Who are you Expecting??

 

  The Grace Reformed church in Washington D.C. had been the home church for president Theodore Roosevelt and he had attended quite regularly when he happened to be in town. 

    One day someone called the church and asked the pastor a interesting question that the pastor had never received before. The question was asked "Are you expecting the President in the church this Sunday?" 

    The pastor replied "I cannot promise, but we do expect God to be there and we hope that will be incentive enough for a reasonably large audience."

    As a pastor myself I have to say that I approve of his answer. 

    Sometimes in our Christian lives we can often forget that the reason why we go to church is to draw closer to God. We sometimes forget the true meaning and purpose behind why we attend. We sometimes can lose sight on what real worship is. We like this man's question, can focus on who is going to be in the service. Or we can fixate on who just happens to be missing. We can be more concerned about who is preaching rather than the God that the preacher is preaching about. S

    Sometimes if we are not careful we make worship all about us. We can make the church about our preferences, comforts and conveniences. We can focus on things like music, the style, the tenor, and the tempo, instead of who we are singing these songs to. We can become more focused on our comforts than we are about our Creator. We can linger on about the length or the shortness of the message and ignore what God might be saying to us through it. 

    We can even make worship all about feeling a certain way. We might desire for our emotions to be stirred. To feel something or to be moved to tears for some reason. We can sometimes desire the excitement and energy and equate that with the presence of God. Ignoring that sometimes God speaks in that still small voice. 

    Now, don't get me wrong. Its not like those things don't matter and it's not like they don't have their place. However they should not matter as much as we allow them to matter in our worship. The whole purpose for us to go to church is not for us, but for the Lord. It is for us to hear Him. It is for us to draw close to Him. It is for us to place our focus and our attention to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To give honor to the King of Kings. 

    That is what we should be expecting. That is what our desire should be. When we get dressed and get our families out the door to go to church. Our desire, our expectation should be to encounter the One and True Living God! 

    What would it matter if we went to church and it had all the excitement and thrills of a sold out concert? What would it matter if all the famous and influential stars of Hollywood would happen to attend the church service? What value would it be if we had the best speakers, the most talented musicians? What would it matter if we had all this and so much more, yet God's presence would be absent. 

    Would we still want to go? Would a simple service without all the thrills still thrill us? Would we be completely happy with worship if the room is uncomfortable, the songs were simple and not to our liking, and the preacher was long and boring? Would be enjoy it just the same if there was no great crowd? Would we still wish to go because we were simply expecting for God's presence to be there?

    I wonder as I write this if the church in America would even notice if God was absent? Would they realize that the presence of Jesus is absent even though the sermon was captivating, the worship was thrilling and the crowd was grand. Does the average Christian in our American churches even know the diffrence. Do even the pastors behind the pulpits know the diffrence as well? 

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; I will seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You, as in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; so I have seen You in the holy place, seeing Your power and Your glory. Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. So I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.- (Psa 63:1-4)

    It is my hope that you and I, as we prepare to come to worship this Sunday that we might come with the same mindset that David expresses in this Psalm. That when we come to worship we might come with the intention to "Seek" God "Earnestly". I pray that we might thirst for the presence of God. I pray that we might long for the Power and Glory of God throughout this week. That we might prepare our hearts and minds to be ready to praise God with our lips and to lift up our hands in His Name.

The worm within

    As a believer in Christ I have to admit that I am not always the best example of what a Christian should be. There are moments I catch my self talking or acting in ways that I think to myself "David that is not how a Christian should act". I wonder if I am the only one who has done that, but I am pretty sure I am not. 

    I think that if we will be honest with ourselves and allow ourselves to do a little bit of introspection. We will find that there are moments in our lives that what we say or what we just happen to be doing are not always in line with scripture. I am sure there are moments that you will find your life is not as Christ like as it should be. I am sure of these things because everyone of us are not perfect. 

    As hard as we might try to fight it. As good as we try to be. The fact of the matter is that we all mess up from time to time. We all say things we should not say. We all do things that we are not supposed to do. Why is that? Are we not saved by Jesus Christ? Do we not have the Holy Spirit inside us? The reason why we fail time and time again is because we are all sinners. 

