We are almost a week beyond Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, and it was a glorious day. In many ways the Christian church lives for that high day each year. It is a reminder of why we do what we do, why we teach what we teach, why we believe what we believe. Christ is risen! I mentioned on Easter that several years ago I was in Moscow on their Easter. They celebrate the orthodox Easter along with the Russian Orthodox church. I was actually privileged to speak in a church on that Sunday, but the experience I remember most was not my preaching, but what I shared this past Sunday. I remember the enthusiasm and conviction with which the people responded to the pastor’s declaration “Christ is Risen!” with “He is risen indeed!” It was a tradition they had learned in the Russian Orthodox church but was more than tradition with them it was conviction.
I think of Mary who went to the tomb grieving and found it empty immediately assuming someone had taken the body of Jesus. She went and told the disciples who came to see. After they left she lingered and Jesus appeared to her. She ran back to the disciples and declared, “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18)
The name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin probably doesn’t ring a bell with most of us, unless you are a real history buff. During his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. A Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth), and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity hurling insult, argument, and proof against it.
An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man
approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian
Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
He had just wasted an hour of his time and energy because he could not convince those who had met the Lord that He did not exist. He is alive... on Easter and every other day of our lives. So I hope that while Easter was great at LIFEchurch (and I am sure at your church wherever you worship), you will return this Sunday to declare again, “HE IS RISEN INDEED!” He lives for you today as you are faced with impossible situations, challenges beyond your wisdom, walls to high to see over or too wide to reach around. He lives... FOR YOU! Don’t give up or let go of your faith. It has lasted through the ages and survived the Bukharins and thousands of others who have tried to destroy faith by convincing that God doesn’t exist. This faith in Jesus is good for eternity.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I don’t want to wait another year to really thank you for dying on the cross for my sins, and rising from the grave conquering death to simply say to us that if death can be conquered anything in life can be conquered. Today, I place every problem, every sickness or disease, every battle, every enemy I face beside death and remember that You have empowered us through the resurrection to be overcomers. THANK YOU! AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Friday, April 13, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
The Way to Success
Success is a prize most people chase. There are many definitions of what success is in our world, but God gives a clear description of what it is and how to achieve it.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalms 1:1-3 (NIV)
We seem to live in a “gray” world. It is easy for us to get caught up in the attitudes of the world in our business lives separating them from our spiritual life. The irony is that we even think we can do that. I hear the term “gray area” often. In business and in life there is no such thing as “gray area.” The ways of God are black and white. Gray, by the way indicates, the presence of black. It is something white becoming black or something black becoming white. It is a treacherous place to be. God said let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no”.
In our lives and in our business (can you really separate the two?) we must walk in the counsel of God’s Word. The Psalmist says that the key to success is “delighting in” and “meditating on” the Word of God.
The Hebrew word translated delight here is translated in other places of the Bible as desire, pleasure, or purpose. The writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is saying if we want to prosper and be successful we must desire knowledge from the Word of God, find pleasure in God’s Word, and find our purpose in God’s Word.
The Hebrew word for meditate means to mumble or talk under your breath. He is simply saying that all day long we are living in the principles of God’s word. It is present with us. It is like getting up in the morning, turning on the radio or TV and hearing a song. As you go through the day you catch yourself humming or perhaps whistling that song almost involuntarily. The word for meditate in the New Testament means to revolve in the mind. Hear it or say it or think it over and over and over. Another description of meditation is rumination. That’s what a cow does when it “chews the cud.” Cows have four stomachs. They eat their food and swallow it. Regurgitate it and chew it some more then swallow it into another stomach. Regurgitate it and chew it some more then swallow into another stomach. Regurgitate it and chew on it more then finally swallow it into the fourth stomach. It is simply a process of getting all the nutrition they can out of the food. The Psalmist is simply saying chew on the Word all day long. Start your day with God’s Word then chew on it, roll it over and over in your mind, find yourself saying or maybe singing a scripture chorus through the day.
