A sense of grief

I have a sense that something is off in this world. It is a sense of grief that weighs on me, a burden that God has placed in me.

Let me define this grief:

  • A sadness because of the divisions in relationships, homes, churches and nations.
  • A sadness because of the anger, judgmentalism and condemnation people foist on one another.
  • A sadness over the oppression, abuse and violence that people perpetrate against others.
  • A sadness over the bondage that people are in.
  • A sadness because of the vain and empty pursuit of things that do not matter.
  • A sadness because of the lack of love, care, empathy or compassion people have for others. 
  • A sadness because of the smug, arrogant and dismissive attitudes people have towards those who live, look, sound, smell, speak or behave differently. 
  • A sadness because of the unnecessary pain and suffering so many people endure daily.

I am grieved because I know that God’s heart is hurting, and He has placed His heart inside of me and therefore I feel this pain. I am grieved because God has made a better way for all who will accept it. I am grieved because God’s gospel, God’s kingdom, and God’s church can offer the better way if we will receive it, live it and share it. 

I know the only answer for this grief is the salvation, sanctification and abundant life that God offers to people, even right now. The eternal answer for this grief is the reality that God will set all things straight one day, but that answer is approaching and yet not fully here. Furthermore I have a grief over those who may be finally impenitent and who will not be in the presence of the Lord forever. This hurts my heart and I know it constantly hurts the heart of God.

I know that God will wipe every tear away from our eyes and we will have joy and peace in His presence forever. But I weep for the lost. The ones lost now and the ones who will be lost forever. 

But until I am finally united with Him in glory, may I always carry around this sadness and grief so that I will ever and always have compassion towards others and live my life out of the heart of the Father. Rather than trying to ignore this grief, may I realize it is an expression of God’s love living in me and that it should spur me on to fasting, prayer, sacrifice, service and sharing the gospel at all costs. What else can I do? It is like a fire shut up in my bones and I cannot hold it in! Lord help us, Lord have mercy, Lord save us!

The purpose of the church

The purpose of the church is to be the church

To exist. To belong to God. To belong to each other.

The purpose of the church is to exist and to live in holy communion.

What is the end goal?

  • To be together in worship and prayer
  • To be together in service
  • To be together in fellowship
  • To be together in learning

The end goal of the church is to be: to be in existence, to be like Christ and to be together with Christ and with each other. 

We don’t apologize for wanting to be together every chance that we can.

We don’t apologize for wanting to linger in God’s presence and with one another.

And we don’t have to be planning some cool event or activity or program or outreach when we are together. 

We can enjoy being together. 

We can enjoy the moment we have been given to eat, laugh, sing, pray, talk, listen, work. 

Whatever it is that we are doing, while together, the being together part is the first priority. 

Of course we are seeking to be together with God so of course we know that we should be doing the things that God wants us to do. And when we do this we will find grace and joy and salvation and fulfillment as we faithfully and obediently abide together in Christ.

We will be fulfilled and experience the fullness of life as we “faith” together. We will experience abundant life as we pray together and worship together. We will discover what it is to be fully alive as we confess to each other and bear each other’s burdens. We will flourish as we encourage one another and spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

We will walk in the fullness of God’s blessing as we consecrate ourselves together to the Lord. 

There is no higher calling or purpose for us. If we are not happy and fulfilled in these things then we are missing the point of it all and looking or hoping for something that God never said He would give. I want to challenge you, whether you are clergy or laity, the purpose of the church is to be and when we understand that, it will change how we look at everything church related. We will find much more joy and contentment in the church and perhaps can once and for all stop trying to bring corporate metrics and systems into the church and instead rejoice that we are part of the family of God.

I praise God for the church and for the power of being together with Him and my brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Are you struggling? There is hope!

Let me share the good news with you:

Are you lost? We all have been lost in our lives. Whenever we are not trusting God completely we are lost. But thanks be to God, He has made it His mission to seek and save the lost, so we know He is pursuing you and me everyday so that He will find us and so that we can find and receive from Him!

