When people think of missionaries they often think of third world countries, no fresh drinking water, extreme political persecution, and so on. But when you read the command of Jesus in the book of Acts chapter 1, He said you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He didn’t just jump to “the end of the earth”. There is a vast area way before we reach that destination. For many, they are either too fearful or too selfish to venture further than their own “Jerusalem” and often won’t witness even at home.
The question in the subject line was: The Mission Field: Local or World Wide? The answer is a resounding YES to both.
We need to learn to walk in obedience wherever He’s called us. Being His witness, testifying of what He’s done in our lives (if He’s done anything in them) isn’t a suggestion, but a command. Making disciples, or training people in their spiritual walk, is also a command. It should be part of our daily life … wherever and to whomever He leads us. Many times we agonize over witnessing to people when we hear the Holy Spirit tell us to ‘just open your mouth and I’ll fill it.’ It’s easier to stay in our comfort zone when the reality is God is calling all of us out of our natural comfort zone.
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
The quote above is from a well-known pastor whom I admire. It seems fitting here. We need to become so dependent on the Lord that we finally realize HE is our comfort zone. Wherever He leads me, I know He’s there with me. He’s not going to send me into the desert by myself and lead me to my own ruin. He’s designed me to bring Him glory. He said He would never leave or forsake me. So when I’m obedient and I follow Him as He leads me, I can be assured that He has a purpose — a work — specifically for me and specifically for that place.
There are so many excuses I’ve heard over the years.
- I have too many friends or family here.
- I don’t know anyone there.
- I don’t know the area and I’ll get lost easily.
- I may have to leave a lucrative job.
- What if we go broke?
- What if it doesn’t turn out like we think it will?
- How will we make it?
For each of those thoughts and questions the answer is: God. Let’s take a look at these excuses …
I have too many friends or family here. Yes, maybe true, but would you willingly choose to live a life that is in disobedience to His will? What kind of blessings can you possibly expect from a life running from His calling?
I don’t know anyone there. You know God and you know His voice. You know His comfort. You can have His peace because He’s leading and you’re obedient. Staying and being disobedient may bring some comfort, but that comfort is fleeting and will never bring lasting peace, joy, or contentment. I want to hear Him say to me, “Thou good and faithful servant.” Those words will elude us when we purposefully walk in disobedience.
I don’t know the area and I’ll get lost easily. For a time. But God will be your grace and strength. He’ll be your help in time of trouble. He’ll prove Himself over and over when you don’t know the way to go, but you have a heart of surrender to Him.
I may have to leave a lucrative job … what if we go broke? Are you really desiring to build your kingdom here or His kingdom? Or more aptly, are you your own person? Who do you belong to? You can’t truly call Him Lord and then defiantly do your own thing apart from His will.
What if it doesn’t turn out like we think it will? If He’s calling and your obedient, what does it matter how it looks on the surface? If He’s in it, trust Him for the results. Let me say that again, “IF HE’S IN IT, trust Him for the results!” Don’t you think He already knows what is going to happen when we obey Him? Don’t you realize it’s about Him, not you or me?
How will we make it? A sobering question. But the answer is still in the Lord. If He takes you to it, He’ll bring you through it. Giving tithes and offerings doesn’t make sense, and yet I’ve seen His provision for years by my giving up my ideas and being obedient to His word. His promises are for us and our best interests … even when we can’t see them initially.
God never promises the road ahead of us is going to be easy. He never promises we won’t have struggles of faith, health, or finances. What He did promise is this: I will never leave you nor forsake you. Is that enough? It should be.
NOW does that mean God is sending you to a tribe on the Amazon River who have never heard of the gospel? Maybe, but odds are not likely. But you can be a missionary to your neighbor or other people on your street. He may be calling you to show hospitality and love to those in your every day life at work or at the grocery store. He may be telling you to open your mouth to a single mom at a soccer game or a college age young man with piercings and tattoos everywhere. Our job isn’t to wonder why me, but why not me. He didn’t just save you so you could keep this wonderful good news secretly hidden and tucked away. It is meant to be shared and if you saw people the way He sees them your heart would be changed.
