Dusty Keys

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When I finished my Mdiv., I took a break from writing. Now, I know what you are saying, “took a break, you’ve only made five posts on here.” Yes, while it is true, I didn’t publish on here all that I wrote, I wrote A LOT during the course of my degree. Then I started pursuing a PhD. I only thought that I had written a lot in my Mdiv. Whew, the PhD was a lot! While I am not currently working towards the PhD at the moment, I thought I would sit down and let the creative juices start flowing again and see if I could write something that someone might find worth reading. So, here’s to starting again. I’m not going to make any promises as to how often I’ll write, just that I’m starting…again.

Hope for the Broken

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hope-2I’m sitting at an airport having just preached this morning in a conference with the theme of “Hope” and it occurred to me just how many people around me are potentially without hope.

But what does that really mean? What are incenuating when we say that we have “lost hope” or that someone is completely and totally “without hope?”

A feeling of hopelessness is generally tied to some event or loss that we have experienced and the solution is not yet visible. Some people mistakingly equate hopelessness to brokenness. Often, a period of brokenness will lead to a season of hopelessness but they are certainly two distinct emotional realities.

When we have hope, we have assurance that our present situation will improve. It might be a relationship, our health, our finances, or simply life in general. When we are filled with hope, we know that the clouds will soon disappear and yield to the sunshine.

When our hope is gone, we doubt that things will ever improve and what we have is the best we will ever see. Paul said it this way, “if I had hope in this life only, I’d be of all men most miserable.” Paul is saying that if this life, with its problems, troubles, struggles and yes, even it’s joys would be a completely hopeless scenario.

What is your level of hope today? Are you going through a valley that seems to be endless? Take a little time today and read Peter’s Epistles. These two letters focus on the excruciating trials and persecution that the church was enduring. However, these two works from Peter’s pen are overflowing with hope. Or, as Peter calls it, a living hope.

As you read, remember that Paul had already been martyred about two years prior as had many other apostles. When Peter wrote these words, his own death by crucifixion was looming in the near future.  And Peter says to his readers, “HOPE.”

Peter learned something when he stepped out of the boat and walked across the water. He learned that if one takes their focus off of Jesus they will instantly begin to sink. Perhaps your focus is on your problems, pain, and persistent predicament. If you continue to focus on such temporary things, hope will seem most impossible.  However, if you look to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, hope, a living hope is yours for the taking.hope-quotes14

“Which Way Did He Go George?”

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I loved Saturday morning cartoons when I was growing up as a kid. I always beat mom and dad out of bed on Saturday and ran in to pull the on button on our T.V. I’m not that old, we just had a very old T.V. for a very long time when I was growing up.  We actually had to get out of our seat, walk to the T.V., and turn a knob to change the channel.  Then came our VCR.  It had a remote and it revolutionized our lives!

Well, enough of that. Back to the cartoons. My favorite cartoon of them all was The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show™. There were at least a couple of characters that used the line, “which way did he go George, which way did he go?” They were always talking about Bugs of course.  As a matter of fact, someone was always looking for that rabbit.

They had just witnessed something otherworldly. Jesus had just levitated before their very eyes. Up, up, up He went until He disappeared into a cloud. Had there been a disciple named George, I am quite certain that there would have been a chorus of “which way did He go, George? Which way did He go?” He was there…then, He was gone. The narrative that Luke recorded in Acts 1:11 tells us that they were all “gazing” up at the sky. Well, the KJV says “gazing” while the more modern translations simply says “looking.” I like “gazing” better because it better captures what they were doing. I imagine with their chins resting comfortably on the ground, they could not take their eyes off of the sky in disbelief.

Enter the angels. “Guys, why are you gazing up into the sky?” they said. “Jesus, yes, this very same Jesus, will come again in the same way that you have seen Him go away.” I don’t know about you but in 2017 those are some AWESOME words of hope!

In John 14 Jesus told His disciples that this was going to happen.  He told them that He was going to go away for a little while and prepare a place for them. Good ole Thomas even asked for directions on how to get where He was going and Jesus assured them that He, in fact, was The Way, The Truth, and The Life and that no one would come to see the Father unless they came through Him, the Son. He gave them a promise…”If I go, I will come again.”  Now, we know He went, so, it stands to reason that if He went as He said He would, why should we doubt that He will return as He said He would.

Sometimes its easy to look at our life situation and say to one another, “which way did He go, George, which way did He go?” Because in those moments, He feels like He is gone and is nowhere to be found. He promised that when He left, He’d send a comforter in the person of the Holy Spirit.  Well the comforter has come and I pray that He will comfort your heart today and remind you to keep looking up because, “this same Jesus who was taken up from you will also come again in the same manner as you have seen Him go.”

