"I'm exhausted..."

Modern conveniences make it possible for us to be 'on' 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I can flip open my notebook computer and go to 'work' at 5 AM or 10 PM, right from my living room chair. Cell phones keep me 'in touch' all the time. Airplanes allow us to jump from coast to coast between breakfast and dinner. And the cost of all this convenience? Exhaustion!

The number one complaint I hear from people around me concerns time pressure. Most people blame their job for demanding too much, but I think that assumption deserves another look. It is true that our jobs take a big chunk of our time, but for many of us the exhaustion we feel comes from an out of control schedule. The normal rhythms of night and day and the ebb and flow of seasons no longer force us into down times where we can recharge. We pile endless activities into our lives with no thought about how our frenetic pace of life is effecting us and our families.

Just as our rich supply of food is allowing us to become the world's fattest people, so too, our ability to choose to do so much from the buffet of activities available to us, is contributing to fat schedules and, ultimately, to exhaustion. We are becoming a nation of activity addicts - skipping from this diversion to that, watching a little TV while we surf the 'net, speed reading while we listen to music, cramming in yardwork, speeding through vacations as we keep in touch with the office, rushing our kids through after school activities so they can hurry through their homework while devouring a quick dinner alone, as we talk on the phone.

The one word that we find most difficult to say - to ourselves, to our kids, to others - is "No." We feel guilty if we're not packing each day chockfull of things to do, even growing anxious if we have an afternoon to sit and enjoy the day from a quiet spot on our deck! Maybe you're reading this and wondering, "what world does Jerry live in anyway? Doesn't he know I have to..." Yes, I know that there are seasons of high output when we have to pour it on! I know that deadlines come and unforeseen emergencies throw our best plans into chaotic confusion. However, we can, and we must, choose to order our lives including our use of time. We must take control of our schedule and decide which activities are really important to us, for our kids development, and to God!

When we were raising our family, Bev and I wrestled with scheduling. Our kids pushed to be in every activity, to play endless sports, to burn up whole weekends in non-stop going! We said, 'choose!' We set priorities for ourselves and for them - God and church first, then family, then other activities. It caused conflict. I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do, but neither anyone else in our family because some important choices trumped our personal pleasures and desires! Today, I do not regret forcing those choices for the one thing we all (our adult kids included) treasure is our 'connectedness,' our sense that we have a life together and that God is the Primary Love of our lives.

Let me suggest that you start to get control by embracing God's Sabbath principle, not as religious law, but a life-giving gift. One day a week, turn off the cell phone, unplug the computer, leave the yard work and focus on things of the Spirit, worship and renewal. It won't happen unless you make it happen! A thousand things will press in to demand that you attend to them NOW. Resist them. God gave a gift to His people in setting aside one day in seven for a break from the everyday work routine. Sadly, today most of us don't accept that gift choosing to live everyday the same. Think about that this week, won't you? Pray that God will give you the courage to take control of the time He's given to you, to know how to make the most of your days, to spend the most valuable resource- time - in ways that yield maximum returns, not just for this life, but for eternity.

Here's a passage that is not primarily about use of time. It is about coming to a place where we enter into God's gift of 'rest' for our souls through Christ using the metaphor of Israel's entry into the Promised Land as instruction for the Christian's entry into a new 'land' of God's provisions. This passage does contain provocative thoughts about what is ultimately important in life. Meditate on it for a few moments before you rush on to other things today and allow the Spirit to challenge your heart with the rich truth. At first reading you might not 'get it.' Go back and read it again, and again, and the Spirit will unfold a rich truth to you.

"For this Good News—that God has prepared a place of rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t believe what God told them. For only we who believe can enter his place of rest. As for those who didn’t believe, God said, “In my anger I made a vow: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’ ” even though his place of rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because the Scriptures mention the seventh day, saying, “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” But in the other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.”

So God’s rest is there for people to enter. But those who formerly heard the Good News failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his place of rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David a long time later in the words already quoted: “Today you must listen to his voice. Don’t harden your hearts against him.” This new place of rest was not the land of Canaan, where Joshua led them. If it had been, God would not have spoken later about another day of rest.

So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who enter into God’s rest will find rest from their labors, just as God rested after creating the world. Let us do our best to enter that place of rest. For anyone who disobeys God, as the people of Israel did, will fall. For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires.

It exposes us for what we really are. Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done." (Hebrews 4:1-13, NLT)

Merciful and Humble

Hurricane Rita is ready to pound some Gulf coast towns into rubble tonight. She is the second monster storm to hit the Louisiana coast in a month's time. And we're all wondering why! Pornographers, perverts, pedophiles, and polluters will be blamed -- among others! We do the same thing when someone goes through a hard time in life. To make sure we don't have the same experience, we look for the cause and try to avoid making the same mistake. That's not all bad! Now that the link between much higher incidence of lung cancer and cigarette smoking is well known, there is more reason to teach our kids, 'Don't smoke!' Since it is a proven fact that excessive speed raises the probability of having an automobile accident, we should slow down.

But when things like hurricanes blow ashore, discovering a 'cause and effect' is much more difficult. We are tempted to invent one or guess at one, aren't we? It's an old human trait. Jesus disciples were wondering about a tragedy so they asked the Lord about a headline event that defied understanding. Jesus answer speaks to their hearts, because he knew they had made an assumption about the people who were suffering! They assumed that tragedy had befallen these people because they sinned. Jesus' response to their conclusion is compelling. Take a look. "About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish.”" (Luke 13:1-5, NLT)

You know what is curious about Jesus' reply to me? He didn't offer a reason for the tragedies mentioned. His comment was - "Repent!" His words carry this message: "Stop feeling superior and understand that you, too, live in a world full of unpredictable events. Get humble before God and understand that unless you're living right before Him, when these kinds of things happen, you will perish."

Remember Job's suffering? Who doesn't? It was awful! He lost his fortune, his family, his health, his dignity, and his reputation. His friends came to comfort him and ended up blaming him, saying that his suffering was surely the result of personal sin! Eliphaz preaches to a broken Job: "Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless? You demanded security from your brothers for no reason; you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked. You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry, though you were a powerful man, owning land— an honored man, living on it. And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless. That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you," (Job 22:5-10, NIV) Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? Except it wasn't true! Job's suffering was not the result of God's judgment, but because of God's trust! He allowed Satan to test this man to show the depth of Job's faith!

Let's continue throughout this day to be prayerful for those who will feel the crushing impact of this storm. Let's continue to pray for those whose lives remain shattered from Katrina's impact. Let's give generously. Let's listen to Jesus and repent, turning from our pride, our judgment, our assumptions and say,

"Lord, let me be your hands and use me to comfort those who suffer.
Help me not to blame, but to embrace.
Keep me from making a judgment that allows me to feel that I won't suffer in the same way because 'I don't deserve it' the way another did.
Lord, let me live mercifully and humbly in my world. Amen."

From ‘me’ to ‘we’

Chris, Sara, Riley, and I met in my office. Riley was rude, making outbursts, demanding attention. He made conversation nearly impossible at times. At one point I tried to address him and he made faces at me along with a most disconcerting outburst of displeasure. He was incredibly self-centered, which was all right with the rest of us in the room because he is 6 weeks old! An infant is expected to be selfish. We do not have a problem with a baby’s cries for food. Riley’s needs were paramount and it would not have mattered who was in the room.

One of the painful lessons of growing up is learning to share! When a group of 2 year old children play together, you hear ‘That’s mine, give me that!’ They have a limited ability to share their toys. By age 4 or 5, a well-trained child has learned to respect others, knows when to be politely quiet, how to say, ‘please,’ and to share - well, most of the time. When I do pre-marital counseling, meeting with a man and woman who are contemplating a life together, one of the key concepts we discuss is that now is the time when they each make the switch in thinking from ‘me’ to ‘we.’ Time, money, privacy – are no longer exclusive property. A successful marriage grows in the soil of mutual respect and unselfish meeting of each other’s needs. As long as Tom thinks that his overtime money is for his toys, that his weekends are for time with his buddies, he is stealing from his wife. As long as Joy thinks that she can maintain a life that is separate, making her own choices without talking them over with her husband, she is ripping at the unity of her marriage. ‘Me’ must become ‘we’ in everything. Putting another’s needs first is a mark of maturity.