Maybe He’s calling you to change jobs or occupations. Maybe He’s calling you to attend a different college. Maybe He’s calling you to a different city or even a different state. We get so scared that He’ll send us to Africa that we shut down and refuse to even consider hearing where He wants us to go or what He wants us to do.
It is, after all, about Him, right? It is, after all, what He wants that matters, right? If we hide our heart and find our delight in Him, no matter what we face, we’ll have His peace and presence in our life. For me, that’s more than enough.
— Pastor Rick
The people in their teens and twenties amuse me at times. You know those ones that have ALL the answers to everything you’ve ever thought of and some questions you didn’t?
I recently had a young adult tell me how they have their financial future all laid out. This person had found a house they loved that was nearly twice as large as our home and they were going to be able to buy it in just a few years.
When I probed a bit on how they intended to do that, it started with, “well, first I’m going to hit the lottery … ” Amusingly, I think they were serious. As I’ve matured I’ve come to realize being a millionaire probably isn’t in my future. But I am learning to be content with what I do have: great kids, great friends, a good job, a roof over my head, and my health.
Philippians 4:12-13 — I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (ESV)
You see, even if I lost everything, but still had Jesus, it’s enough. It’s MORE than enough. This life is temporary, but eternity is a long, long time. So I’m more concerned with then than now. Living better now might be easier (now), but when I take my last breath here, none of what I have here on earth can change my circumstances.
Many people find themselves fighting, clawing, scratching to ‘get ahead’ in this life. They spend thousands of hours and thousands of dollars trying to get a better house, a nicer car, a more handsome or prettier spouse. They exercise more, work more, or simply play more. They think if they can just get [fill in the blank] they’ll have made it. And what is this elusive it? Whatever their ‘it’ is, they think they’ll finally have peace in their heart they’ve really longed for and tried to fill with everything else.
James 4:13-14 — Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (ESV)
The reality is all we have in this life is fleeting — a vapor, as it says in the book of James — here today and gone tomorrow. But that peace everyone tries to achieve through money, work, or relationships can only truly be found in Christ.
That’s why when Christians find their lives faced with the challenge of heartache, they can still have a peace that passes understanding. They can keep assured this life is only a blink of an eye in the face of eternity. The difficulties they find themselves is only for a season. Whatever pains we face now will be rewarded with even greater joy that we can imagine in the next life.
“But I don’t want to suffer and endure here for something I’ll get there. I want my happiness now. It’s only fair.” — people everywhere, maybe even yourself
Yes, I’ve heard those whines and complaints. Their perspective is misplaced. God didn’t call us to be happy, but holy. Holy His and wholly His. Those grumblings are from a life set living for ourselves and not for Him. When we live for self, we’ll never find true peace or happiness. The hopes we have will be unsure because none of those are based on a surety. But when we live with our heart set on Him and His purpose for our lives, we’ll find peace regardless of what circumstances we find ourselves in. Our hope is set on Him and His word (which He cannot lie). So His promises are the security in which our hope stands firm.
That does not mean we won’t have trials or grief or heartache. But He’ll have us (eternally) and we’ll have Him (eternally) and remembering this life is just a temporary place will give us peace and strength to finish all of our days reflecting His love, mercy, and grace.
— Pastor Rick
Life making you feel this way?
We all have difficult seasons in our lives. If you haven’t, trust me, you’re not immune and it is coming for you. It won’t come when you want it to. It won’t come when you expect it to. It won’t even come when it’s convenient. In fact, whatever the storm, whenever the storm, it will be contrary to all of those − it will be completely ill-timed and test the character in its deepest part of you.
It’s not whether you’ll go through trials or not. You WILL. So instead of whining, griping, and complaining … how you respond TO the trials, how you react TO the suffering, how you behave WITHIN the fire is paramount. What is God trying to teach you?