 

Times are a Changin…

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Unless you live under a rock…an exceptionally large rock, you are aware that there was yet another terrorist bombing over the weekend in New York.  This time, the bombs were located in pressure cookers, of all things. I can’t wait to hear what the President and Presidential hopefuls have to say about this latest incident. New York…that’s quite a distance from me.  Here in my neighborhood just this weekend, a small 9 month old baby was stabbed along with a few adults.

Whew…when will it ever end?

Well, that’s just it…it won’t end.  The results of this coming election will not remedy the problem of uncontrollable craziness that is going on in our nation and around the world. So, what’s gotta change?  What has got to happen in this nation for things to turn around? Can I tell you that the necessary changes have little, if anything, to do with who stands or who does not stand when the national anthem is played.  Nope.  While that might get your blood pressure rising as an American Patriot, getting athletes to stand isn’t going to fix the problem.  Here’s the problem.  Now, before I continue, please understand that my diagnosis of the issue is going to be so simple that it will not reflect the fact that I have spent the last three years in a seminary and am getting closer to earning a MDiv. This diagnosis is so simple that you might be tempted to chuckle when you read how simple and direct it is.  However, I will go ahead and offer it regardless. Here I go.

The problem in our nation and, therefore, the main thing that must change is found in Scripture in Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!” (ESV)

Now, before you post comments about this verse applying to the nation of Israel in its original context, let me stop you and tell you that I am completely aware of that fact. However, the truth of this verse is applicable to any nation which recognizes יהוה (Jehovah) for its אלהים (Elohim).

Simple reasoning will allow one to ascertain that if the above statement is true, and I certainly believe that it is because I believe His Word is true, then, it stands to reason that the opposite of the conditions presented and, therefore the ensuing results from those reversed conditions would be true as well.  In other words, if a nation’s blessing or happiness is based upon their acknowledgment of God as their LORD, then, if a nation fails to acknowledge God as their LORD, those blessings will be minimized.

News Flash!!!!

Jehovah has not been recognized as the Elohim of the USA long before people started standing or failing to stand for our flag or anthem.  We are now a nation that values tolerance above truth, acceptance above accountability, and personal preference above prescribed practices.  We are a “if it feels good, do it” society now and God is nowhere to be found.  Are we really surprised?!  Are we really daring enough to ask, “where is God?!?”

What Do We Do Now?

Remember this…

Psalm 46:9-11

“He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire.“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.…

It may not be today or tomorrow.  You and I may not live to see it happen in this nation, but rest assured friends that His Word is true and one day, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.…

Be Blessed!

“They Don’t Care”

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If your neighbor wants a cup of coffee, they will most likely go to Starbucks or a nearby coffee shop to get their coffee fix…they are not going to come to your church for a cup of coffee.

It amazes me the great lengths churches have gone to in order to “attract” the postmodern, dechurched, and uninterested. If we dress hipper (it is now a word), sing louder, serve better coffee, etc., etc., surely they will come.

Well, we have had over a decade of this rat race in the church and guess what…they don’t care. The majority of growth that has happened has been transfer growth because your church is cooler than the one that I have been going to so I will start going to yours. I know pastors that get extremely excited about transfer growth.  They blog and post about their big and sudden increases in attendance on Facebook.  They Tweet about their boom in attendance this week on Twitter. They would be wise to remember what a wise, old pastor once told me; “The way that they come to your church will be the way that they leave your church.”

If they left their last church mad because things didn’t go their way.  Guess what, they will leave your church when things don’t go their way there as well. If they left because of dissatisfaction and an overwhelming feeling that the last church was no longer meeting their “spiritual needs” (yeah, that’s Biblical…NOT), as soon as the church across towns seems to be more exciting than yours, they will be out the door because you will no longer be meeting their “spiritual needs.”

These things might do well when it comes to attracting those who are dissatisfied at their current house of worship or even creating interest in someone who is simply not attending but who normally does attend worship each week.

But, and it is a really big but, the world could care less if you have a coffee shop in your foyer or a pizza kitchen after the morning worship service. Your skinny jeans really aren’t impressing them nor are your pyrotechnics. They are seeking authenticity and community. After interviewing college students this past semester, I discovered a growing reality amongst 20 somethings who do not attend church…there is a great level of distrust for the church and a cup of coffee and a donut are not going to fix that.