Are you bored? Thank God for some down time, and ask God to help you rest in Him and know His will for what is next.

Are you tired? God grants sleep to His beloved. Don’t tire yourself out going to bed late and getting up early, trying to figure life out, trying to make ends meet or just trying to have some fun. Instead ask God to help you sleep and rest in Him and His promises.

Are you sad? God is with you in your sadness, but He also can bring you joy when the season of mourning is over. 

Are you angry at injustice? God is the God of justice and He will judge the world and set everything right one day. Work for justice on earth but remember to trust God above all.

Are you depressed? God is a God of hope. He can make a way when there seems to be no way! Call on Him and ask Him to work a miracle in you.

Are you guilty? Do you know you have sinned against God and others? God is the God of mercy, grace and forgiveness. Repent and call on the name of the Lord and you will be forgiven and saved.

Are you sick? God is the Great Physician. He is able to heal you. Go to Him in prayer. Ask for His healing touch. Have the elders of the church pray over you. Then wait and watch for God’s answer. 

Are you struggling with bad habits, addictions or temptation? Remember that God has said He will always provide an emergency exit. God is willing and able to give you His strength and His self-control so that you can walk away from whatever is harmful and walk completely in what is healthy and holy.

Are you lonely? God is the God of relationship. He wants a relationship with you and also when you call upon HIm and follow Him, He will put you in relationship with others. 

Are your relationships struggling? God is the God of reconciliation. He can bring forgiveness and healing to marriages, family relationships and friendships. Ask Him. He will answer. 

Are you lacking in your finances? Remember that God told us to pray for our daily bread, we can know He will provide what we need for each and every day. Even when it seems impossible God is able to do the impossible.

Are you struggling with what to do? God is all-wise and all-knowing. Ask the Lord for wisdom and He will surely provide it.

This is the good news: whatever you are facing, God is able to handle it. Seek Him, ask Him, follow Him, obey His instructions. He will surely save you, heal you and provide for you.

God wants you to be unshakable

I recently preached a sermon on being unshakable. I want to share an overview of that message here with you.

The Bible says that we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:26-28) and furthermore David says that because the Lord is ever before him and at his right hand that he will not be shaken (Acts 2:25).

From the many verses in the Bible that declare that God’s children do not have to be shaken, as well as Christ’s example of unshakableness, we can know for certain that God desires this for us as well.

But it is important to establish what being unshakable is and also very clearly state what it is not.

Being unshakable is not the removal of emotions, desires, temptations, circumstances, people, difficulties, trials, or a sense of justice. Jesus was fully unshaken even while He continued to experience a full range of emotions and Godly desires and a pursuit of holy justice. Jesus was unshaken even when He was tempted and tried. Jesus was unshaken even when circumstances, people, difficulties and trials came against Him.

So what does it mean to be unshaken? Simply this: all of the things of the world will not be able to move me from my devotion to God the Father or to doing His will. Nothing on earth will move me from my commitment to walk according to God’s holy and righteous ways. As a believer in Christ I will stay rooted and grounded in love, and will walk by faith and not by sight, and I will build my life on the solid rock, the foundation of Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. To be unshaken means that God will hold me fast, give me a way of escape from temptation, will provide grace sufficient to my need, and will anchor me in His steadfastness.

When we are unshaken it is because we do not allow emotions, desires, circumstances, people, difficulties, trials or a sense of justice, to move us from our absolute devotion to the Lord and commitment to doing things His way. Being unshaken does not mean never having doubts or feelings but rather that those things will not rule us or decide how we live or what we believe.

Of course to have an unshakable life we must do certain things that the Lord reveals:

  • Keep the Lord ever before me (fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith) – See Psalm 16:8 and Hebrews 12:2
  • Keep the Lord always at my right hand (the preeminent place of prominence in my life) – See Psalm 16:8 and Acts 2:25
  • Walk in His holy ways (Psalm 15 and Psalm 55:22)
  • Trust in the Lord (Psalm 21:7 and Proverbs 3:5-6)
  • Rely on the faithfulness of the Lord at all times (Psalm 21:7)
  • Make the Lord the foundation of my life (Psalm 62:2 & 6)

I pray that the Lord helps you to know His desire to make you unshakable and also that you will practice the things that God has established to root you, ground you and establish you. Pray to the Lord that you will be unshakable as you are anchored in Jesus, and as you keep on walking by faith and not by sight, circumstances or feelings.