Remember whatever we endure, not of our own stupidity, is intended to bring Him glory. Our own failures of character and/or moral deficiencies bring on bouts of correction and discipline designed to bring us back in line and strengthen us for future works that He’s prepared us for – for His glory. These are works that He prepared, past tense, before the foundations of the world for YOU – works designed specifically for YOU.
But when the temptations, trials, struggles, and wars rage all around you – whether financial, physical, emotional, intellectual, relational – He is with you in the midst of those storms. He is availing His strength, His grace, His peace, His hope, to you. He is availing Himself to you for you and in you in those moments – all for His glory.
How do you respond? How do you react when the enemy seems to slip behind the front line and inflict pain and torment in your life? Most begin with the denial that a loving God would allow this to happen. “This can’t be happening.” “I’ve been going to church.” “I’ve been doing what He wants.” We start going through the list of “do’s and don’ts” to see how we line up against them – as if our works earn God’s favor. It couldn’t when we were unsaved, and it doesn’t when walking out our salvation. So that first reaction is completely improper and yet so hard for us to shake from our core thought patterns.
I’m not quite sure if it’s human nature or American arrogance to believe things should always go our way. And when they don’t, we kick, scream, demand, command, and quote scripture to rebuke the winds, command the demons, and demand God give us justice. Our society tends to always expect perfection towards us while we give excuses and justify our poor behavior, lazy work habits, and snippy, sarcastic remarks. We hide behind (anti) social media, criticize, manipulate, dominate, and castrate ideas that are contrary to what we hold to be self evidently true. The key word in all of that is ‘self’.
Most people, myself included, move past disbelief because the problems don’t disappear when you deny they exist. Instead, they grow. Realizing denial isn’t working, we quickly move to anger and frustration. Those are often dealt with hostile attitudes, fighting, criticizing, outbursts of anger, playing the blame-game before moving into the demands for justice, fairness, equality, oh, and let’s not forget, retribution. You see it’s not bad enough that we’re being treated unfairly,we believe they (whomever ‘they’ are) should ‘get theirs’!
None of those approaches work effectively. Oh, they may partly work or temporarily assuage the situation. The results are generally not permanent and they tend to worsen as time moves on. But is any of that, any of it, honoring God? Remember, He’s with you through it all. And while you’ve tried every trick in the book, you’ve yet to go to the Creator of heaven and earth and ask Him why. When you do, you may not get an answer or at least not the answer you want.
Maybe He’s not trying to teach you anything. Maybe’s He’s preparing you. If I went to the gym and the trainer teaches me the correct way to use the weight machines, I don’t need further training. I’ve moved beyond that to the ‘regular workout’ routine. And continuing to do the workout routine on a regular basis builds strength. So when I do come across a situation where that strength is necessary, I have the ability because of the weeks, months, and years of training for that purpose. With that mind-set, maybe God is putting you through boot camp.
For the sake of this post, let’s assume this isn’t a boot camp situation. You’re not in this to build spiritual muscle, but rather its fiery trial that you’re facing. How do you respond? Let’s take a look at the word and see what we can glean.
James 1:2-4 — 2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (NLT)
Hmm. Count it joy. Wait … GREAT joy. Is that how you’ve approached it? Probably not, but you can see the results. So the trials bring maturity. They bring a perfecting of our heart (attitudes). Uh-oh. There’s the rub. The trials are to change our attitudes? That means how we respond is vitally important. But James has more to say:
James 1:8 —12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (NLT)
God will bless us for PATIENTLY enduring. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t include grumbling, mumbling, and putting on our mad-face. What it means is when they occur, know that God is doing something in us to change us until we’re more usable.
Maybe James was wrong. Maybe that’s not what Jesus really meant.
John 16:32-33 — 32 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (NLT)
Jesus was talking to His disciples, but the words apply to us, too. Here on earth we’re going to have trials and sorrows. He knew that there was a cost to being His disciple. Too often churches try to paint a rosy picture – that all our problems will come to an end when we give our hearts to Jesus. That’s not true. What we get is usually a more difficult life, but along with that we get forgiveness, love, mercy, grace, hope, adoption as His children, and a future home where all of sin’s sting will be far removed.