So, what are we to do in our churches to be attractional to the postmodern, the dechurched, and the uninterested?  The answer is…

Ask a different question.  Here it is. What can I do to be attractional to the postmodern, the dechurched, and the uninterested?  Notice the emphasis on the word “I.” I think it was a guy named Jesus who said that we should let our lights shine in such a way that others around us where we live, move, and have our being would be drawn to our heavenly father when they witness our good works.

What if the church, instead of training our people to do mass evangelism each week or investing in our Starbucks wanna-be vestibules, started training and encouraging our people to be salt and light in a dark and decaying world where they live each day?

What if we trained our people in Apologetics so that when their neighbor or co-worker challenged their faith they didn’t stand there like Elmer Fudd when he lost Bugs Bunny. What if the church took seriously the challenge to equip the saints for the ministry and realized that a huge part of the ministry is being able to give a reason for the hope that is within us?

Okay, okay.  Drink your coffee.  Shoot your fireworks from the stage if you must. But please understand that those things have not and never will attract those that are completely uninterested in the church.  They will never attract the lost to the saving message of Jesus Christ.  That’s my opinion at least.  What’s yours?

“Perilous Times?” Part Two

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Perilous Times

The Presidential Race.

Target.

Bathrooms.

Police Shootings.

Rioting.

Terrorists.

Floods.

It’s everywhere we look.  T.V., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, the news, the paper, magazines, etc.  

I have heard more than one person ask the question as to where God is when all of this madness is taking place. Is this the proper question for us to be asking?  If I remember correctly, David felt as if he could not escape the presence of God in Psalms 139

Psalm 139:8-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
 9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
 10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.

I think a better question is this: “Where is the church?”

Where are you Christian in the midst of all of this?  How do your friends, neighbors, and co-workers see you respond to the news each and every day that seems to pour from the media?  Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:6 and Luke 21:9 provide a hint as to how we should respond when a sense of chaos is surrounding us.

“When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” (NIV)

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” (ESV)

In these texts, Jesus is teaching His disciples about the coming end of the world. His main point here is that His followers should not be shaken when these things begin to transpire. We shouldn’t freak out!  When our friends and neighbors see and hear us as Christians raising a ruckus over the events surrounding us, it can easily be interpreted as fear or a lack of faith.  If our faith does not provide comfort in times like these then why would a world without it ever desire to possess it?

Are you afraid?  Ask Him to calm your heart and help you control your emotions in the face of uncertainty.  For, in the midst of an uncertain world, we still stand upon the solid rock of our faith: Jesus Christ.  As the old hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

“Perilous Times?”

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Paul told Timothy that in the last days “perilous times” would come.  Without taking the conversation deep into eschatology, I will simply suggest that we are indeed living in the last days and have been living in the last days since Christ ascended into heaven.  You can certainly disagree with that position but what follows I’m sure most will agree with.

Listen to what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Here’s the list…

  1. lovers of self
  2. lovers of money
  3. proud
  4. arrogant
  5. abusive
  6. disobedient to their parents
  7. ungrateful
  8. unholy 
  9. heartless
  10. unappeasable
  11. slanderous
  12. without self-control
  13. brutal
  14. not loving good
  15. treacherous
  16. reckless
  17. swollen with conceit
  18. lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God

So, what do you think? Would you consider the 21st century as qualifying for the “last days” designation? I certainly do.

This blog entry is an introduction to a series that I’m going to write about our proper response to times such as these.  Stay tuned…

“When Prayers End”

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When did you stop?

Why did you stop?

What caused you to lose confidence in the very act of praying?

Surely, you did, at one time, call upon the Lord in prayer…didn’t you?

There is a country song titled, “Unanswered Prayers” which was made famous by Garth Brooks a few years ago. Okay, it’s been a little more than a few years but we won’t talk about getting old here. The context of Garth’s song is running into your high school sweetheart after having grown into adulthood, married someone else, had children, etc. The “old flame” was the one he used to pray that God would allow him to have for the rest of his life.  Obviously, God didn’t answer his prayer, they moved on to love another and now, being happy with his life, says that there are times when he thanks God for unanswered prayers.

Can I be honest? There are not many times in my life that I get great joy out of unanswered prayers…at least not in the moment.

It was my parent’s divorce that did it for me. I had a wonderful prayer life. I had been preaching for five years and was in my senior year of high school.  I had a great girlfriend (who actually married me), an awesome car, and what I thought was a perfect family. When I discovered that my parent’s marriage might be coming to an end, I prayed like I had never prayed before. I prayed a lot! I prayed, believed, claimed Scriptures, and everything else I thought might move God to answer my prayers.  He didn’t…they divorced…and I quit talking to Him.