The Bible says if I will do this “whatever I do will prosper.” In Deuteronomy 28 there is a list of the incredible blessings of God that come to us when we “faithfully obey the voice of the Lord” and are “careful to do all his commandments.” The Bible says if I will do that then the blessings will “come upon you and overtake you.” I won’t have to find them they will find me!
I heard once of a man who was an American Indian and had been converted. He described the old and the new nature this way, “There’s two dogs that live in me, one’s the old dog, he’s mean and vicious and hard and sinful. Then there’s the new dog who walks after Christ. He said they’re constantly fighting to have control of me. Which one wins? The one I feed the most, that’s which one wins.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, may the love for Your Word be a growing part of my life today and everyday. Help me to get it into my spirit so that I truly do think about and dwell upon and roll it over and over in my mind throughout the day. Help me above all others to develop this discipline in my life. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalms 1:1-3 (NIV)
We seem to live in a “gray” world. It is easy for us to get caught up in the attitudes of the world in our business lives separating them from our spiritual life. The irony is that we even think we can do that. I hear the term “gray area” often. In business and in life there is no such thing as “gray area.” The ways of God are black and white. Gray, by the way indicates, the presence of black. It is something white becoming black or something black becoming white. It is a treacherous place to be. God said let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no”.
In our lives and in our business (can you really separate the two?) we must walk in the counsel of God’s Word. The Psalmist says that the key to success is “delighting in” and “meditating on” the Word of God.
The Hebrew word translated delight here is translated in other places of the Bible as desire, pleasure, or purpose. The writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is saying if we want to prosper and be successful we must desire knowledge from the Word of God, find pleasure in God’s Word, and find our purpose in God’s Word.
The Hebrew word for meditate means to mumble or talk under your breath. He is simply saying that all day long we are living in the principles of God’s word. It is present with us. It is like getting up in the morning, turning on the radio or TV and hearing a song. As you go through the day you catch yourself humming or perhaps whistling that song almost involuntarily. The word for meditate in the New Testament means to revolve in the mind. Hear it or say it or think it over and over and over. Another description of meditation is rumination. That’s what a cow does when it “chews the cud.” Cows have four stomachs. They eat their food and swallow it. Regurgitate it and chew it some more then swallow it into another stomach. Regurgitate it and chew it some more then swallow into another stomach. Regurgitate it and chew on it more then finally swallow it into the fourth stomach. It is simply a process of getting all the nutrition they can out of the food. The Psalmist is simply saying chew on the Word all day long. Start your day with God’s Word then chew on it, roll it over and over in your mind, find yourself saying or maybe singing a scripture chorus through the day.
The Bible says if I will do this “whatever I do will prosper.” In Deuteronomy 28 there is a list of the incredible blessings of God that come to us when we “faithfully obey the voice of the Lord” and are “careful to do all his commandments.” The Bible says if I will do that then the blessings will “come upon you and overtake you.” I won’t have to find them they will find me!
I heard once of a man who was an American Indian and had been converted. He described the old and the new nature this way, “There’s two dogs that live in me, one’s the old dog, he’s mean and vicious and hard and sinful. Then there’s the new dog who walks after Christ. He said they’re constantly fighting to have control of me. Which one wins? The one I feed the most, that’s which one wins.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, may the love for Your Word be a growing part of my life today and everyday. Help me to get it into my spirit so that I truly do think about and dwell upon and roll it over and over in my mind throughout the day. Help me above all others to develop this discipline in my life. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Holy Moments
My Men’s SONrise group that meets Tuesdays at 6:30 am is studying Richard Exley’s book “Living in Harmony.” He teaches the balance of work and rest, worship and play. We are in the section on worship. Yesterday we talked about worship being more that what we do for 30 minutes on Sunday morning. It is rather an acknowledgment of God’s presence anywhere, at anytime in our lives. He is always with us. That is His promise. “Lo, I am with you always to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28) We talked about “sacramental moments” holy, sanctified moments, those moments that we suddenly see God at work in us or around us. In the face of a child, in the sunset painted on the sky, a moment of absolute peace in the middle of tumult. Then, Paul Doty, one of the men in the group sent me the following by Beth Moore. Beth Moore is a speaker, writer, wife and mother of two daughters. It is really too long for the purpose of the daily devotional, but I couldn’t resist, and I hope you have time (can take the time) to read it. It is about a truly “sacramental moment.”