Believer, this is a key concept for the Christian life as well! Repeatedly, the Scripture reminds us that we are called together into the Body of Christ. While we often speak of Christ Jesus as a ‘personal Savior,’ in keeping with our cultural exaggerated sense of self, the truth is that without close, deep, and intimate ties to other Believers, we will never find the greatest joy in our Christian experience, nor the highest effectiveness in our service. The Bible explains our interdependence with this metaphor- the human body. Gaze for a moment at your hand. It has a distinct purpose, a critical function, doesn’t it? But if your hand were severed from your arm, it becomes utterly worthless!

Paul draws out the comparison at length, pressing on us the importance of the Christian community."If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance.
For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of.
An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own.
Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons." (1 Corinthians 12:17-23, The Message)

Are you a big baby? Do you make outbursts of protest the moment you think your needs are being overlooked? Do you demand that others pay attention to you, now? Do you think that the world revolves around YOU? It’s time to grow up.

The call of God is that we "Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness…." (2 Timothy 2:22, The Message)

Here’s a word about the mark of maturity. Take it with you today.
“… I show you a more excellent way. … Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (1 Corinthians 12:30-13:7, 11 NKJV)

Now, let’s start to change our thinking from ‘me’ to ‘we.’

Are you in the ekklesia?

Ekklesia – (ek·klay·see·ah ) sounds like a disease or something bad, doesn’t it? But I assure you, being in the ‘ekklesia’ is a very good thing! Today we use the word, church. Paul called those gatherings of Believers the ‘ekklesia.’ In so doing he borrowed from a common civic practice of the time. Imagine trying to get a message to a town in an age preceding TV, radio, newspapers, or email. The quickest and most effective way was to send out runners to summon the people to the town square, to call an assembly. If there was an issue to be decided, only citizens could participate in the debate and the voting. When those citizens were called into a gathering, they were the ‘ekklesia,’ literally – ‘the called out ones.’

Believer, God assembles His people in a gathering that is distinct from the rest of the world, that has a high purpose of carrying out His purpose. He calls us His Church. Note the capital ‘C.’ That denotes the universal Body, those who are called out of the world to be ‘in Christ.’ The Church is bigger than my church or your church, our local congregations. It encompasses Believers of many persuasions concerning styles of worship and particular practices of faith. We do real damage to God’s work when we assume that ‘our’ group is ‘the’ group – that we (whatever our denomination or fellowship) alone are the ‘ekklesia’ of God! The Church is made up of all those who have heard the Spirit’s call and responded by faith to receive Christ Jesus as Lord. As we look at other Believers, even those who differ from us in secondary doctrines, we need to take our cue from Paul who said that he gave "thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." (2 Thessalonians 2:13, NIV) The Church is God’s assembly, not my club! Neither you nor I get to choose who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out.’ He elects, we accept!

Being part of God’s ‘ekklesia’ is a high holy calling! When I was a young boy, I attended a tiny congregation of 40-50 people that met in a non-descript chapel on a side street in an ordinary town. But we had a real sense of belonging to God! I understood, at a very young age, that I had been given a special privilege as a member of God’s own ‘ekklesia!’ It caused me to live differently; hopefully not as one who felt superior, but as one responsible to bear the mark of my King. I didn’t look down on my friends, but I looked up to Jesus and prayed that He would help me to live in a way that was worthy of His calling to be a citizen of His kingdom! I still feel that same holy responsibility today, years later. The fact that I am “God’s own” is never far from my thoughts.

Are you ‘in?’ Believe the Good News about Jesus Christ. Let the Spirit of God flow into your life. Hear the call to the ‘ekklesia.’ Then, live a worthy life, filled with love for Christ, connected to His Church, and overflowing with compassion for those who are yet to be called into His great assembly.

Take this word from the Word with you today. Meditate on it.

"…when he comes to receive glory and praise from his holy people.
….you will be among those praising him on that day, for you believed what we testified about him.
And so we keep on praying for you, that our God will make you worthy of the life to which he called you. And we pray that God, by his power, will fulfill all your good intentions and faithful deeds.
Then everyone will give honor to the name of our Lord Jesus because of you, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the undeserved favor of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 1:10-14, NLT)

Church, who needs it?

They come in all sizes – a dozen people gathering in a storefront chapel to thousands thronging a cathedral sized edifice. They have differing missions: some feed the hungry, some teach the young, some reach out to seekers, some supporting many world-wide missions. Their practices vary widely from very formal to extremely casual, from holding to ancient tradition to cutting edge innovation, from highly ritualized to free form. They are led by young and old, black and white, educated and uneducated. Yes, I am talking about the Church.

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church in Barrington, Ill, writes: “I believe that there is nothing like the local church when it is working right. …Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addictions, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness… Still to this day, the potential of the local church is almost more than I can grasp. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.”

The church I am privileged to lead will have her annual meeting this coming Sunday. The various ministries will report on their activities and financial reports will be presented. Reading over those reports in advance, I began to weep with joy, giving thanks for the people that serve Jesus at the Assembly. What I saw was miraculous, evidence of God’s Spirit at work in ordinary circumstances. Washington Assembly is not a large church, nor is she rich, but the breadth of her reach is amazing! On any given week, she is touching hundreds of people- feeding families, providing education to children in her Christian school, inviting people to experience the Presence of God in worship, reaching into local prisons with hope, training boys and girls in faith, and counseling the confused- just to mention a few things. It is not professional staff members doing this work. A volunteer network that includes dozens of faithful men and women makes this possible!

Are you part of a local congregation? It is the place where God will most effectively use you in His work, the place where the gifts of the Spirit He’s invested in you are brought to full fruitfulness and matured. "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t." (1 Corinthians 12:25, The Message) Christians cannot function as God intends without being ‘in the Body.’ Yet, many dismiss the church as unnecessary in disobedience to the Bible’s clear teaching. Others show a real lack of respect for the church by allowing other activities to pull them away from regular attendance, by putting other lesser commitments in the place of their commitment to worship and service. Again the Scripture is so clear that the Believer must give the highest priority to being part of the Body. "Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25, NLT)

I’ve heard many people criticize their church and/or their pastor – sometimes reasonably, often unfairly. It is true that some churches do ‘church’ better than others. Some leaders are more effective and mature in the Lord than others. But, becoming a critic, a person who works towards the destruction of a church, is a terrible thing. That person is attacking what God loves! Yes, indeed! The Church, which includes local congregations, is His Bride. He doesn’t take lightly those who come against her, those who dismiss her, and those who cause her pain. In Ephesians 5, we learn that “Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness.” If He gives her such love, how can we so easily attack, criticize, dismiss, and destroy her?

I know why many tear up the church, both those who lead and those on the other side of the pulpit. Selfishness- that’s it, pure and simple. The moment any person says, “I’ll have my way here,” the Enemy of God steps in to fan the flames! Pastors who see their church as a vehicle to meet their needs, as a place to find ego gratification, as belonging to them- will become abusive shepherds who tear down the church they are called to love. Congregants who think that the church exists to make them happy and/or to conform exclusively to their expectations will fight, squabble, and hinder the pure work of God. All must remind themselves, again and again -- The Church belongs to God, to serve His purposes.

Church – you need her, I need her! Let’s love her, give ourselves to make her great. Let’s raise our level of commitment to her, allowing nothing – not hobbies, not family gatherings, not work nor play - to become more important than being part of her, week by week. Let’s pray for her to succeed, to be a place where the Light of Christ shines brightly in a very dark world.____________________________

A Glorious Church

Do you hear them coming brother,
Thronging up the steeps of light,
Clad in glorious shining garments,
Blood washed garments pure and white?

