allured my sight.


(Chorus)

I will hasten to Him,
Hasten so glad and free,
Jesus, Greatest, Highest,
I will come to Thee.

I am resolved to go to the Savior,
Leaving my sin and strife;
He is the True One, He is the Just One,
He hath the words of life.

I am resolved to follow the Savior,
Faithful and true each day;
Heed what He say-eth, do what He will-eth,
He is the living way.

I am resolved to enter the kingdom,
Leaving the paths of sin;
Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me,
Still will I enter in.

I am resolved, and who will go with me?
Come, friends, without delay,
Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,
We'll walk the heavenly way.

words by Palmer Hartsough
music by James Fillmore

Hay and the Harvest of Souls

Since I have taken the pastorate at Martins Prairie, I have learned a little about hay. Most people would state “since I have …, I have learned A LOT about …” I cannot say this. My knowledge has only scratched the surface of the wonderful world of hay. But those who grew up in an agrarian environment probably know a whole lot about hay, including such things as spontaneous combustion of hay bails. Check this paper out: http://www.psla.umd.edu/extension/publications/haycombustionp1c.pdf. We become well versed in the details of our culture. Another way to say that is we are disciples of our culture. People who grew up around hay have learned about hay and know hay. And this is good, because in the case of hay, you don’t want to lose any hay to fire. They also know when to cut hay, how long to let it dry before bailing, and a whole myriad of other useful information about this crop.

One challenge the church faces is to grow up and learn things about the kingdom of God. We are born into and trained in a culture hostile to that of Christ’s kingdom. Paul tells us to mature in another culture (Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3; and others). But this one is a little harder to grow up into, because it’s spiritual, and therefore not so tangible. This has been a challenge from the days of the disciples. Jesus rebuked the people of his time: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” (Luke 12:54-56) Of course He was speaking of their inability to see Him for who He really was. Are we not the same? To the disciples the rebuke went like this, and it was a rebuke, “Do you not say, ‘there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.” (John 4:35-36). So was Jesus’ harvest calendar off? Was the harvest literally rotting in the field? “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

The answer: Jesus was speaking of a harvest of lives for the kingdom. John tells us in verse 30, “They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.” Jesus was looking toward a crowd of Samaritans coming his way. And they were ripe for the picking. Like the dull disciples, focused on food, many in the church have not become versed in the culture of Christ, and His Kingdom, and we fail the fruit. Yes, I said we fail the fruit. God is God, and He will reap who are His. The question is if we will receive the harvester's wages or not. We are focused on the things of this world, not the things in heaven, those with eternal significance, like the souls of men.

We still have a harvest today, but we're leaving the harvesting up to just a few, or worse, letting the crop waste in the field. The people who know about hay would never let this happen to mere grass. But I am speaking of lives, souls, of great value to our master. The crop is way too valuable to whoever owns the field to just let it not get harvested, or bail it too soon... Learn this. Learn how to reach out to visitors who darken the doors of a church. Learn how to bring them into the body of Christ. Learn this. Learn how to share your faith with one who really needs to hear. Learn how to preach Christ to a hostile world. Learn this. Learn how to lead someone through the pages of Scripture to show them hope and life. You and I will answer for how we handled or didn't handle the field and the crop.

The Fight of Aging

All of life is a fight. It is The Fight of Faith for Christians. We Christians are "soldiers in active service" according to Paul (2 Timothy 2:4), and it behooves each of us to "not entangle ourselves in the affairs of everyday life, so that we may please the one who enlisted us as soldiers." And the ONLY way to please Him is by faith (Hebrews 11:6). So we are soldiers, enlisted in God's army, to advance His kingdom, by the means of faith.

One way to define the Kingdom of God is the reign of God in the hearts of men. As we fight to advance this kingdom, we must realize that a large portion of that fight is inward. For God to reign in our own hearts, we must demolish strongholds, destroy speculations and lofty things erected against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We must not love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15-17). We must leave our former way of life and fight back our flesh (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Sometimes the inward fight against the flesh is the major part of the struggle. This is especially true when you face aging, whether it be your own aging, or the aging of a loved one. I've been reading a book titled "Loving Your Parents When They Can No Longer Love You" by Terry D. Hargrave. Most of my parishioners have aging parents. By aging "I mean that time in life when disease or wear has taken a toll big enough to significantly diminish or remove entirely one's ability to function in an independent manner... We can no longer pretend our physical lives will go on forever... Being old is not the opposite of young, but the opposite of life" (Loving Your Parents, p.19).

This post is to offer comfort. "While we tend to equate comfort with joy, the biblical writer James talks about a different kind of joy: the knowledge that we are being made into spiritual people, people who at the end of life will lack nothing. God means for life to mold us into a spiritual condition fit for the kingdom of heaven. It is not our prerogative, nor is it in our control, to fit the spiritual life around the pleasures of this earthly life" (Loving Your Parents, p.14). Therefore, the comfort is not in making you feel good somehow about the situation, nor is it in removing you from the situation, but in realizing that as you pass through it, you will become more of what God wants you to be.

To take comfort in this process of aging, you must "demolish strongholds, destroy speculations, and take every thought captive to obey Christ." You must not take your cues from the world and its lies. And lies they all are. On the surface the lies center around the hot topics of: virility, strength, eyesight, flab, wrinkles, grey hair, energy, wealth, and any number of other buzz-word topics. We are so practically overrun with these lies that many Christians have left the fight of faith to fight a false war. These are distractions. The deeper issue, and I know some of you could word this better so please comment if you wish, centers around the topics of: selfishness, freedom of choice, keeping control. Aging forces what God has been trying to work into our lives our whole lives - selflessness, submitting to His control, realizing that He is strong in our weakness, giving up our right to choose, etc.