April 20, 2005
At the Airport in Knoxville , TN
Waiting to board the plane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say this because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is your ego.
I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight. Slumped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man.
I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I remembered that he was dead. So this man in the airport...an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere?
There I sat, trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.
Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man. I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing. I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind.
"Oh, no, God, please, no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!"
There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, "Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane."
Then I heard it... "I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair."
The words were so clear, my heart leapt into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No-brainer. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, "God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm you're girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am going to witness to this man."
Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. "That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair."
I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?" God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: "I will
thoroughly furnish you unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:17)
I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies.
I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?" He looked back at me and said, "What did you say?" "May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?" To which he responded in volume ten, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that." At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?”
At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Long locks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, "If you really want to."
Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush."
"I have one in my bag," he responded. I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls.
Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull. A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair.
I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I -- for that few minutes -- felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and
making Himself at home for a short while. The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's.
His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's. I slipped the brush back in the bag, went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees, and said, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"
He said, "Yes, I do." Well, that figures, I thought. He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said, "You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess I must be for my bride."
Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.
Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.
I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?"
I said, "Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!" And we got to share.
I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted because you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on, but you feel too responsible to budge.
He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!
I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way...all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.
(John 1:14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, "Wow! What a ride! Thank You, Lord!"
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I don’t want to miss a “sacramental moment” in my life today. Turn up the sensitivity setting on my spiritual proximity detector. You are so near, and I can be so caught up in my life that I miss You. Forgive me and help me. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
April 20, 2005
At the Airport in Knoxville , TN
Waiting to board the plane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say this because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is your ego.
I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight. Slumped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man.
I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I remembered that he was dead. So this man in the airport...an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere?
There I sat, trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.
Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man. I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing. I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind.
"Oh, no, God, please, no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!"
There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, "Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane."
Then I heard it... "I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair."
The words were so clear, my heart leapt into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No-brainer. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, "God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm you're girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am going to witness to this man."
Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. "That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair."
I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?" God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: "I will
thoroughly furnish you unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:17)
I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies.
I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?" He looked back at me and said, "What did you say?" "May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?" To which he responded in volume ten, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that." At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?”
At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Long locks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, "If you really want to."
Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush."
"I have one in my bag," he responded. I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls.
Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull. A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair.
I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I -- for that few minutes -- felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and
making Himself at home for a short while. The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's.
His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's. I slipped the brush back in the bag, went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees, and said, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"
He said, "Yes, I do." Well, that figures, I thought. He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said, "You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess I must be for my bride."
Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.
Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.
I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?"
I said, "Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!" And we got to share.
I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted because you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on, but you feel too responsible to budge.
He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!
I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way...all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.
(John 1:14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, "Wow! What a ride! Thank You, Lord!"
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I don’t want to miss a “sacramental moment” in my life today. Turn up the sensitivity setting on my spiritual proximity detector. You are so near, and I can be so caught up in my life that I miss You. Forgive me and help me. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
What is Success?
Since the message this coming Sunday in the “LOST” series is “Finding Real Success” I thought I’d share the following quotes.
“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.”
“There are no new fundamentals. You've got to be a little suspicious of someone who says, ‘I've got a new fundamental.’ That's like someone inviting you to tour a factory where they are manufacturing antiques.”
“Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day just isn't going to get the job done.”
“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure.”
I believe that success can be simply defined as discovering God’s will and plan for my life and doing it with enthusiasm and excellence.