Do you hear the stirring anthems
Filling all the earth and sky?
'Tis a grand, victorious army,
Lift its banner up on high!

'Tis a glorious church,
Without spot or wrinkle,
Washed in the blood of the Lamb! -- Ralph Hudson

Go and tell!

Did you know that God wants His people to be prophets? Prophet! That’s a frightening word for me. It brings up images of an angry man, shouting at the top of his lungs about the sins on which God will pour out His wrath. But, that is only one picture of a prophet. God’s spokespersons don’t have to be angry, nor do they have to shout. A prophet is a person who is full of God’s Spirit and whose life is a message, sometimes of judgment but mostly of grace. If you struggle with the word ‘prophet,’ try messenger. God wants you to be His messenger!Jesus’ last words to His followers were, “Go and tell!” “Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all." (Mark 16:15, The Message)

What an awesome responsibility He gave to us and a privilege, too. We are authorized to speak on God’s behalf. Paul calls us “Christ’s ambassadors” who are authorized to call people to peace with God. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

It has been my experience that most people do not need to be hit over the head with a denunciation of their failures and sins. They know, too well, the ache of guilt, the loneliness of alienation from their Creator. They may not understand their symptoms, and may even misinterpret them. That is why Spirit-filled Believers are sent to represent the Kingdom. As we live in the Spirit, lives marked by the love of God, purposeful and rich with joy, without words the message is ‘heard.’ When others ask about our hopefulness, our peace, Peter says, ‘be ready to explain it.’ (1 Peter 3:15)

Let me encourage you to think through your role as God’s messenger. Major on grace first! Present God’s invitation to life. Yesterday I was told two stories where Christians meant well, but did more harm than good. In one case it was a family gathering where the Believers felt they needed to point out the ‘sin’ they saw in the lives of those who were not ‘Christians.’ Finger-pointing is seldom a good way to gain the ear of another who we feel is in need. “You sinner!” is not a good opening line! Even I, as a Believer, dread encounters with those who think that their prophetic mission is to correct, poking at my sins and sensitivities until they have managed to arouse my anger. Yes, I know, we must tell the truth – but the trust doesn’t always have to start with a denunciation of another’s failing, does it? The other situation was a gathering of hundreds who had come to a special benefit concert for people whose lives were wrecked by Hurricane Katrina. It was a night advertised as an event where people could come together for hope. One speaker decided it was a good time to make sure that everyone in the room ‘understood’ that New Orleans was devastated by the hand of God in direct retribution for her many sins of debauchery! Thankfully another speaker was able to quickly remind people that even if that were true, ‘where sin increases, God’s grace increases all the more!’

This week look for ways to be prophetic! That’s right—to be God’s representative, speaking the message of the Kingdom. It is a message of hope, restoration, and promise that needs to be proclaimed, first in the way we live, and then, in the words we speak._____________________________________

Miracle in My Heart- Author: Brian Houston

We are called to be prophets to this nation,
to be the word of God in every situation,
Change my heart - Change my heart today.

Lord, loose the chains of oppression!
Lord, set the captives free!
Lord, fill my heart with compassion!
Shine Your light, Shine Your Light,
Shine Your light thru me.

Work a miracle in my heart, Oh Lord, today.

The best of intentions

Last night President George Bush made a speech from New Orleans. As speeches go it hit all the right notes: compassionate, visionary, and spiritual. I believe most Americans who heard him speaking agreed with the programs he outlined for re-building Mississippi and Louisiana and meeting the needs of the people whose lives are in ruins. Now, words must become action! Promises must be matched with performance. I honestly think that Washington, DC is full of good intentions. We all know, however, that many a political promise dies when the TV camera is turned off. In my own life, I've made more than a few promises: to God, to my wife, to those I serve; and some of those promises never translated from talk to action. Ever happen to you?

Why is executing our promises so difficult?

Sometimes it is because we simply 'over promise.' We do not think through the real cost and when we figure it out, we conclude that keeping the promise is just too expensive. Jesus warns: “Don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills?" (Luke 14:28, NLT)

Sometimes execution doesn't happen because we get distracted from the important things by today's urgent needs. That was my experience through much of yesterday. The most important agenda item for that day, to do some extended preparation for Sunday's sermon, kept getting bumped by urgent needs that landed on my desk. I let others manage my schedule and ended the day frustrated! Marriages get neglected, usually not because a spouse actually thinks, "I'll just ignore him, and my marriage will slowly die," but because the important need for intimacy is overcome by ringing phones, bills, and schedules that demand more and more time. The Bible teaches us a principle: "Choose today whom you will serve." (Joshua 24:15) Take charge of your life and set priorities. Learn to say, "no," to some of the demands made in the name of urgency, so you can say, "yes," to the really important things in life.

Sometimes promises go unfulfilled because we procrastinate! "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow; you're only a day away." The hope of a better tomorrow can be buried by the accumulated 'junk' that carries over from yesterday! Lives, relationships, homes- go to ruin one day at time. A house that is full of dirt and in disarray, gets that way when today's mess carries over into the next day, and the next..... until the job of cleaning is overwhelming. Generally things don't just collapse, they disintegrate by one neglect that is piled on another.

30 years ago, in a management training session, I learned that whenever possible, handle paper once. It is such a simple principle, but it has served me well. The lecturer used daily mail as his example. When mail arrives, stop other activity and process it. Don't lay an ad flyer to one side to read 'later.' Look it over and make a decision - worth keeping or toss. If a letter can be answered, then do it instead adding it to the pile of 'to do's.' Finish a task before starting another. Of course, some things require more than a day to accomplish, but think of the promises that would be kept, if only we seized today's opportunities!

Sometimes promises fail because we are sinners. Paul, in that wonderful awful chapter 7 of Romans, says, "I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18, NIV) The sinfulness of this world and the sinful nature that wrestles against the spiritual nature, works to frustrate our best intentions. Weeds will flourish even in an untended garden. Flowers only grow in a garden that is tended, watered, and cultivated. The Gardener must be invited into our lives regularly, so that He can do in us, what we cannot do for ourselves. At the end of our resources, He is our great Resource. Because of Him, we can say confidently, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13, NIV) That's no empty promise!

Determine today to be a person of integrity. Keep your word, even when it hurts to do so. Guard your talk and promise only what you're willing to act on. Make wise, priority decisions and stick with them. Most importantly- live in the Presence of the Spirit. Pray fervently for His work to be completed in you and for His purposes to be accomplished in you. For the glory of God.
__________________________

Jerry D. Scott
http://www.WashingtonAG.com

Purpose in suffering?

His father loved him, perhaps too much. God chose him and while he was young made the sketch of His plans known to him. His brothers hated him- because he was favored by their father and God. So, finding an opportunity, they got rid of him by selling him to slave-traders who took him hundreds of miles from his home to a foreign land. So much for dreams of destiny, or so it seemed; but, he didn’t surrender to despair. Instead, when he found himself the property of a nobleman, he worked hard and was soon the household’s manager.

Then, the woman of the house became interested in him and when he wouldn’t cooperate with her illicit desires, he was accused of rape and jailed on false charges. He was soon a trusted man that was in charge of the jail! Years past and two men from the king’s court were jailed with him. They had dreams and he told them the meanings of their dreams. He asked the man who was going back to serve the king to please remember him. The man didn’t - at least for a few years – until the king had a nightmare that defied understanding. Then, the man remembered Joseph and Pharaoh sent for him. After decades of disappointment, Joseph realized the dream of destiny that God gave him while he was a teenage boy. He became the Prime Minister of Egypt.