You see the key is to realize this life, this temporary home, is not eternal. It’s temporary. Eternity is a breath away from us and in that place every tear will be dried, every heart ache will be replaced with immense joy forever and ever.
Jesus also said this:
John 15:18-21 — 18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. 21 They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
Maybe the trial you’re facing isn’t from men, but from illness or “bad luck”. We live in a fallen world. A sinful world. A world that is broken in every sense of the word. Cancer should not exist, but it does. Heart ache should not exist, but it is prevalent. Accidents shouldn’t take place, but they do. Babies aren’t supposed to die. Loved ones aren’t supposed to suffer. And yet we all face them daily.
So how are we supposed to react when we’re being hit on every front? How are we to respond when our lives are in turmoil? What should we do when all hell seems to have broken loose in us or our family? The answer is simple and complex. Easy to answer, difficult to put into practice. Here’s the answer, then we’ll look at the complexity of it.
Isaiah 26:3 — 3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (NLT)
The ‘You’ is referring to God. He will keep you in peace when you trust Him and when our thoughts are towards Him. Simple answer, but actually putting this to practice is difficult. Why? Because we tend to think we can think our way out of our problems. We try to resolve things on our own. Our nature is to hang on to it tightly, making whatever the issue is, part of us. We’re not just struggling financially, we’re poor. We’re not just struggling with our health, we’re cancer victims. We’re not just struggling with our sexuality, we’re addicted. Instead of identifying with Christ and turning towards Him we put on this shame and make it part of who we are. I’m reminded of two verses during the course of this discussion.
Proverbs 3:5-6 — 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do,and he will show you which path to take. (NLT)
And …
Matthew 11:30 — 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
God wants us to let go of everything and hide completely in Him. Allowing God to be our all in all; giving Him complete control of every area of our lives. We can’t depend on what we think because our thinking is already broken by sin. Our judgment is faulty. Giving up our ideas to reason through our problems and trusting Him in the midst of them is where we’ll find peace. There will be times God will speak to our heart and say, “Do this” or “Say this” to your struggles. He’ll give us the words and the ways to deal with it. Or maybe He won’t, but He’ll give you His peace that passes or surpasses natural understanding.
It all comes down to our identity with Christ and learning to completely clothe or identify ourselves in Him. Anything less will result in frustration and futility with questions of “why me”? When we choose to hide entirely in Him, He’ll provide the peace in the midst of our storms. He’ll give you the strength to endure them. He’ll supply the grace and the mercy you need at the time of your need. And all we have to do, all we have to do, is trust Him.
We want all the glories of an ease-filled Christian life. But we’ve confused this life with heaven. The life that is ahead of us on the other side of eternity is where we’ll find true and unending joy. To think we’ll find it here is utterly ridiculous. We’re in the enemies territory and the devil hates God. But while we’re here, behind the enemy lines, in his territory, we’re to exemplify His love, testify of His goodness (read: preach the gospel), and be faithful. And, in the process, rescue as many POWs as we can in spite of any opposition we may face.
This all leads to my final thoughts on the struggles we face. In the years that followed the earthly life of Jesus, those who trusted Him with their lives often found tremendous trials. Persecution was a reality of choosing to identify yourself in Christ. It still goes on today around our world. In America, we have it pretty easy. We think we’re being persecuted only because we don’t know what true persecution is.
Many are called to lay down their life for their faith. You can read in the book of Hebrews how people were stoned or sawed in half for their faith. Think about that. We think we know what pain is, but there are those who thrive on doling out pain for their own pleasure. I’m pretty sure being sawed in half around 100 A.D. didn’t include anesthesia, or a high powered razor-sharp saw to speed up the process. If giving your life to Christ meant knowing you would face death – a painful death at that, would you? Just how deep is your faith? Those that give their lives for Him know what it truly means to completely trust in Him. Do you?