A few other people in life have had plans for me that I wasn’t too enthusiastic about. You know what I am talking about? I was at one time a single, itinerant preacher from the age of 19 to 23. Then it was not uncommon for pastors to house me in their homes. I often went to small churches without big budgets or country churches that it was a long trip to the nearest motel. It wasn’t uncommon for some well meaning soul to try to match me up with the “girl of my dreams” if you know what I mean. Sometimes it was the pastor hosting me for a revival meeting so I had to play it carefully, but I was never to enthusiastic about someone else trying to arrange that part of my life. And none of them worked out until Debbie came along. I soon learned that this was the one God had prepared for me and me for her. I succeeded in that part of my life... I discovered God’s will and plan and carried it out on May 28, 1977 with enthusiasm and excellence.
I have not always succeeded in everything, but as you mature and learn the benefits of following God’s plan you learn it is much less painful and much more rewarding to just do it God’s way. He does have a plan for all of us. Nobody gets left out. “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) And you know, I am just simple enough to believe if I ask God to show me His plan for my life that He will do it. In fact, I have proven that He does through the years in my life. There is no more secure feeling, no more satisfying feeling than knowing you are doing what He carefully designed and shaped you to do.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, reveal to me each day Your plan and design for my life. Help me never to set aside Your plan for my own, but if I do don’t give up on me. Just keep helping me grow and mature and become all that You desire for me. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.”
“There are no new fundamentals. You've got to be a little suspicious of someone who says, ‘I've got a new fundamental.’ That's like someone inviting you to tour a factory where they are manufacturing antiques.”
“Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day just isn't going to get the job done.”
“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure.”
I believe that success can be simply defined as discovering God’s will and plan for my life and doing it with enthusiasm and excellence.
A few other people in life have had plans for me that I wasn’t too enthusiastic about. You know what I am talking about? I was at one time a single, itinerant preacher from the age of 19 to 23. Then it was not uncommon for pastors to house me in their homes. I often went to small churches without big budgets or country churches that it was a long trip to the nearest motel. It wasn’t uncommon for some well meaning soul to try to match me up with the “girl of my dreams” if you know what I mean. Sometimes it was the pastor hosting me for a revival meeting so I had to play it carefully, but I was never to enthusiastic about someone else trying to arrange that part of my life. And none of them worked out until Debbie came along. I soon learned that this was the one God had prepared for me and me for her. I succeeded in that part of my life... I discovered God’s will and plan and carried it out on May 28, 1977 with enthusiasm and excellence.
I have not always succeeded in everything, but as you mature and learn the benefits of following God’s plan you learn it is much less painful and much more rewarding to just do it God’s way. He does have a plan for all of us. Nobody gets left out. “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) And you know, I am just simple enough to believe if I ask God to show me His plan for my life that He will do it. In fact, I have proven that He does through the years in my life. There is no more secure feeling, no more satisfying feeling than knowing you are doing what He carefully designed and shaped you to do.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, reveal to me each day Your plan and design for my life. Help me never to set aside Your plan for my own, but if I do don’t give up on me. Just keep helping me grow and mature and become all that You desire for me. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Lonely? Don't Need To Be
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
As you jump back into the pursuit of your career, your business, your responsibilities never overlook the FACT that God is there and He is talking to us all day long if we will just listen for Him and then to Him.
Max Lucado writes in “In the Eye of the Storm,” “Let me state something important. There is never a time during which Jesus is not speaking. Never. There is never a place in which Jesus is not present. Never. There is never a room so dark...a lounge so sensual...an office so sophisticated...that the ever present, ever pursuing, relentlessly tender friend is not there, tapping gently on the doors of our hearts—waiting to be invited in.
“Few hear His voice. Fewer still open the door. But never interpret our numbness as His absence. For amidst the fleeting promises of pleasure is the timeless promise of His presence.” — Max Lucado “In the Eye of the Storm”
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” The original language here is much more emphatic than our English is. It would be literally translated, “Never, never, never will I leave you; never, never, never will I forsake you.” He is there. Stop long enough to feel Him and listen to Him today in the eye of your storm.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, knowing You’re alive is marvelous, but knowing You are right here with me is incredible. Thank You for giving Your life for me so You could then give me Your constant presence and voice. Help me today to be aware of Your presence and sensitive to Your voice. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
As you jump back into the pursuit of your career, your business, your responsibilities never overlook the FACT that God is there and He is talking to us all day long if we will just listen for Him and then to Him.