I hope you realize by now that God uses the aging process to shape the life of the one who is aging and the lives of those who are witnessing the process. All of the aforementioned lies must be confronted by everyone in the aging process, both the parent, and the children. The world is lying to all of us. Your enemy list does not include aging. However, the list does include Satan, the world, and the flesh. Satan is an obvious enemy. The world simply means the world order; the way of the world, the corrupted interests and attitudes of man. The flesh is your carnal nature that does not want to submit to God.

God vehemently desires us to become humble servants like His Son. He desires us to depend on Him, and perfectly yield to Him like His Son. Fortunately, when most of us do not follow the model of Christ which Paul sets forth for us in Philippians 2:3-8, God pushes the issue with old age. Left to ourselves, many of us would never learn the lesson of humility and abolish self-sufficiency and defiance in our lives. Not being a burden to others, and not taking on the burden of others are both non-Christian, worldly, fleshly thought patterns.

Many aging do not want people to see them in their condition. They don't want to yield to pain and suffering. They want to remain in control of their lives. Even radio commercials for retirement communities taut the world's ideas of aging. It does take great faith to believe God uses aging to shape character.

Many aging feel like their usefulness to God, Home, Church, and Country is over. They have "nothing" left to give. It takes great faith to believe that God still has purpose for a life that seams menial.

Many children do not want to take on the burden of an aging parent. There are little to no visible results from doing so. It takes great faith to work that hard on another's behalf, see the "results" crumble and escape, and still believe it counts for God's greater glory and your good.

Many children are heart-broken to see formerly strong parents broken by old age and disease. Perhaps God is finally breaking the pride of that parent... It takes great faith to accept that process as God's best for a person's life.

I have not sought to answer the how and why of pain, suffering, relinquishing control, usefulness, shouldering burdens, watching someone age and pass. But I have sought to establish a polemic against the lofty, worldly ideas which lead many of us to hate the aging process. Aging is a fight of faith; a fight against the flesh - that part of you that does not want to yield to God or face the character shaping part of relationship.

Hargrave, Terry D. Loving Your Parents When They Can No Longer Love You. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.

Roaring Lions and Dew

I struggle with being so eager to please others and very reluctant to upset anyone. I'm not talking about trying to serve someone else. I should, "so far as it depends on me, be at peace with all men" Romans 12:18. My position exists to serve customers, and I should try to please them. But the unforeseen happens occasionally, and I inevitably do not please a customer.

For the past 6 months I have been involved in a very seemingly straightforward project which has been wrought with problem after problem. The project should have been completed 5 months ago. I've seen these projects before. The problems have various causes. Somehow I think this is God's hand, attributing no evil to Him - for the shaping of our character, but I'll save that for another post.

To make a very long story as short as it should be, factors outside of my control made it impossible to renumber 374 lecture hall seats before students flood the room Monday. I was very professionally grilled about not fulfilling the project requirements and told my temporary solution was not acceptable. I was very anxious about this and played various scenarios in my mind trying to fabricate a solution. All night long!!! But as you all know, Can't is Won't. No matter what I wished, said, or did; no matter what the customer wished, said, or did, the renumbering of the seats is not going to happen by the customer's date - a very legitimate date. 5 months ago was legitimate.

Through prayer, I believe I was led to Proverbs 19:12, "The king's wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass." Don't make the mistake of just reading proverbs and saying something like, "Yup. Ain't that a fact." Of course your English might be much better, or worse. I so wanted my customer to be able to say, "Great job, you guys have done so good and pleased us....." Of course that would have been 5 months ago, certainly not on Monday at this point. It finally dawned on me, how brief that praise really lasts. Like dew, it is gone by 9:30 AM, even sooner on the dry summer days. Why should I even crave it. That customer won't even think about this project next week. (He'll think about it the next time he is going to get chairs... good or bad) But isn't his roar and displeasure about the same? Yes. The roar is not pleasant, it scares me, I don't like it. But it is gone soon after it is uttered.

Neither the roar of the lion or the dew on the grass last, and neither should have any bearing on my outlook. In other words, I should not be anxious about this, while at the same time realizing my failures, faults, mistakes, and trying to accommodate others, correct problems, and please my customers. I was able to peacefully approach my customer after that, and was assured by God that the roar wouldn't last too long, and He still loves me.

What if the lion tore me to pieces... Well, I hope in the resurrection. Being torn to pieces might not be so bad after all.

So tell us what happened!!! That's not the point, nor should it matter to you.

Isaiah 2:22 "Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; for why should he be esteemed?"

Law vs. Grace

"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:14

"But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." Romans 7:6

Law says do, Grace says done

Law emphasizes what man does, Grace emphasizes what God does

Law draws on man's resources, Grace draws on God's resources

Law lives out of the flesh (self-life), Grace lives out of the Spirit (Christ-life)

Law deals with external regulations, rules, standards, Grace deals with inner heart attitudes

Law's primary focus is ought to's, should's, have to's, must's, Grace's primary focus is want to's

Law creates bondage, duty, obligation, Grace creates freedom

Law lives life from the outside - in, Grace lives life from the inside - out

Law declares do... in order to be, Grace declares you are... therefore do

Law produces defeat, guilt, condemnation, Grace produces victory, security, acceptance

Law's operating principle is try harder, work, effort, Grace's operating principle is receive, trust, abide, rest