God is setting all things straight

Dear friend,

Please, please, please, I beg of you: Believe all the Bible says about the righteous judgment of God.

God is perfectly holy, righteous and good so please know He is actively working to fix all of the situations in your life (and in this world) that are broken, evil and unjust.

Please do not for a moment begin to believe that God is going to leave wickedness unaddressed. His holiness and His love would NEVER allow that.

Don’t ever forget that God is being patient with you (and others as well) giving many opportunities to repent. (Praise be to God for His patience!) 

I cling to the promise that God does not leave us alone in our brokenness, sinfulness and selfishness. 

We must always also remember that just as sure as He loves us, so also He WILL always pour out all of His loving power to deliver humanity and the rest of His creation from the enemies of sin, evil, darkness and worldliness.

Therefore, when God says that something is unhealthy or unholy, He will absolutely pour forth His power to deliver His beloved from that thing which is causing harm. 

But you and I also WILL stand under God’s holy judgement IF we decide to call evil things good or good things evil. And furthermore, if we cling to what is evil and refuse to let go we also will find ourselves under His judgment.

You and I thank Him for His judgment that means violent offenders and tyrants and mass murderers and back-stabbers will answer for their sins, but please, please, please remember that all sin will come under judgement (including yours and mine!)

The answer is this: let go of sin, don’t hold on to selfishness or wickedness. Don’t participate in the deeds of darkness. Don’t buy the lies of the world or follow the lusts of the world. 

Please, rather than passing judgment on another person for their sins, confess your own so that you will receive the forgiveness and redemption of the Lord.

Trust me, God is even now judging all that is broken and wicked, but there is coming a day when all people will see His power and judgment in full force. And on that day I want to be covered and redeemed by the blood of Jesus and changed by His forgiveness, His grace and His Spirit.

Please, don’t trifle with the righteous judgments of God. 

And please believe all that God has said about how He is actively working to fix all of the situations in your life (and in this world) that are broken, evil and unjust.

I praise God (and fear God!) for His righteous and holy judgement.

Confusion, chaos and trust

How exactly are we supposed to trust God when things make no sense?

When we can’t figure out what is going on and when we can’t do anything about the people or circumstances around us, how do we trust God then?

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to not lean on our own understanding but instead to trust God and to acknowledge Him in all our ways and then He will direct us.

When life is confusing and chaos abounds around us and when we are at the end of our rope and just can’t figure out what we are supposed to do: we must learn to trust. Sometimes we might be tempted to believe that it is impossible even for God to resolve it, but of course this is not true. God is willing, ready and able!

Even though we are to have faith in God it is not blind faith. He actually does give us evidences of His power, wisdom and ability. And yet, when we trust Him we are not actually trusting the evidences of His past activity in the world, but we are trusting His present goodness and ability. Furthermore, trust actually comes to life when we make a decision of the will to wait, watch and believe that God will do what is needed even though we cannot see how.

As Christ followers we must learn to trust God when we are tired and when we are emotional. We need to trust when we want Him to go faster (and He just won’t) and we need to trust Him when we wish He would do things differently.

You and I have to learn to trust God even in the instances when we know that the mess we are in is from our own making. We need to trust Him to rescue us even though we know He has already given us past help and grace that we sometimes wasted and squandered. We need to trust God when we know that without His help we will surely be undone and defeated. We need to trust God to take care of us because of His holiness and love.

May we embrace the opportunity to trust God, even though we know He might have every “right” to refuse to help us because of our choices, and yet we know He is actually compelled to help us not because of our repeated failures but because of His eternal holy love.