Max Lucado writes in “In the Eye of the Storm,” “Let me state something important. There is never a time during which Jesus is not speaking. Never. There is never a place in which Jesus is not present. Never. There is never a room so dark...a lounge so sensual...an office so sophisticated...that the ever present, ever pursuing, relentlessly tender friend is not there, tapping gently on the doors of our hearts—waiting to be invited in.
“Few hear His voice. Fewer still open the door. But never interpret our numbness as His absence. For amidst the fleeting promises of pleasure is the timeless promise of His presence.” — Max Lucado “In the Eye of the Storm”
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” The original language here is much more emphatic than our English is. It would be literally translated, “Never, never, never will I leave you; never, never, never will I forsake you.” He is there. Stop long enough to feel Him and listen to Him today in the eye of your storm.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, knowing You’re alive is marvelous, but knowing You are right here with me is incredible. Thank You for giving Your life for me so You could then give me Your constant presence and voice. Help me today to be aware of Your presence and sensitive to Your voice. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Friday, April 6, 2007
It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming!
Today is Good Friday. It was anything but “good” on that day that they took Jesus after having persecuted Him all through the night awakening the High Priest, calling a mock trial that had so many flaws an unlearned citizen could see them. And then taking Him to Pilate who was too chicken hearted to make a decision according to his own instincts saying, “I find no fault in this man” then handing Him to the crazed crowd of people to be beaten and crucified. It was a horrible night.
Yet, everything went according to God’s plan. Hundreds of years earlier prophets had spoken to prepare the people for what would come. The Psalmist wrote words eerily similar to Jesus words and what happened on the “Good” Friday that Jesus was crucified. Psalms 22:1; 12-18 (NIV) “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”
Then Isaiah spoke. Isaiah 53:3-12 (NIV) “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
So clear are both of these prophetic words spoken, inspired by the Holy Spirit, hundreds of years before Jesus actually suffered and died for us. So detailed are the descriptions from physical details of Jesus’ experience to how and where He was buried to the fact that He bore the sins of others and interceded for sinners. Yet, what is Good Friday to us was to the disciples and other followers of Jesus the Friday they lost everything they’d hoped for. They thought He would deliver them from the oppression of the day that they lived under. They thoughts He would be their King that would rule then and there. That would have been only for a few decades of their lives. What they couldn’t see was that they were right... He came to deliver and rule but not for a few decades... He came for eternity! It was a black Friday for them but Sunday did come! Sunday when He came out of the tomb!
For you today it may look like that black Friday did to the disciples, but remember Sunday’s Coming! Pat Barnes tells the following story in the March 1995 issue of Guidepost magazine.
It was a beautiful spring day, and a sense of peace stayed with me as I left the cathedral on Easter Monday morning. I paused for a moment on top of the steps leading to the avenue, now crowded with people rushing to their jobs. Sitting in her usual place inside a small archway was the old flower lady. At her feet corsages and boutonnieres were parading on top of a spread-open newspaper. The flower lady was smiling, her wrinkled old face alive with some inner joy. I started down the stairs——then, on an impulse, turned and picked out a flower.
As I put it in my lapel, I said, “You look happy this morning.”
“Why not? Everything is good.”
She was dressed so shabbily and seemed so very old that her reply startled me. “You’ve been sitting here for many years now, haven’t you? And always smiling. You wear your troubles well.”
“You can’t reach my age and not have troubles,” she replied. “Only it’s like Jesus and Good Friday . . . ” She paused for a moment.
“Yes?” I prompted.
“Well, when Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, that was the worst day for the whole world. And when I get troubles I remember that, and then I think of what happened only three days later——Easter and our Lord arising. So when I get troubles, I’ve learned to wait three days . . . somehow everything gets all right again.”