I am fairly certain that a man who had Joseph’s abilities and intelligence must have been tempted to wonder, “what’s going on?” Has God forgotten me? Why is all this happening to me? But, he had faith and the dream of destiny that God gave to him which he held tightly…. waiting, trusting, hopeful! How do I know that? Because of his own words. When Joseph was at the pinnacle of power and his poor brothers came into his court seeking food and favors, not knowing they were standing in the presence of the person they sold to slave-traders years before, he told them this: "But don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. These two years of famine will grow to seven, during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God has sent me here to keep you and your families alive so that you will become a great nation. Yes, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he has made me a counselor to Pharaoh—manager of his entire household and ruler over all Egypt." (Genesis 45:5-8, NLT) God used the circuitous route that led through slavery and prison to produce a man that would save a nation and his own family.

Honestly, even though it has a happy end, I do not like the story of Joseph all that much. It makes me understand that God is at work, using people and situations that are not necessarily pleasant or of my choosing, to implement His sovereign plan for this world. My exalted sense of self-importance is challenged and the fact that my personal happiness is not God’s paramount purpose is under-lined in my understanding. For us, raised in a culture that emphasizes personal fulfillment and the avoidance of pain at all costs, the thought that God might allow us to suffer as He works out His plans is very, very hard to accept!

If God loves me (and He does, very much!) how could he ask me to suffer? Because He is perfecting us for His purposes, purposes which reach much more widely than we can see, given our finiteness. There is a widely misquoted and misunderstood text that assures us God is amazingly at work to bring all circumstances- good and bad- to a place where His will is done. It says: "… we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:28-31, NIV) Living in that truth requires a great faith- which God will provide to us, if we ask!

If you’re in a place where you’re asking, “what’s going on?” let me recommend the Psalm of Patience (37). The lead verbs in that Psalm point the way to endurance, the way to let God’s will emerge from the pyre on which self is offered up to His purposes. “Trust in the LORD… Delight in the LORD…Commit you way to the LORD… Be still before the LORD… and Wait on the LORD!”

Take this word from the Word to heart and let God love you today:
"But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him." (Psalm 37:39-40, NKJV)

Yesterday’s trophies

While searching for the right room for a meeting I was to attend, I poked my head into an open doorway. There on the floor, in a cardboard box, I saw a pile of dusty, old trophies – once highly coveted awards, now a pile of junk. The golden sheen still reflected the light, the engraved notations of outstanding performances were still visible. Someone, somewhere, had worked very hard to win one of those trophies, but now there they were, tossed in a pile, in an box, awaiting transport to a dumpster. The achievement that these golden trophies marked were forgotten, the award made irrelevant by the passing of time.

The experience jarred me! That box of old trophies kept reappearing in my mind all day along with the question – “Jerry, what are you working for today? Are you striving for an award that will be forgotten, discarded in a decade or two?” It is quite natural for us to be enthralled with the sparkly ‘treasures’ that are dangled before our eyes. The high school athlete longs to win a trophy that will be put in the display case just outside of the gymnasium. Four years later, nobody even knows his name! We work hard to ‘win’ a new car, thinking that it will be a trophy that makes us feel successful, but it doesn’t, at least, not for very long! We pour ourselves into gaining approval and applause – I think it would be special to be named ‘Pastor of the Year, Fasting Growing Church in NJ’ – but next year, the accolades are forgotten as another is recognized.

So am I suggesting we all settle for mediocre lives, living without goals, aiming for nothing, avoiding recognition? Not on your life! Believer, we need to reach for the award that will never be tossed in a box, forgotten, and meaningless.

Peter urges us to remember always that, “God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear." (1 Peter 1:4 CEV) and that "…when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away." (1 Peter 5:4, NIV) Paul, at the end of his life, as he sat on Rome’s Death Row, sent a letter to a younger preacher. He was not beaten or disillusioned. He knew he was about to appear at an award ceremony! "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NIV)

Both of these men were alluding to a familiar trophy of their time, the ‘crown’ given to outstanding athletes. It was a small wreath, worn on the head, made from laurel leaves. It was a grand symbol of achievement, that quickly dried out and fell apart. So the apostle says, "All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches." (1 Corinthians 9:25-26, NLT) Paul does not advocate apathy! He urges us to work hard, to strive to gain awards – ETERNAL ONES!

What are you working for today? Are you reaching for awards that will be forgotten, trophies that will be thrown into a box, destined for the dumpster in a decade or two? Re-focus your efforts. Instead of winning the certificate at the office, how about winning your son’s heart? Instead of putting in O/T for a vacation at Disney, how about time with your wife, meeting her needs for your love and affection? Instead of determining to do what is necessary to be approved by other people, how about working to gain the applause of Heaven, with a life full of good deeds that demonstrates your love for your Lord?
The trophies of eternity, according to Jesus, never get dusty, rusty, moth-eaten, or irrelevant!
_____________________

“Father, I thank you for letting me see that box full of old trophies,
for using them to speak so powerfully to me about what’s important in life.
Keep me focused on the goals that matter.
Give me glimpses of eternity as, by the work of the Spirit,
you open my eyes and understanding to the reality of the realm of spiritual things.
Thank you for providing the strength, all the resources I need, to win that prize.
Now help me, I pray, in Jesus’ name, to press on, and on, and on…
Until that day when You determine that I’ve reached the finish line,
and call me home forever.Amen.”

Keep your eyes on the prize

When I think of somebody who chose to hang in there, whose steadiness is inspiring, I think of a man who looked like a bulldog, whose gravelly voice kept England’s morale up all the way through World War 2 – Winston Churchill. Once when asked to deliver a commencement address, he showed up with his usual flair, cigar clenched in his teeth, cane at the ready. At the podium he roared, “never give up,” paused for a moment, and repeated the line, then sat down! The crowd responded with thunderous applause. Why? Because that line was the epitome of Churchill’s life.

When the war was draining, London was in flames, and England’s armies were bogged down by the Nazi might, he called on the British to stand firm. In a memorable speech in the darkest days of the war, he said, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.”

Ever wanted to quit?
Does your job feel like a crushing weight and you want to throw it off?
Maybe it’s your marriage that is a source of unending conflict and/or pain, so you just want it to be over.
Perhaps you’re tired of parenting a teenager who resists each and every effort you make at protecting her from herself and you want to say, “Fine, do what you want, I quit as your Dad.”
Feeling frustration with some habit that is resisting every attempt you make at change? Now you’re ready to say, “that’s just what I do, I can’t change.”

I know that desperate desire to escape, the thought that says, ‘anywhere but here, anything but this.’ We all become discouraged. We are worn down by fatigue, battered by criticism, disillusioned by failure- our own and of those around us, disheartened – to the point that we are ready to walk away. We need, in those days, to hear that simple phrase – “Never give up!”

Somebody wrote, “the world is run by those who stay to the end of the meeting.” All you corporate types will understand that one. It is at the end of the meeting when the action points are decided, the summations written down. Those who left 10 minutes too soon miss the opportunity. Battles are won, often not by the most skillful general or the better resourced army, but by the determination to prevail. The difference in an athletic competition frequently comes down to which team wants the win more, and thus, doesn’t ‘quit’ in the middle of the game.

The Bible encourages us to finish well with this great call to steadiness- “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.” Hebrews 12:2 (The Message) Jesus looked past the cross and saw the Throne! That’s the key to enduring – seeing the promise.

Paul, who endured every kind of difficulty and deprivation in his lifetime of ministry, reminds us to keep our eyes on the prize. " I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven… we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere. Dear brothers and sisters, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends." (Philippians 3: 13-14; 20-4:1, NLT)

If you’re on the edge – ready to quit – take a break.
Call for a strategic time-out. Call in your counselors (make sure they’re good ones!) and regain your focus.
With your focus on what’s important, on God’s promises, you can endure and you will emerge with the crown that God will give to all those who have served faithfully. Never give up!____________________

A correction…
Yesterday, I spoke with the colleague whose ideas I referred to in Monday’s TFTD. He felt that I mis-represented his thoughts. His suggestions about reasons that God allowed the Hurricane were not fore-gone conclusions, but rather suggestions that he felt Believers should consider as they prayerfully reflect on the ways of God. I apologize for implying otherwise.

Why? Good question.