    No matter how perfect an apple may appear on the outside, there is no guarantee that there is not a worm that is eating away inside it. That is because when the apple begins to grow on the tree an insect comes in and lays eggs in the apple blossom. So when the apple begins to grow the eggs that had been laid is now inside that apple. Eventually those eggs hatch and the worm begins to borrow its way around that apple from the inside out. That is why you might find a perfectly fine looking apple on the outside, but on the inside you find the apple is rotten and is being eaten by worms. 

    That is much like our sins and our sin nature. We can present a great outward appearance and present ourselves in the best possible light. We can fool a great many people in believing that we are in fact good. We can even do such a great job of this that we can even convince ourselves of our own goodness. 

    Yet no matter how much we try to do the right thing. No matter how much we try to fight it. No matter how many people we try to fool. We all must wrestle with the fact that we are indeed sinful. That is true about those who are saved and those who are not. 

    As much as we might not want to admit it. Our problems with sin is not the result of some outside influences. It is not because someone made us to say certain things. We don't act a certain way just because of the bad influences around us (though that certainly does not help). Sometimes we make statements like "Well the devil made me do it" and while yes He does indeed attack us, at the end of the day it is you. 

   Let me remind you that the serpent never plucked the fruit from the tree for Eve to eat. The serpent never shoved that fruit in her mouth and made her swallow it. We read that;

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.- Genesis 3:6)

    You see the serpent did its job, but at the end of the day it was Eve who saw the fruit as being good, that it was a delight, and something to be desired. 

   Many years later after the fall of mankind we see another man who had to come to grips with his own sins. His name was King David. Though he was already married he tempted when he happened to see Bathsheba. He was immediately infatuated with her and slept with her even though they were both married. Then when it was realized that Bathsheba was now pregnant. King David doubled down on stupid and tried to trick her husband in believing that the child was his. However David's plan did not work and instead of just confessing his sins, he made it where her husband would be killed in battle so King David could quickly marry Bathsheba before anyone would find out. 

    However, David became convicted of this sin and we see he comes to a place of repentance. I want you to listen to what King David has to say. 

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.- (Psa 51:9-10)

    David realized that the problem did not rest with Bathsheba and her beauty. It was not because he happened to see her bathing. David understood that the reason why he gave into the temptation rested with himself. The sin issue resided in his own heart. That is why he committed adultery. That is why he tried to hide his sin. That is why he tried to trick her husband in believing a lie. That is why he eventually had Bathsheba's husband killed. He came to the harsh truth that his own heart was not clean. 

    David realized what he needed was for his heart to be cleansed. He realized he did not need to ignore his sin or hide from the truth. He understood that what he needed most was to be forgiven and restored. 

    Lets follow David's Example. Lets not blame the outside influences for our moral and ethical failures. While  striving to run from those temptations that so easily insnare us. Let us also wrestle with our sin nature and not allow those outside temptations be our scapegoat. Let us take responsibility for our own actions and not point the blame on others. 

    Let us seek forgivness from God and let us seek the Lord to create in us a clean heart. Let us desire God to create in us a right spirit within us. Let us not allow the worm of sin to grow and fester, let us nip it in the bud. 

Don't be Hasty

    

This is my second year working as a bus monitor. In that time I have seen several instances where people have lost control of there anger. Times when kids have become red in the face yelling and screaming for what appears to be nothing. 

    One time last year I was with a new driver who was driving a route neither me nor her had to much familiarity with. I was trying to give her the right directions, but I failed, and I led her down a dead end road. Now in a car or a truck that might not be a big deal. However we were in a large yellow bus and we were full of some of the wildest kids you can find. So to say that the bus driver was stressed would be an understatement. 