And she smiled good-bye. Her words still follow me whenever I think I have troubles. Give God a chance to help . . . wait three days. — SOURCE: By Patt Barnes, March 1995 issue of Guideposts.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, if I said to You every day of my life, a thousand times everyday of my life that I have left to live, “Thank You for suffering for me, thank You for taking my sins to that cross, thank You for taking my sickness and disease in Your body, thank You for carrying my grief and sorrow, thank You for forgiving me on that day”, it would never be enough. I am grateful. Please forgive me in the rush of life for not saying often enough, “Thank You!” Thank You for the future I have because of Your selfless gift. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Yet, everything went according to God’s plan. Hundreds of years earlier prophets had spoken to prepare the people for what would come. The Psalmist wrote words eerily similar to Jesus words and what happened on the “Good” Friday that Jesus was crucified. Psalms 22:1; 12-18 (NIV) “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”
Then Isaiah spoke. Isaiah 53:3-12 (NIV) “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
So clear are both of these prophetic words spoken, inspired by the Holy Spirit, hundreds of years before Jesus actually suffered and died for us. So detailed are the descriptions from physical details of Jesus’ experience to how and where He was buried to the fact that He bore the sins of others and interceded for sinners. Yet, what is Good Friday to us was to the disciples and other followers of Jesus the Friday they lost everything they’d hoped for. They thought He would deliver them from the oppression of the day that they lived under. They thoughts He would be their King that would rule then and there. That would have been only for a few decades of their lives. What they couldn’t see was that they were right... He came to deliver and rule but not for a few decades... He came for eternity! It was a black Friday for them but Sunday did come! Sunday when He came out of the tomb!
For you today it may look like that black Friday did to the disciples, but remember Sunday’s Coming! Pat Barnes tells the following story in the March 1995 issue of Guidepost magazine.
It was a beautiful spring day, and a sense of peace stayed with me as I left the cathedral on Easter Monday morning. I paused for a moment on top of the steps leading to the avenue, now crowded with people rushing to their jobs. Sitting in her usual place inside a small archway was the old flower lady. At her feet corsages and boutonnieres were parading on top of a spread-open newspaper. The flower lady was smiling, her wrinkled old face alive with some inner joy. I started down the stairs——then, on an impulse, turned and picked out a flower.
As I put it in my lapel, I said, “You look happy this morning.”
“Why not? Everything is good.”
She was dressed so shabbily and seemed so very old that her reply startled me. “You’ve been sitting here for many years now, haven’t you? And always smiling. You wear your troubles well.”
“You can’t reach my age and not have troubles,” she replied. “Only it’s like Jesus and Good Friday . . . ” She paused for a moment.
“Yes?” I prompted.
“Well, when Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, that was the worst day for the whole world. And when I get troubles I remember that, and then I think of what happened only three days later——Easter and our Lord arising. So when I get troubles, I’ve learned to wait three days . . . somehow everything gets all right again.”
And she smiled good-bye. Her words still follow me whenever I think I have troubles. Give God a chance to help . . . wait three days. — SOURCE: By Patt Barnes, March 1995 issue of Guideposts.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, if I said to You every day of my life, a thousand times everyday of my life that I have left to live, “Thank You for suffering for me, thank You for taking my sins to that cross, thank You for taking my sickness and disease in Your body, thank You for carrying my grief and sorrow, thank You for forgiving me on that day”, it would never be enough. I am grateful. Please forgive me in the rush of life for not saying often enough, “Thank You!” Thank You for the future I have because of Your selfless gift. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
As we move through “Holy Week” we remember today that Jesus met with his disciples to observe the Passover meal. In doing so He started another practice that we call an ordinance at LIFEchurch. It is one of two ordinances that we observe, The Lord’s Supper and water baptism. Jesus was preparing them for what was coming although I am not so sure they really got it that night. It was probably after it was over that all these things began to take on meaning for them. He shared with them the bread and the cup.