So, there I was, on my way to the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago to prepare for full-time ministry and I was no longer speaking to the One whom I was preaching about on a weekly basis.  I was the prodigal son, only I was still telling others about my wonderful heavenly Father while not being fully convinced that He was all that wonderful deep down inside.

It was up there on Culby 18 that it all changed. Someone on our floor turned the custodial closet into a prayer closet.  I can still remember going in there and just sitting awkwardly as if I expected an audible apology.  I’d like to tell you that the glory fell in that moment and tears broke forth like a raging river but I’d be lying.  I sat in there, silent, alone, and then I walked back out…still upset, still doubting.  A few days passed, and the Holy Spirit was working overtime on my heart.  Every time I walked by that closet I felt strangely compelled to step inside.  One day I did…I was not alone…Someone was inside waiting for me…in that closet I realized again what I had known all along; He had been there all along and had never left me alone.  From that day on, I frequented that closet and God began to heal my broken heart.

That was sixteen years ago.  I wish I could tell you that I never missed a beat in my prayer life after that.  Again, I’d be lying if I said such a thing.  There is much more to say, and I’ll say it in my next post.  For now, let me leave you with these words of encouragement.

Find your closet…step inside…He’s there…He’s been waiting…and He’s listening…talk to Him…PRAY.

“All We Can Do is Pray”

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New PicOkay, let’s be honest.  When is the last time that you said something like, “all we can do now is pray?” A statement such as this usually comes in the midst of an excruciating circumstance such as a bad diagnosis from the doctor, a pending foreclosure on your home, or perhaps a potential layoff from your employer.  Of course there are a myriad of other possibilities that cause us to do all that we can to make the situation better.  Then, after we have exhausted our resources, our strength, our talent, our time, and our ingenuity, we pray.

What would happen if we prayed first?  Or, better yet, how different would our lives be if we lived with prayer and utilized prayer as much as we do our smart phones?  I’m determined to find the answer to that question this year and I invite you to join me.

“We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth.”Andrew Murray

The disciples, who walked with Jesus on a daily basis in the flesh, didn’t have the whole prayer thing figured out perfectly.  If you recall, they asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-13). I will commit a later post to the Lord’s prayer.  Here, however, let’s just establish the fact that we need to pray and we need to do it a lot more than we do.

Centuries ago, the early church fathers felt it necessary to have structured times of prayer throughout the day.  The number of times and the names given to them have changed throughout the years.  Interestingly, there are Christian monks who still practice these structured prayer times throughout the day.  Well, here is your invitation to enter into a long tradition of prayer throughout your day.  Here’s the plan:

  1. Dawn Prayer                                               5 a.m.
  2. Early Morning Prayer                              7 a.m.
  3. Mid Morning Prayer                                 9 a.m.
  4. Mid Day Prayer                                         12 p.m.
  5. Mid Afternoon Prayer                              3 p.m.
  6. Evening Prayer                                           6 p.m.
  7. Night Prayer                                                9 p.m.
  8. During the Night Prayers                       Varies (these are the times you wake up during                                                                             the night to get a drink or use the restroom)

Change the times to fit your schedule.  The point here is to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:16-18).  Feel free to encourage your friends, small group Bible study, church, neighbor, children, husband, wife, mom, dad, or anyone else you feel might need a boost in their prayer life to join you in this journey.

You are probably wondering how long you should pray.  I believe Spurgeon offers a sufficient answer when he says,

“…True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.” C. H. Spurgeon

While this is true, I don’t think we should worry about praying too long either.

“Prayer can never be in excess.” C. H. Spurgeon

I don’t know what you are going through as you are reading this blog.  You may feel like you have exhausted all options for improving the situation.  Can I encourage you instead of having an attitude of “all I can do is pray,” have an attitude that says, “I get to pray!”  And then, GO DO IT!  You and I, fallen, imperfect created beings GET TO TALK TO THE CREATOR DIRECTLY!!  Let’s take advantage of this privilege.

 

 

 

A New Adventure!

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“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Romans 11:33

I’m not sure if anyone will read it or follow it, but I hope that those who do will be encouraged and challenged to go devote the rest of their lives to mining the depths with me.

My purpose is just as the title suggests; to get my readers to venture into the depths of their faith. I’m convinced that the majority of us are only scratching the surface when it comes to our walk with the Lord.  I’m tire of the routine, the mundane, the expected.  Paul suggests in Romans 11:33 that we will never exhaust the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge.  So, the focus of my blog will be just that; the richness and fullness of God.

An old hymn might serve us well here.  It says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.  And the things of earth, will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.” Helen H. Lemmel