    She had to turn around and that meant backing up and pulling forward time and time again just to turn it around. Now to the bus drivers credit she kept her cool. However that can't be said for the old lady who came out of her house. You see as we started backing up we hit a few limbs from her tree and a couple of twigs were broken off. However this lady who was old enough to know better came out enraged and upset. We were polite and tried to explain the situation, but no amount of explanation or apologies was enough to pacify this elderly woman. You would have thought that we ran over her dog or her best friend. So that being said we choose not to stick around to long and we got out of there as quickly as we could. 

    There are many other stories that I could share when I seen people become unhinged and enraged. I am sure you can share your own horror stories as well. To be honest I can share some of my own stories when I have lost control and allowed my anger to get the best of me and I am sure you can say the same. 

    In those moments when I have lost control of my anger, I knew better than to act that way. I am sure that older lady knew that she should not have acted that way, or at least I hope she knew that. There are moments were as we look back on how we acted or what we had said we can be a bit embarrassed. Sometimes I cringe at the thought of something I said or did in the past when my emotions got the best of me.

    Many times we get anger over things that don't even matter. We get overheated and say things we should not say only for a couple of days latter forget why we got upset in the first place. We tend to lose perspective in those moments. We fail to show any kind of understanding or empathy. Many times we fail to take time to listen or to try to understand the situation for someone else's perspective. So often we jump to conclusions and arrive at certain positions based on limited information's. 

    King Solomon who the bible records as a great man of wisdom. Listen to what he has to say about this topic. 

Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry; for anger rests in the bosom of fools. - (Ecc 7:9)

    I must admit that there are moments when I am a fool. The way I have allowed my anger to get the best of me in the past, has been indeed foolish. When that elderly woman came out to the bus to express her displeasure both with the bus driver and myself. She indeed looked foolish, so much so that even those unruly kids shared how silly this lady was to be angry for a few broken twigs. In fact I am sure that if someone recorded you at your worst. When your face turned red, and your fists were balled up and you were doing and saying things in a fit of rage. I am sure that if you were to look at it a couple of day's later you would be a bit embarrassed by your own actions. I am sure you would find yourself behaving a bit foolish.

   This is why what Solomon says in that passage is so wonderful. He tells us to not be hasty to be angry. Don't be so quick to make split second decisions and decide how you should respond. Give yourself some time to listen. Allow enough time to gather all the information. Take some time to put yourself in the other persons shoes. Think about what you need to do to express your displeasure. Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions and rush to judgments. Allow yourself sometime to cool down and become level headed. 

    It has been in many of those moments that as I look back on it that I have failed to be patient and allow my self the time to process the situation and put it in the proper perspective. 

    I hope that the next time I come into a situation where my blood begins to boil, that I don't look foolish once again. I hope that I will take the advice of that wise King and to not be hasty in my anger. That is what I hope for you as well. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we would just be patient and not let our Anger to get the best of us? 

Where Real Revival Begins

    As a pastor I love to read about various revivals in history, because they give us a little light on how revival begins. 

    During the great Welsh revival there was a minister who was said to be very successful in sharing the gospel. Many individuals would respond to his message and they would repent of their sins and be saved. Hundreds of people were coming to Jesus Christ under this man's ministry. What made this so interesting was that this minister preached the same sermon everywhere he went. 

    As news about this minister and his one very effected message came to the ears of another minister. The minister was interested in hearing this message for himself. This man wanted to know what was the secret. 

    So when this minister heard this preacher was going to preach in a near by city. He waisted no time to go and hear this powerful sermon. The minister traveled a great distant to get to the meeting. He sat through the message and saw a great many people come and put there faith in Jesus Christ. 

    After the service the minister came to the preacher and asked the preacher the question he longed to be answered. He asked "Brother where did you get that sermon?"

    The preacher took this minister to a poorly furnished room and pointed to a spot where the carpet was warn out near the window. The preacher said "Right there is where I got the sermon". Then he said "My heart was heavy for the souls of men, so one night I knelt there and cried for the power as I never had before. The hours passed until midnight, but the answer did not come. So I prayed on and prayed on and then the sermon came and the power came to preach it.