Children ask ‘why’ so much, it leaves parents exasperated! I was one of those kids. In my dim memory, I recall a nice yellow school bus toy, with blinking lights, that was a gift from my Grandmother. I’m talking 1960 when lights and sounds on toys was much more novel than today! I wanted to know why the lights blinked so I took the toy apart, much to Grandma’s dismay – since I couldn’t put it back together again. Later explorations of other devices were more successful. My treadmill recently stopped working. Since I had nothing to lose, I started to disassemble it to see if I could determine the malfunction. A couple of hours later I found the problem, ordered a $26 part on the Internet, and today I have a working machine again. Why is a valuable question! However, sometimes rushing to answer that question can lead us into silly, even dangerous, territory.

A couple of weeks ago a terrible storm blew into the Gulf Coast of these United States. People naturally asked, “why?” Four years ago, terrorists flew airplanes into buildings killing 3000 in a moment’s time and we all asked, ‘why?’ Is it wrong to wonder why these kinds of things happen? Of course not. But, we need to know our limitations in discerning the purposes of the God who rules the affairs of this world, who allows winds to blow, and terrorists to wreak their havoc. In the last few days, I’ve heard Hurricane Katrina explained as the wrath of God on New Orleans because it was a ‘sinful city;’ one that encouraged drunkenness, that celebrated homosexuality, or that had a segment of population that practiced voodoo. Another colleague suggested that it was God’s judgment on America for ‘forcing the Israeli nation to return occupied Gaza territory to the Palestinians.’ I don’t agree, but that doesn’t make me right!

I do insist that it is much too soon to be making conclusions about why this storm was allowed to happen. When we rush to offer an explanation to satisfy our need to know, ‘why,’ we risk looking very silly or worse, to miss the real message of God! Storms, wars, attacks, and other catastrophes should provoke us to deep thought, to extended reflection and to a humility that silences our chatter until the Spirit makes His purposes so clear that they are unmistakable! God is not pleased when we guess at His purposes and go out to declare what we have concluded, invoking His authority for our musings!

Israel was full of men who said, “God did that because He wants us to do this.” They went about preaching out of their own conclusions, and earned this powerful rebuke: “Son of man, speak against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Destruction is certain for the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!" (Ezekiel 13:2-3, NLT) When we presume to speak on God’s behalf to explain ‘why’ He is allowing such great suffering and we have not actually heard from Him on the matter, we are breaking one of the Ten Commandments - “Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name." (Exodus 20:7, NLT)

Please understand me! I am not calling those who have proclaimed the conclusions outlined above ‘false prophets.’ Perhaps they have heard from the Spirit of God, but I am encouraging all of us to be very cautious about jumping to conclusions about matter so serious. It would be tragic to mislead others away from the true message of God based on our own conclusions.

What if the tragedy of the hurricane had nothing at all to do with the overt sins of that city or the foreign policy of these United States? What if God wants us to reflect on our treatment of the poor, or on our materialism that causes us to want more to such an extent that we neglect the needs of the poorest among us? What if He wants us to see the plight of those who lack the resources to live in safety or to move out of the way of the disaster? Again, let me emphasize, I claim no revelation on this matter, I am simply suggesting that we great humility to close our mouth long enough to let God speak His message.

Even in our individual lives, we want to know, ‘why,’ and often, no immediate answer is forthcoming. That is why we need great faith to trust the living God when His ways are inscrutable. He says, “My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9, NLT) That passage is a comfort and a caution! The comfort is that He is at work. Even terrible storms are allowed under the rule of the Almighty God. He is able to use all things for His purposes. The caution is that we may have difficulty understanding why: in this moment, this day, even in this lifetime!

Here’s a word from the Word to keep in your mind today. May it speak deeply to you. Proverbs 3:5-8 (The Message)

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do,
everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!

This thing called – ‘communication.’

A sage observed there are three messages conveyed in any conversation; “what is said, what you think I said, and what I think I said!” Any married couple understands that one. As they are getting dressed to go to dinner, Sally asks Sam, “How does this outfit look?” The words seem to be inviting an opinion, but what she’s really asking is, “Do you find me attractive tonight?” If an inexperienced husband answers her question based on the words he heard, he risks a very lonely evening should he happen to think that the outfit is not that good looking on her. So he must skillfully answer in a way that answers the ‘hidden’ question that she meant, not the one she actually asked! Regardless of his opinion of her choice of clothing, he must affirm her sense of worth in his eyes. Yes, men are just as insecure, we just ask for affirmation in different ways!

The Bible’s lessons on communication are many.
First among them is Jesus’ requirement that we be people of plain and honest speech. He says, "Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong. " (Matthew 5:37, The Message) In this day when lawyers are legion, as followers of the Lord of Truth, we must make integrity in communication our goal.

Scripture reminds us that there is another Listener in every conversation. Thus we pray, "May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:14, NLT) Knowing that He understands what we say and what we meant is both a comfort and a caution!

Let a person talk long enough and he will reveal his heart! "A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:35-37, NLT) If we listen to ourselves, we will learn much about our heart! Am I a person passionate about the things of God? It will show in my conversations. My emotions, fears, hopes, and dreams spill over in my words.

James warns us that our words are a powerful force – for good and for evil! With language rich in pictures, he says- "A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. … With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. … My friends, this can’t go on." (James 3:3-10, The Message)

So we turn to the Spirit of God, desperately praying, “Change me! Work to make my heart pure, my motives pure – so that the overflow, the words that spill out of me, will be pure.” By His grace, our words will become a grace gift, leaving the fragrance of Christ wherever we go. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Ephesians 4:29, NIV)
_________________________

You are God in Heaven and here am I on earth,
So I'll let my words be few; Jesus, I am so in love with You.

The simplest of all love songs I want to bring to You,
So I'll let my words be few; Jesus, I am so in love with You.

And I'll stand in awe of You, Yes, I'll stand in awe of You!
-and I'll let my words be few-
Jesus, I am so in love with You.

Matt Redman© 2000 Kingsway CCLI License No. 810055

Hope in God?

Yesterday as I was watching the news coverage coming out of Mississippi’s devastated coastal area, I saw an elderly woman returning to her home for the first time, a week after Hurricane Katrina. Her face noticeably brightened as she saw that her house still stood. As she peered through the broken windows at the furniture strewn around the rooms, at a home left ruined by wind and flood water, she declared, “We’ll rebuild. Life must go on. I am hopeful.” She had caught a vision of tomorrow that included a rebuilt home, a restored community. Hope had returned!

In another conversation, a woman said to me, “Did you hear that R. is getting married?” She said it with obvious delight. Why? Because a couple of years ago, R. entered a time of severe trial of her hope as the result of the death of her husband, leaving her a single mom with teenage children. In the darkest moment, she found hope in the Lord, persevered through deep sorrow, and now was ready to love again. Hope gave her a future!

Hope flickers and dims when life is filled with trials and sorrows and brightens when the crisis is past. Some days we even lose sight of hope. It can be strengthened by a friend’s encouragement, by an infusion of Scriptural truth, and even the dawning of a new day.

One of the most powerful forces in life is hope. The dictionary defines hope as:

• A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment,
• Something that is desired: “Success is our hope.”
• The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but possible to attain with God's help.

We choose the object of our hope! Some people build their hope for a good life around financial security. Others shape their future around the love of their family. Some build their hope on achieving a level of recognition and/or success. Peter tells us to "set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:13, NIV) Hope that is built on the gift of eternal life through Christ will never be disappointed, nor lost! Financial security can be lost with a quick drop in the stock market. Death comes, sometimes unexpectedly, and takes away a family member. A position of influence and prestige can be taken away in an instant. But, nothing can take away God’s gift of salvation and the promise of a home in Heaven.

Choosing the right hope is critically important because what we hope for not only brings us comfort, our hope shapes the way we live day to day. John illustrates this wonderfully saying, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:2-3, NKJV) The hope of being received by the Lord Jesus, seeing Him in His glory, produces a single-minded focus that pulls us past the temptations to sin and the distractions from our godly purpose that present themselves to us.