— Pastor Rick
The title is cliché, I know. But I hope you’ll hang to the end and see what the Lord is saying to me today. Maybe it will touch your heart, too.
This following is a true life story that happened to one of my close Christian friends and it is fresh in my mind today. Several years ago he and his wife gave their autistic son a bunny as a pet. The boy loved the bunny. He was always holding it. He had it in his arms from the time he got up until he had to go to bed. He was always hugging and squeezing it. One day he came crying and holding the bunny out to his dad. My friend had told him on several occasions the boy was hugging it too tight and hurting the bunny. This time he hugged it too much and the bunny died.
I wonder how many times we cling to things in our lives because we love them. We love them so much that we can’t see how it affects us. It’s not wrong to love something, but it is wrong when that love becomes an unhealthy situation for either us or those affected by our unhealthy choices. In some situations instead of facing the realization that we caused the situation we may even apply blame someone else. “The store sold us a sick bunny.” But maybe the truth is we held something so tight that we squeezed the life out of it. Instead of seeing a continuing growth and maturing, the life is gone and we’re left with nothing but a fur pelt in remembrance.
A few months ago, I was encouraging people to look forward. And they couldn’t. They were handcuffed to the “way things had always been done.” I exhorted people to trust God for bigger and better, but they clung to tradition and refusal to change. They didn’t want change for whatever reason — generally a fear of losing the past or fear of the risk of failure. The apostle Peter may have failed in some people’s eyes when he got out of the boat then started to sink after he took his eyes off the Lord. But the reality is this: only Peter got out of the boat and for a time (short as it was) walked on water. Peter walked on water.
While those in the boat, a bunch of guys who were probably just being typical guys, might have needled him he sank when he attempted to walk on the water like Jesus. “You ain’t no Jesus, Peter.” “Thinking you were good enough to walk on water, HA!” “Look at me, I’m Peter and I want to walk on water, too.” That’s just how guys are. We tease and put each other down while refusing to face our own weaknesses and failures. And in this instance, they were still sitting in the boat petting their proverbial dead bunny and wondering why Peter’s didn’t die when he stepped out on faith.
While I can’t prove the boys didn’t do that to Peter, you can’t disprove it either. What we know is only one asked Jesus if He would give permission to walk on the water to meet Him. Peter. Jesus did grant it. And for a few steps, Peter, one who had only been on the water in a boat, was a water walker.
This post is a bit metaphorical, I know, but I’m sure you’re smart enough to make the connections in your life. You have to step out and trust God even if its something you’ve never done and are nervous to try. If Jesus is with you, it’s gonna be alright. be encouraged. Life only goes forward, never in reverse. The things that are already done cannot be undone. So moving forward is a necessity, but when you do move forward, make sure to hold the Father’s hand and let Him lead you into His life’s path for you.
Isaiah 61:3 — to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. (ESV)
Will you make mistakes? Absolutely. We all do. The maturing, or sanctifying work of Christ is to get back on track with repentance and a submission to the Father’s will — yielding our own. Until we’re willing to acknowledge our failure to Him, we’re unable to see how He can turn our ashes into beauty. See our entire life is to bring glory to God. Our lives are to be for Him.
In order to do that we need to remove our grubby, greasy fingerprints from our own lives and fully trust in God’s sovereignty. He will accomplish what needs to be accomplished whether we’re following Him or not. But if you want to see His hand of blessing in your life, you’ll want to lay down your preconceived notions and trust His plan is far bigger and better than anything we could dream up.