    It cannot be understated, but as I have studied and read about various revival throughout the world, every great move of God began with much prayer. Revival's and great spiritual movements of God did not come by great sermons, lively music, entertainment or even electrifying enthusiasm. Instead it begins to either one person, or a group of persons who become burdened enough for the presence of God that they go to the Lord in prayer. Sometimes this time of prayer lasts a couple of weeks. Sometimes the time of prayer extends to months or even years.

    We cannot manufacture real revival. There are no quick paths to it. There are no short cuts to experiencing great moves of God.  Churches can plan services and schedule speakers. They can line up the music and invite a great many people to the service. You can go to church and listen to preachers. You can listen to Christian music all you want. However, real revival will only come in your life and in the life of the church only when God brings it. 

    So what can we do? We can do what has been done time and time again in the past. We can seek the Lord in prayer. Pray to the Lord Almighty to revive our soul. Pray that God awakens something in us, to stir us up. Pray for God to reveal those things in our lives that are not pleasing to Him and has hindered our fellowship with the Lord. Pray for God to bring revival in our lives and in the lives of our churches. Pray for revival privately. Pray for revival corporately. If we are going to see great moves of God in our lives, in our churches and in our community. It must begin with sincere and fervent prayer.

Listen to what God told the nation of Israel about turning back. 

If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.- (2Ch 7:14)

Take sometime to seek the Lord this week and pray for God to move. You may never know that the next great revival may very well begin with your prayers! 

There will be no more

  A little girl was walking in the cemetery with her aunt one day. She was examining the various gravestones. When suddenly she cried out, "Oh, auntie, look here! Here is the tomb of some poor person who has not gone to heaven." This took the Aunt by surprise and she asked "Not gone to heaven?" She then turned to look at what her niece was referring to. The grave stone she was looking at was an elaborate monument with weeping angels sculptured in marble. The monument was very pretty and was decorated with various flowers. So the aunt being a bit confused asked  "Why, what do you mean?" "Well, auntie," said the child, "the person in the grave cannot have gone to heaven, or the angels would not be crying!"

    Honestly, that girl was right. 

    There are a lot of things about heaven we really cannot know for sure. We can't know what exactly Heaven will look like. The bible gives us a few descriptions and while it is helpful the words we read fail to give us a complete picture. We don't know what the tree of life will look like. I have seen many trees growing up in Tennessee but I am sure that tree will be very different from the tree's I am used to seeing. I have tried many different fruits like apples, oranges, and pears and all of them are wonderful. However, I am sure the fruit from that tree will be something entirely different.  I have had many happy and joyful experiences in my 45 years of life, and I am sure I will have many more experiences (Lord willing).  Yet, I don't know all the joyful and happy experiences that await me in heaven. 

    I said all that to say this, The one thing I am absolutely certain of is that all the pain and hurt. All the tears and morning that we experience here on this earth will one day be no more. Pharmacies will be closed and doctors will be out of business. There will be no need for hospitals, Nursing Homes or Funeral Homes. No pandemic, no epidemic, no flu season and no suffering. 

    When God had design this world it was made compactly and utterly perfect. Death, sickness, and disease was absent from God's design. All that changed when Adam and Eve sinned against God and rebelled. From that day forward all of God's creation was tainted with sin. The effects of this willful and sinful disobedience was a world filled with pain and suffering. 

    Yet, I know that one day the world filled with sin and sins curse will one day be remade by God. It will one day be remade to God's original and perfect design. A world without sin, death and decay! A world as it should be, a world as it once was before sin entered in and corrupted it all. A world filled with the presence of God, filled with the Glory and Love of God. A world were we will one day come face to face with the God of all creation. 

    In this world there are a lot of things that can cause us to weep. There are many things that can lead us to be broken and hurt. 

    However, for those of us who are saved, we know that one day there will be no more weeping, crying or pain. 

    Take some time to listen and meditate on these words 

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.- (Rev 21:4)

    I don't know where you are in your life right now. I don't know what all your dealing with in your life. But I do know this; if you will are a believer in Christ, there are better days ahead. 

    As always if you want to know more about what it means to be a Christian...comment on this post and lets talk!