Believer, on what have you set your hope? Give some prayerful thought to that today. Meditate on these words from the Word.

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (1 Timothy 6:17, NIV)

"Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!" (Psalm 42:11, NLT)
__________________________

Feeling inadequate?

Representing Christ is a high calling for which I often feel only marginally qualified, if at all! Paul’s words, “who is equal to such a task?” (2 Cor. 2:16) are words with which I can easily identify. A Believer is called to live a life of love, but selfishness comes so naturally. We are taught to serve, but we find ourselves wanting to be served. My best efforts are so quickly tainted with expressions of ego. My highest intentions to do good are often sabotaged by sin that works against my aims. Paul laments this writing, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18, NIV)

Let me illustrate the sneaky way that sin creeps into my life. Last week a woman counseled with me telling of her husband’s cruelty to her for years, of the mean mind-games he plays, of the ways he finds to demean her day in and day out. Her anguish went deep and her dilemma – ‘do I stay in this marriage or do I call it quits after all this time?’ – was real and urgent. We prayed together that she would be led by the Spirit and guided by the Word. Good was accomplished, yet even in that situation, the sinful nature in me found an opportunity. After she left my office, pride expressed itself and I found myself congratulating myself on being such a good husband to my wife! “I am so glad I’m not like him,” I thought proudly. I repented for even making the comparison when the Spirit convicted me. No, it’s not a dramatic sin, but it is that kind of persistent ‘humanness’ that makes me long for the day when I am finally perfected in the Presence of God.

Keep reading, for there is hope! When we come to the end of ourselves and acknowledge the persistent power of sin at work in us, we are in the place where God can use us. Yes, ‘when we are weak, He is strong!’ John Ortberg, in his book, God Is Closer Than You Think, recounts a funny, simple little illustration. To make a point about being empowered by God, he brought an electrical engineer to church to conduct an experiment. Let me quote him. “We turned off all the lights, hooked up an ordinary pickle to some wires, and then passed an electrical current through it. The pickle glowed! It gave light to a room… Many people believe that the flow of the Holy Spirit is reserved for spiritual giants… but, throughout history God has caused His power to flow through the most unlikely people; a prostitute named Rahab, a con man named Jacob, and a cheat named Zacchaeus. … so the next time you’re feeling inadequate, remember that even a pickle can glow if it stays plugged in to the flow.”

Just before He ascended to Heaven, leaving a little group of all too ordinary people to carry on the work of declaring the coming of God’s Kingdom, Jesus told them; "I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:49, NIV) Luke continues the story in the book of Acts where he tells that a few days later, the Holy Spirit flowed into that Upper Room and rested on those ordinary men and women in a life-transforming way. Were they made perfect in that instant? Hardly. As we read Acts we see them squabble, work through misunderstandings, and deal with sin. And, we see them filled with God’s power, again and again, taking the Good News of God’s love to their world. Because of the Spirit’s power, they turned the world upside down in a generation!

Christianity has not survived for 2000 years because of the greatness of Believers, but because of the faithfulness of God. Are you feeling inadequate for the calling of God in your life today? Have you failed Him in some way? Are you discouraged? Remember, even a pickle glows when it’s plugged into a current. Tell the Lord that you’re desperate for Him, that you are totally dependent on His power and see what He will do with you.

Here’s a word from the Word to keep in your mind today:
"Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!
He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes! " (Ephesians 3:19-21, The Message)

“I have done my best!”

For several days the news media has blasted the President and the Federal Emergency Management Administration for their failure in the relief efforts that followed Hurricane Katrina. What exactly does ‘success’ look like when an evacuation of an entire city is the goal? If 10,000 people died, in a city with a population of 1.5 million, is that a ‘failure’ or is that a ‘success’ since it means that more than 99% of the population survived a catastrophic natural disaster – well, actually two disasters; first, the hurricane, then the floods that followed? The answer depends on who you are. If you’re a FEMA manager who has worked 18-20 hours a day on bringing relief to a dying city, you will point to those who survived as proof that your efforts succeeded. If your son or daughter perished in flood waters for lack of rescue, you will conclude that the efforts failed. Ultimately, only God and the person who did his job know if what he did was accomplished to the best of his ability!

Every one of us is judged a success or failure by others, aren’t we? We recoil from the sting of criticism and embrace the soothing of affirming words, but does either really make us a success or a failure? We must always remember that a large part of the response of another person to us personally and to what we do is biased by his own needs and desires. So, if we base our sense of success and/or our sense of personal worth solely on the evaluations of other people, we set ourselves up to be pulled this way and that in desperate attempts to gain approval. No one will satisfy all the people all of the time. Trying to win the praise of all people is a prescription for frustration and fatigue!

True success is knowing that we did the best we could do given our opportunities and the resources available to us. As Believers we need to be challenged and comforted by the promise of God’s judgment of our lives. When He asks us to give account, it won’t be statistics that prove if our lives were worthy. It will be faithfulness! We won’t be able to polish the report to reflect our efforts in their best light. He will see our lives as a complete picture for He knows the gifts He invested in us, the people He brought to serve with us, the opportunities He presented to us. He will know the difficulties we wrestled to overcome, the challenges we worked to overcome, and the times when we decided to slack off and let ourselves be content with ‘good enough.’ He will know when we served because we loved and when we served because we wanted applause! I want to live in a way that gains the sweetest words I’ll ever hear – “Well done, good and faithful servant!” How about you, friend?

Samuel, the prophet, went in search of a king for Israel. He met Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse, who had learned to carry himself with authority and was impressive. He thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.” (1 Samuel 16:6-7, NLT)

If we keep our accountability to God in mind, we will live freely and much more joyously. Rather than looking at our awards and accomplishments for significance, we will let His Presence and the sense of His approval satisfy our need. Knowing that we are loved by the Lord Jesus and that we have done what He asked of us will be success enough.

When Jesus first commissioned His followers to go out and do the work of the Kingdom, they met with earthly success. They came back to report their accomplishments to Him. His response is eye-opening! Meditate on His words. Take this thought with you through the day.

· "See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that’s the agenda for rejoicing.”(Luke 10:19-20, The Message)
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If the struggle you're facing is slowly replacing
Your hope with despair;
Or the process is long and you're losing your song in the night.
You can be sure that the Lord has His hand on you,
Safe and secure; He will never abandon you.
You are His treasure and He finds His pleasure in you.

He who began a good work in you.
He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it.
He'll be faithful to complete it,
He who started the work will be faithful to complete it in you.

© 1987 Jonathan Mark Music ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management / Birdwing Music (a div. of EMI Christian Music Publishing) CCLI License No. 810055

Just being there…

I’m often asked, “When I am called on to comfort a friend who is going through a time of great loss, what should I say, Pastor?” My first counsel is ‘just be there.’ A young man died and his family called me to their home even before his body was taken away. When I arrived, I found the man’s father kneeling by his body silently crying. At that moment, he didn’t need me to quote Bible verses or attempt to mitigate his grief with poetry, so I stood there next to him with a hand on his shoulder for a long time. That is called the ministry of ‘presence.’ It is a way to say, “I will steady you; you’re not alone,” without being intrusive with an overflow of words that can be offensive or irritating to the one who is grieving or suffering. There is a time for wise counsel or comforting words, but without a context of genuine caring words do not mean all that much.

Job, the man who terrible suffering forms the context for a long discussion about the meaning of pain and suffering and God’s sometimes inscrutable purposes, had friends who came to be with him in his trial. We read that "When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was." (Job 2:12-13, NIV)

God, the Holy Spirit, comforts us in the same way. Jesus said that when He returned to the Father’s glory, He would send the “Counselor” who would be with us, indeed, in us. “You will not be left as orphans,” the Lord promised. The Spirit is with us. The question is, ‘are we with Him?’ Yes, it is true that we cannot escape His presence, for He is omnipresent. The Psalmist exults in this singing: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (Psalm 139:7-10, NIV) However, we can become so enmeshed in life, that we are unaware of His ministering Presence! We can bring ungodliness into our lives that grieve Him and break the closeness with Him. In those times, even though He is as close as our breath, we do not enjoy the steadying sense that God is near.