As God grows our faith, we realize that we place our trust in Him not because we have earned it or because we know we will do things perfectly this time. Our trust in God is that He gives grace and help not because we are worthy or deserving of it nor because we have shown our righteousness, wisdom and responsibility but simply because of His glory, goodness and grace.

We must trust as God’s Word declares, that He can and will avail ALL that is needed in His perfect way and timing. Let us trust that God is working radically, supernaturally and miraculously, beyond even what we could even imagine is possible. May we trust that God can do what we cannot do no matter how much we plan or how many resources we have. Praise be to God that He is willing and able to take what is dead, broken and/or intended for evil and raise it up, heal it, transform it, redeem it and use it for our good. Let’s trust Him, He is worthy of it!

The desire of God’s heart

God does not want.. “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)

Recognize this: God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4)

God loves you and me so much that He is actively reaching out with a heart of compassion and He is actively working so that you and I will not perish but will come to repentance and salvation.

I wonder what has you tied up in knots right now? What has you in bondage?

  • What are you worried about?
  • What are you afraid of?
  • What concerns and bothers you?
  • What are you facing that you don’t know how to address?
  • What are you facing that you don’t know if you have what it takes to deal with it?

I want to tell you the desire of God’s heart: He deeply desires to rescue you, deliver you and save you from each of the things in your life that have you in bondage. If there is anything in your life that has you tied up in knots God is actively working to set you free from from it. Do you believe this? Will you let Him?

In what ways can you see God blessing you right now?

  • How has He healed you?
  • How is He making you whole?
  • What good gifts has He given you?
  • How is He causing you to prosper or flourish?
  • What evidences can you see that He is seeking to give you an abundant life in Him?

Let me remind you of the desire of God’s heart: He is passionate about blessing His beloved (that’s you!) as well as healing us, transforming us and causing us to flourish in Him. He wants to give you an abundance of fruitfulness in your life that you can in turn share with others. Do you believe this? Will you ask for and receive this from Him?

Lastly, how do you think God wants to use you? Are you aware that He want to equip you, motivate you and mobilize you?

  • Who do you know that needs help?
  • Who do you know that needs hope?
  • Can you think of a friend or family member who is bound?
  • Who do you know that is lost?
  • Or hurting?
  • Or lonely?
  • Or depressed?

May you and I always remember the desire of God’s heart: He is fervently working so that you and I can be built up, equipped, resourced, motivated and mobilized in order to bring His good news to the earth and to each person we meet. Do you believe this? If you do, what will you do about it?

God is reaching out to you today. He is reaching out to set you free, to heal, bless and prosper you and to use you to help others along the way. Now that you and I have been reminded of the desires of God’s heart, may we faithfully come to Him, finding rest, healing and wholeness in Him and then as we freely receive from Him, may we freely give to others. What a gift! What a privilege. How great is our God!

We can’t change them

Last week I shared a post about the fact that in life and in ministry we cannot save other people. We can’t even save ourselves. Only Christ can do that (with our believing and acceptance).

In this post I would like to explore the reality that ultimately we cannot change the people whom we interact with or minister to.

Sounds kinda discouraging, doesn’t it?

And yet it is vitally important that we come to understand this if we are going to be effective in ministry

There is an old expression that might be helpful for us to consider here:

“You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.”

I think a follow up colloquialism is also appropriate:

“Yes, but you can salt his oats.”

We can’t change people, we cannot force them to do anything. We cannot bribe, cajole, beg, plead or ultimately cause people to change. Husbands and wives understand this (or at least they come to understand it over time).

Pastors would do well to understand this as soon as possible.

And although we cannot change them (or force them to drink) perhaps we can make them thirsty to where they themselves will desire to take a deep quenching drink from the Living Water that is Jesus Christ.

So how can we make them thirsty? And how can we lead them to Jesus, the Living Water?