Then Jesus went with them to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. It was there that He prayed the familiar prayer, “Father, let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless not my will, but your will be done.” What a difficult time it must have been. Luke describes it for us. “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Luke 22:39-44 (NIV)
Luke is the only writer that mentions this phenomenon of “sweat like drops of blood.” That is interesting since he (Luke) was the doctor among them. There is a medical term for this condition. When the body is under great stress oneof two things happens. The stress is evident in the fact that God sent an angel to strengthen Jesus. Luke said He was in “anguish.” This was a moment when emotionally and physically He totally exhausted Himself. Under this kind of stress a man will either just faint, pass out or the capillaries of the blood vessels (many of them just under skin) will burst throughout the body causing blood to leak through the pores of the skin where sweat would normally come. This is what happened to Jesus on that night. This was not just a metaphor that Luke was using to describe the pressure of the moment. As a doctor he saw and understood what was happening. Jesus bodied became covered in blood as He prayed.
John describes the moment the soldiers arrived in the garden on that Thursday evening to arrest Jesus. He says that when Jesus identified Himself “they drew back and fell to the ground.” (John 18:6) I believe there was a practical reason that happened. When Jesus stepped into the muted light of their torches what they saw was a man covered in blood already. They were shocked at His appearance. Just as His clothes would have been absorbing sweat normally, in this case they absorbed blood. His faced was covered in blood as that is the place with more of the capillaries near the surface than any where else on the body.
The blood shed of Jesus sacrifice did not wait for the beating or being nailed to cross. It began in the agony of surrender on His face before His father crying out for strength and mercy.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am so humbled by Your incredible love and commitment to me. As I review all this coming to Easter, my heart is broken that I have failed so many times in so many ways, but at the same time my hear swells with indescribable hope that because You love me that much there is nothing in life that I cannot face, no trial that I cannot overcome, no sin that I cannot rise above, no failure so great that it places me outside Your reach of love and forgiveness. Thank You, Jesus. I love You, Jesus. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Then Jesus went with them to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. It was there that He prayed the familiar prayer, “Father, let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless not my will, but your will be done.” What a difficult time it must have been. Luke describes it for us. “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Luke 22:39-44 (NIV)
Luke is the only writer that mentions this phenomenon of “sweat like drops of blood.” That is interesting since he (Luke) was the doctor among them. There is a medical term for this condition. When the body is under great stress oneof two things happens. The stress is evident in the fact that God sent an angel to strengthen Jesus. Luke said He was in “anguish.” This was a moment when emotionally and physically He totally exhausted Himself. Under this kind of stress a man will either just faint, pass out or the capillaries of the blood vessels (many of them just under skin) will burst throughout the body causing blood to leak through the pores of the skin where sweat would normally come. This is what happened to Jesus on that night. This was not just a metaphor that Luke was using to describe the pressure of the moment. As a doctor he saw and understood what was happening. Jesus bodied became covered in blood as He prayed.
John describes the moment the soldiers arrived in the garden on that Thursday evening to arrest Jesus. He says that when Jesus identified Himself “they drew back and fell to the ground.” (John 18:6) I believe there was a practical reason that happened. When Jesus stepped into the muted light of their torches what they saw was a man covered in blood already. They were shocked at His appearance. Just as His clothes would have been absorbing sweat normally, in this case they absorbed blood. His faced was covered in blood as that is the place with more of the capillaries near the surface than any where else on the body.
The blood shed of Jesus sacrifice did not wait for the beating or being nailed to cross. It began in the agony of surrender on His face before His father crying out for strength and mercy.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am so humbled by Your incredible love and commitment to me. As I review all this coming to Easter, my heart is broken that I have failed so many times in so many ways, but at the same time my hear swells with indescribable hope that because You love me that much there is nothing in life that I cannot face, no trial that I cannot overcome, no sin that I cannot rise above, no failure so great that it places me outside Your reach of love and forgiveness. Thank You, Jesus. I love You, Jesus. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
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