As our nation suffers, I plead with Believers to practice the ministry of Presence! Hold back the expression of opinions about why this has happened. We don’t know! Refrain from using easy clichés that dismiss the depth of pain that is being felt by hundreds of thousands of suffering people. Instead, be present with loving assurance. A simple, “I’m praying for you,” that comes from the heart is the best expression of caring while many are so raw, so sensitive in their pain. The time for evaluation, for counsel, will come.

For now – let’s be present, and as God, the Spirit, is present in us, His work will be done.

Jerry Scott
www.WashingtonAG.net
"Teaching People how to say "Yes" to God!"

Let us pray...

Former US President Reagan loved a story which he said illustrated optimism. Seems a little boy hoped to get a pony for Christmas. Finding a room full of manure, he dug in saying, "if there is this much manure, there has to be a pony in here somewhere!" In same story he told a little boy who was shown a room full of new toys who wouldn't touch any of them fearing they might break. That, said, Reagan, is the world of the pessimist.

Which person are you?
Do you look for the best or fear the worst? Most of us, are something of a mixture.

I've been looking for the bright spot in the the events that are featured on cable news 24/7. The stories coming out of the Mississippi and Louisiana seem only to grow more grim with each passing hour. The impact on the nation's economy appears to be significant as well with energy prices sky-rocketing to new highs! There are spiritual ramifications, too. Today an editorial in our local newspaper used Hurricane Katrina as a primary argument to reject God's rule of our world. Robert Steinback writes: "Faith has a role in this modern world -- but it shouldn't be some sort of veto over scientific inquiry and knowledge. You can't pray away a hurricane -- unless you believe that you have the leverage to make it smash someone else's life instead of yours. This is what is so sad about the recent, contrived popularity of 'Intelligent Design,' which holds that the natural world is so intricate that only an intelligent designer -- that is, God -- could have created it. ... incredibly, President Bush endorses it -- placing the world's most powerful person squarely in the camp of the intellectually uncurious. The 'science' of intelligent design, of course, is utter nonsense."
I wonder how many Americans are drifting towards a similar conclusion, that faith in God is a relic of superstition, not a rock on which to build a life?

The truth is that while we are at a loss to explain the 'why' of a hurricane that destroys so much property and so many lives, we must not miss the power of faith in such times. Little stories tucked into the incessant stream of bad news, reveal the compassion of people of faith who are sharing, caring, loving at great personal expense. Contrast that with the gangs of thugs that are robbing and raping with only the thought of survival guiding them. Which world do you want? The world of faith in God that gives hope in the darkness or the grim world where might gives rights? If there is a bright spot, it is exactly that one. Faith is not optional, nor is it antithetical to science. Faith is what gives life meaning, what keeps us standing when we open the door to a roomful of manure!

Go with me to the 'Faith' chapter of the Bible where we read- "The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see." (Hebrews 11:1, The Message) Faith enables me to turn to a God whose works I cannot understand, to sigh meaningfully, and to pray - "keep me faithful, grant me strength, let me see the Light again."

So, friend, let us pray. Perhaps for a day or two, our prayers will be "groans that words cannot express." Then, too, our prayers may be rivers of tears that flow down our faces that are turned to Heaven. And as we hold to the hope that He will give us Light and Life, we will find new strength to go and serve with the love of Jesus Christ.
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I encourage you to be in church this Sunday morning. Don't let anything stand in your way. Make it a top priority to be standing with other Believers in worship and in prayer.
We will be praying together for those who are suffering as we gather here. (Remember, Sunday School at 9, Worship at 10:15) And we will be receiving an offering to send to Convoy of Hope to use in bringing help to those who need it most. (see www.ConvoyOfHope.org)

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:11-12, NIV)

Tested, will you stand firm?

James wrote to us, "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides." (James 1:2, The Message) I want to embrace that command, but it is hard to do. Who likes hard times, those moments when questions are many and answers few? I am not talking about the 'mini-trials' that are common to life. We need to develop much greater patience when dealing with computers that don't work properly, cars that don't start, traffic that doesn't flow- life's normal headaches. The tests that steal my sleep and that stress me are the ones like the recent hurricane in the Gulf region. How do we reconcile our revelation of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and loving Father God with the scenes of devastation? For four years, since 9/11's tragic events shattered the illusion that we could live in perpetual peace, I have struggled with the stuff of tsunamis, hurricanes, fickle 'friends,' recurring temptations, and such things.

How does one consider Hurricane Katrina a gift? How does one rejoice when those on whom he leans let him fall? How does feel joy when the pull of the flesh is so strong that failure seems imminent? I'm still working that out! I imagine, in one way or the other, you are, too. I read the story of Abraham's journey to Mt. Moriah again yesterday. [Genesis 22, if you would like to read it] In that chapter, God tells him to take his beloved son, Isaac, and to sacrifice him.

I tried to think of the emotions that he felt on the 2 day journey to the site.
Testing can cause us to feel CONFUSION. Don't you think Abraham was more than a little confused by a God who gives him a miracle son and then asks for him back about 12-15 years later?
Testing can cause us to feel DOUBT. "God is that really your Voice? Why would You ask such a terrible thing?" I've wondered that more than once in my life when tested.
Testing can cause us to feel ALONE. That trip across the plains to the hills had to be one of the most lonely ones in Abraham's life. He even left his servant and traveled on with just Isaac. But how do you tell jokes and enjoy the company of a boy you're going to sacrifice tomorrow? But, I've learned that God often ministers to the deepest place in my life when I am feeling most alone and focused most intensely on Him.
Testing can cause us to feel THAT GOD IS UNWILLING OR UNABLE TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS. When we feel abandoned by God, it is the most desperate feeling, especially for those who have loved Him intimately. When He asks the 'impossible' of us, we may cry out as His Son did, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Of course, He hasn't, but it can sure feel like it.
Testing can cause us to feel HOPELESS. Stand with Abraham on the top of that little hill called Moriah. Drag the rocks, one by one, into a heap called an altar, each one becoming heavier as you realize the moment of decision is imminent. Then ,raise the knife! The contents of your stomach rise in your throat. A sorrow beyond description wrenches sobs so violent from your body that you feel like you could die. Where are you, God?

Will you stay steady when the wind blows strong?
Will you obey when your natural self screams to take another way?

Hard questions, aren't they? In those moments, we desperately hold onto the only hope that remains -- "If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2:11-13, NLT)

Abraham had known the faithfulness of God through times when he failed. So, he trusted - not in his own righteousness, his own ability to please God - but in the faithfulness of God to keep him. And in this most intense trial, at just the critical moment, God revealed Himself as "Yahweh Yireh, the Lord, my Provider." Remember the story? Just as Abraham was about to take his son's life, he looked up and saw a ram caught in the bushes, a substitute sacrifice provided by God, Himself!

Paul repeats this phrase again and again in his letters to Believers - "Stand firm!"
"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong." (1 Corinthians 16:13, NIV)
"He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on everything we taught you both in person and by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and in his special favor gave us everlasting comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do and say." (2 Thessalonians 2:14-17, NLT)

Weep, Pray, and Work!

Some readers of yesterday's TFTD questioned if I had become a fatalist. By that, they wondered if I had concluded that the only response to sorrow, tragedy, and suffering is quiet resignation, accepting fate. Is that what trusting God means? Certainly not! My life is steadied by two truths that run side by side like the rails on which a train rides: the rail of the will of God and the rail of human responsibility. If I over-emphasize God's will, I risk fatalism. If I lean too far towards human responsibility, I will become fearful, neurotic even, trying to cope with life that is often beyond my understanding or control.