Ephesians 3:20-21 — Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)
My friend and his wife had to dry the tears of their son who didn’t realize what he had done. They didn’t have any way to protect their little boy from his own destructive actions. And like them, my heart still breaks for the innocent people there who were just wanting to find a deeper walk with God and instead found several people pretending … intentionally or unintentionally. I was called a hireling, but the wolves were the ones guarding the sheep long before I ever arrived. The wolves were in charge and desperately grasped for control – of everything. Instead of fighting, I walked away. Not of my own, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
The saga of the little church that could, is still ongoing. I do pray for them. I do ask for mercy and favor. But like anything in life, answers come when we repent of making a wreck of our lives and submitting to His hand. And like the prodigal child who comes back home hoping just to live as one of his father’s servants, we’ll find our heavenly Father waiting outside, looking down the street, praying for our safe return. And when He does, He’ll wrap His arms of mercy and grace around us and just let us feel the warmth of His everlasting love.
— Pastor Rick
It’s been a painful season since I left the church. More than I would have believed. The wounds were deeper than I thought. It still hurts. But time will heal all wounds. And I know, whether they believe differently or not, that I left when the Spirit of God instructed me.
I recently talked to an aunt. Her question was pretty straightforward and probing: So what did you learn in all of this? Wow. That’s a pretty deep question and one I’ve been thinking a lot about. What did I learn in this whole process. A lot.
I learned to trust the Holy Spirit more and to listen more intently. I have always had thoughts of how things should be done; church government, approaches to areas of ministry, and aspects of outreach. But coming into a church that was completely dysfunctional, nearing foreclosure, and only a handful of church members remaining was something I never would have anticipated.
When my wife and I arrived the members that had remained were hurt, bitter, and distrusting of everyone but themselves. Their church motto was “the church that love built”. It may have built it, but love left a long, long time ago. What remained was an arrogant and contentious spirit that still exists in the few that remain since my departure. I watched argument after argument during my entire time there. I taught on having a teachable spirit. I taught loving and mercy were more important than being right. I led by example in being patient and long-suffering with those whom I knew were wounded — because hurt people hurt people.
Coming into that situation threw everything I thought I knew about ministry out the window. It wasn’t just a good suggestion to listen to the Holy Spirit, but an absolute necessity. Each week I was desperate for His leading and guiding. I was desperate to have self-control; to bite my tongue when needed and speak His words when directed. Each week I wondered what wrinkle I would face that will become the next monumental challenge. Each week I was disappointingly right.
You can speak the right words the right way at the right time. Unless people are willing to move from self to selfless nothing will change. Not all were this way, I’m delighted to say. Many came to a place where they wanted to move forward. They saw the need in the church and in their own lives to let go of past hurts, disappointments, and failures. They moved from a place of distrust to placing their trust and hope in the Lord again. And when they did, they saw His blessings and His mercy in so many areas of their lives. It was like refreshing water to thirsty souls. You could see tremendous growth occur in their lives.
Not everyone made those steps. The ones who held the power for years fought for ongoing control. I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again, “you cannot move forward if you’re handcuffed to your past.” And they were. So many times I was confronted with, “That’s now how we do things around here” or “We don’t like change and we didn’t bring you here to make changes” or “I haven’t seen you clean any toilets”. The last statement was about how I couldn’t be trusted after five months of ministry because this person hadn’t seen me clean a toilet yet. I’m not quite sure what that had to do with being a pastor.
I was able to hone some skills that come somewhat natural to me. In our current church, in my role there, I have the opportunity to preach 4-6 times a year. I’m always grateful for the opportunities. During my pastorate in that small church an hour away, I preached three sermons a week every week. Hopefully the more you do something the better you get at it. From the responses I received both then and now, I did.
My biggest challenge was interpersonal skills. I had many opportunities to counsel, teach, and discuss biblical matters while I was there. I still am inept at dealing with contentious and problematic people. Maybe I was too soft in my approach, however when I asked the Lord about it, He gave me different direction. I wanted to confront the major problem, though I dreaded the thought of it. Instead God had me continue on without the confrontation. His words to me were, “They’re either going to go forward or I will close their doors. You just keep preaching the Word.”
A couple of Sundays before we were removed as pastors, I witnessed two family members who are key people in that church argue for 10 minutes during a Sunday school class. The daughter was teaching the class and her father (the former pastor and founder of the church) argued over a reference note in a bible regarding a period between the old and new testaments. It was silly, trivial, and embarrassing. I watched in disbelief. It became apparent to me they had brought their typical home life into their church because that is what I had been seeing for months.