I offer these few quick suggestions that might help:

  • Preach often on the goodness, holiness, generosity, graciousness, benevolence and promises of God
  • Share the testimonies of other people who have been miraculously saved, healed and changed
  • Speak highly (and often!) about the power, authority, authenticity and trustworthiness of the Bible
  • Share your own stories of how God has changed you
  • Be constantly spiritually inquisitive yourself and in turn ask the people around you about what God is teaching them and what God is prompting them to do
  • Show deep and radical grace, love, compassion and generosity which will pique their curiosity as to why you are the way you are.

Of course the list goes on, but we simply must remember that Jesus saves and Jesus sanctifies & transforms. We point people to Jesus. We brag on Him. We live a life of worship and praise unto Him. We boldly and joyfully declare His Word (commands, warnings and promises all three). And then as we pray for them and keep pointing to Jesus, we can watch and see how God Himself saves and then begins transforming them.

So please, before you try to guilt people, bully people or bribe people, instead just share the good news of who God is and let His glory pierce their hearts and watch and see as they themselves ask Him to change them. I promise, it’ll be miraculous, beautiful and far better than anything our meager efforts could do.

We can’t save them

Here is a hard reality for us pastors.

We can’t save them.

This is true for ourselves too: we can’t save ourselves.

First of all we must remember that there is only one Lord and Savior: Jesus Christ.

And we all need Him to save us. We need Him to forgive us. We need Him to cleanse us. We need Him to rescue us. We need Him to change us.

We always get ourselves into trouble when we try to save ourselves by our efforts, by our cleverness, by our plotting and planning. But when we come to Jesus in full surrender, then He is willing and able to save us completely!

And the people whom we pray for, the people we serve, the people we share the gospel with: we can’t save them.

Our words won’t save them. Our compassion won’t save them. Our diligence and service won’t save them.

Of course God can use our words and compassion and diligence and service. Furthermore if we are abiding in Him, then it should be His eternal and life-giving words, compassion, diligence and service at work through us.

But they will have to surrender to Jesus just like we do if any of us are truly ever going to be saved.

It is His grace, His stripes, His atonement, His sacrifice that saves us.

Yes, we must believe. We must have faith. We must place our trust in Him.

Beautifully, He enables us to believe and He changes our mind about sin and selfishness and self-preservation. He convinces us that He is willing, ready and able and that we can’t do it alone, no matter how hard we try.

We can’t save ourselves and we can’t save them. And the sooner we remember that, the better. Because in the end we all have to give up trying to be a savior and instead we must surrender and let Jesus save us. Then and only then will we be saved. Kinda takes the pressure off, cause it’s not up to us. On the other hand, it is a timely and all-important reminder, as Christians and as pastors, that in all things at all times we need to point to Jesus, the Savior of all who will believe.

Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise.

In between the extraordinary

It is so amazing when we see miracles.

How affirming, encouraging and life-changing when we hear the voice of God!

And how exciting when God moves and brings times of revival, renewal and spiritual growth.

But what about in between the extraordinary times?

Let’s think back on Abraham’s life. He lived to be 175 years old. That’s pretty old. And for sure that means he saw and heard a lot of different things. But according to Scripture we have record of only about 9 interactions between God and Abraham. 9 times of hearing God’s voice and talking with Him over a period of 175 years. That means that Abraham might’ve gone decades in between the extraordinary times.

Sounds like Abraham probably had a lot of ordinary time on his hands.

Do you think that he got bored? Do you think he questioned his memory of what God said or did the last time he heard/saw Him? I wonder if Abraham ever struggled with the idea that he was wasting his life or like maybe he had missed something along the way.

You and I will have plenty of ordinary time in our lives. More than we probably want. And during the ordinary time we might just reflect back or peer forward to an extraordinary time, but in the meantime we wait, and wonder.

I want to encourage you today that God is still at work in the ordinary times. He is still present, He is still using us, He is still speaking. It may not seem as extravagant or miraculous as the extraordinary times, and yet the ordinary times are full of life and goodness and blessing as well.

Please don’t squander the ordinary times daydreaming about the extraordinary. May we see God’s handiwork in each and every day and may we let Him teach us contentment in our unhurried moments of trusting and walking with Him in between the extraordinary.