The story of Nehemiah informs me and inspires me in this. Some 6 centuries before the time of Jesus, the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem were laid waste by the Assyrians. The walls were torn down, the temple of Yahweh destroyed, and the strongest young Jews were carried to Babylon to become slaves. About a century prior in a first invasion, the Northern Kingdom had been destroyed totally. So was there any hope of a restoration of the city and people of God? Years became decades and Jerusalem was still a place of ruins. A fatalist would have sung a funeral song and accepted this as the 'will of God,' which, the Bible teaches us, it was!

Yet, there was a man, serving in the courts of the pagan king, who dreamed of change. His name? Nehemiah. He received a report from some exiles who returned to their sacred city.
"They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’" (Nehemiah 1:3-9, NIV)

He wept, his heart moved by the needs of the people he loved.
He prayed, because he believed that God was the One who moved to change the world.
And, he worked! The rest of the book is the story of how this man risked his life and threw himself into making a difference.

Nehemiah, who worked directly for the king, asked permission to become a rebuilder. Blessed with God's favor, he received the king's release and traveled hundreds of miles to Jerusalem. Did he then sit down and wait for God to do something? Was he waiting for fate? No. He surveyed the need, set a plan in place, and gathered the support of the people. "I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work. Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work." (Nehemiah 2:15-18, NIV)

Nehemiah's willingness to work for God's purposes and the Lord's provisions for Nehemiah to get the job done are so interwoven that they become inseparable. This man of faith and works went on to rebuild his nation, to enlist men to work along side of him, not just to rebuild the infrastructure, but to restore the worship of God and to create a system for teaching God's ways to the people so they would remain true to their God.

Do you see need in your world? Do suffering people move your heart? Does human need - spiritual and material - break your heart? Then weep!
But don't cry the tears of a fatalist that bemoans the problem and then sighs, "that's life." Instead, go to your knees and pray for a revelation, a vision for transformation!
Ask God to show you a way to make a difference.
Then, work! Yes, friend, pour yourself and your resources into changing the world.

As we do this, we will rebuild His Kingdom for the glory of God, remembering the twin exhortations of Jesus:"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NLT) "Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you what he promised. ... you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4-5 NLT) ... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses (living demonstrators of God's power) in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, NIV)

The world is waiting. Will you weep, pray, and work 'til Jesus, the King, returns?

Awesome, in the worst sense

The pictures and stories trickling out of Mississippi and Louisiana are simply awesome in the most fearful aspect of that word! One reporter blandly opined, "this is certainly a reminder of the power of Nature." I beg to differ. This is surely a reminder of the wonderful world that God made and of His awesome ways. Offended, are you? Does the thought that He knew the path of Hurricane Katrina make you angry? For me it is different. The disaster only deepens my wonder! I could not help but say, "What a God, how fearsome, how amazing, and how wonderful His ways."

No, I am not rejoicing in the suffering of those who lived in the path of the storm. On ABC's Good Morning, America, I watched residents of Gulfport and New Orleans interviewed this AM. I wept at their confusion and sorrow. Compassion well up in me as I thought what it must be like to look around and see what you have put together in life swept away or destroyed. I cannot even begin to feel what one man was feeling as he described how his house split in half in the ferocity of the storm and his wife was torn from his grasp and swallowed in the muddy flood! And I know God was there. But, then, why didn't He step in to stop it from happening? "Lord, increase our faith!" is all I can say.

It is pleasant to rejoice in the awesomeness of God when the sun rises beautifully or as we stand on the mountain and drink in the splendor of the landscape. If we praise Him then, should we not praise Him when the storm blows as well? If He is the Maker of the sunrise, is He not also the Maker of the winds? This is a terrible and wonderful truth. My mind asks, "But how could a good God allow such suffering? How does this fit with my understanding that He is a giver of good gifts?" It stretches our faith. This I affirm, that He is at work to accomplish His purposes - both in the sunshine and the storm, in those things we receive gladly and those things that break our hearts.

We be exceedingly careful about jumping to conclusions in the stormy times: "I am blessed because.... she suffers because...." Rather, in humility, we need to acknowledge the majesty of the Creator, and seek to know Him, to walk in His ways, thanking Him that He chooses, at His own impulse, to love us. Then, from that humility, we reach out to give our help, to share love, with those whose lives are broken by the storms.

The Psalm declares:
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,
sing praise to the Lord, Selah
to him who rides the ancient skies above,
who thunders with mighty voice.

Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.
You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;
the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Praise be to God! Psalm 68:32-35

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Oh, Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder,
consider all Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
"How great Thou art! How great Thou art!"

Time to seek the Lord!

This morning (8/29/2005) the news networks are trumpeting the impending disaster in the Southeastern US from the storm named Katrina. Whether she will live up to the hype will be known in a few hours. Many are saying that the old city of New Orleans will be changed completely by this 'perfect storm.' Some say our whole nation may be effected, since a large part of our energy resources come to us through Southeastern ports and from the Gulf. Reflecting on this, I asked God, "are you speaking to us in the winds?" Many scoff at that notion; seeing the storms, wars, plagues, problems with the economy, and such things, as nothing more than natural events that come and go in the flow of human history. Humanism has so gripped our minds that even the 'godly' have no ears to hear, no eyes to see, what is the work of God's hand in this world.

While I am not proposing we descend into silly superstitions, I think it is time to seriously consider that the Lord is calling on America to be a people of righteousness, a nation that recognizes Him and His purposes. When disaster fell on God's people, Jeremiah preached to Israel:
But you, God, you have an eye for truth, don’t you?
You hit them hard, but it didn’t faze them.
You disciplined them, but they refused correction.
Hardheaded, harder than rock, they wouldn’t change.

Then I said to myself, “Well, these are just poor people.
They don’t know any better.
They were never taught anything about God.
They never went to prayer meetings.
I’ll find some people from the best families. I’ll talk to them.
They’ll know what’s going on, the way God works. They’ll know the score.”
But they were no better! Rebels all! Off doing their own thing.
The invaders are ready to pounce and kill, like a mountain lion, a wilderness wolf, panthers on the prowl.The streets aren’t safe anymore.
And why?
Because the people’s sins are piled sky-high; their betrayals are past counting. -- Jeremiah 5:3-6 (The Message)

This nation has multiplied her sins! Though there is much to admire in these United States today, there is spiritual decay evident in every part of the land.

Unquestionably we sit at the pinnacle of power in the world today, but are we using that position of influence to make it a better world filled with justice or just to build a bigger empire that feeds our ballooning appetites for more wealth? Corruption spreads like a cancer in our halls of government. From local precincts to the corridors of Congress, there are too many 'leaders' who are more interested in serving a coterie of cronies than the people who are poor and powerless. We are waging a war that many believe, despite the rhetoric justifying it, to be a war that is fought primarily for naked self-interest. If that is true, it invites God's judgment as He gives power to be used as a sacred trust.

Tragically, the culture that America exports around the world is a low and vile one, marked by lewdness and materialism. We produce $billions in pornography and sell it to the far corners of the globe.

The Christian scene in our nation features many churches that are big and rich. But is that power and wealth being used to serve those who are poor, both spiritually and naturally? Are Christians calling for justice, taking the Gospel where it is not yet preached? Sometimes, yes; but too often the answer is no. Instead we create institutions and 'ministries' that feed only our own needs. Many churches are entertainment centers, the message not Word-centered, but pop-psychology re-packaged with 'Bible-speak.'

Let me temper this jeremiad by recognizing that all is not lost! The Gospel is still preached, and there are those who still love God and His ways. If a faith-filled little remnant of people will speak truthfully to the land, will pray to be filled with the Spirit, and will do the works of God; we can see a new wave of holiness break across these United States. I pray it is a true holiness that goes heart-deep. It would be a tragedy if we thought a superficial legalism that focused on external sins alone is what God seeks! He wants our hearts- our passionate love for Himself and for His will. Let us pray, "May your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth- as it is in Heaven."
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Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
...Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.
I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD."
Haggai 1: 5-7; 10-12 (NIV)