Recently someone who is still a member there told me, “Never in my life could I believe that a family that says they love each other be so dysfunctional,” and “I try to keep my distance from everyone. I’ve had enough drama to last me a lifetime.” Sad. That’s not how life in Christ is supposed to be, but it so often is.
I knew this already, but this situation reaffirmed the reason why you we should be genuine and loving. When it was all over, my wife and I had our old church welcoming us back with open arms. They still, after being back for three months, tell us how deeply they missed us during our six month excursion south. They tell us repeatedly they cannot understand how a church could not want us as their pastors. They’re sweet and its nice to hear, but what they’re really saying to us is “we love you and we don’t like it when you’re not here.” Never burn bridges. Especially as a Christian. Our walk is to be genuine, loving, filled with grace and mercy, selfless, and Spirit led.
The last thing I think I learned in all of this is rather silly when I try to articulate it. I am not above being deeply hurt. Many times leaders develop a hard exterior so they can speak the truth without having to worry about who’s toes we may be stepping on. When you remove the worry of ‘how they’ll receive this’, it takes the sting out of delivering difficult words. I had said many times while there, “If they decide they don’t want us here, fine! We’ve got a good church home we can go back to and I know they’ll receive us with open arms.” Then the reality of it occurred and I found myself with a gaping, bleeding wound. I had poured my heart and soul into the people at that church. I cared for them. I loved them – even the trouble makers. So when it happened, I was shocked to go through the emotions of anger, frustration, and pain. I knew I couldn’t hang on to the anger and frustration and forgave quickly. But the pain is still there. It still hurts when I think of what should have been and, except for God’s mercy, what the future is for that church.
Half the congregation left after we did. They didn’t follow us, but they knew those remaining were not the leaders they wanted to follow. Accusations continue to be thrown, but I chose not to get into the quagmire of defending and accusing. Instead I’ve tried to continue encouraging, exhorting, building, speaking life, extending mercy, and loving people who want to move forward with God.
The night everything happened, I was driving home and asked the Lord, “Why?” I never got a definitive answer, but I had a peace in my heart and reminders that none of this caught Him by surprise. He knew it was all going to happen. And He led me there for a purpose. Those that sought Him, grew in Him, and desired Him more than position received His ministry that came through my being there.
Not everyone will want to move forward. Not everyone will turn to the Lord. Not everyone who calls themselves a Christian will be loveable. That doesn’t mean they’re not saved, but it means until they are willing to lay down everything to be His anything they won’t see the bountiful blessings He desires for them.
Over and over again the Lord keeps taking me back to the book of John:
John 13:34-35 — 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (NLT)
—Pastor Rick
It feels strange dressing and preparing to attend a church this morning where I will not take the pulpit. I spent the last six months pouring my life into a house that was nearly bankrupt of spiritual life only to see God rekindle a hope. Former members returning. A renewed heart for the word and mission of Jesus. Church finances turning around dramatically.
Last Sundays services were marvelous in the Lord with two dynamic messages sent in timely fashion from a guest evangelist. But while the new hearts were being touched and mended in a godly way the old hearts clamored for what they know best.
Today, today, I was prepared to bring a message on the vision of the house. Writing it down. Making it plain. It’s one I felt the Lord had given as we’d been praying about this since December for clear and specific direction.
Instead this last week took a bizarre turn as the old regime – the “owners of the church” — opted to listen and follow the Jezebel spirit instead of the Spirit of God. This split will likely doom the church to an early demise. What should have been an ongoing legacy of faithfulness will become a legacy of tradition, fleshly desires, and an unwillingness to surrender to the heart and direction of the Lord. They chose to listen to whispers and lies rather than the heart of God.
While its been publicly said I quit; that i just walked away, the reality is I was ostensibly ran from the church for refusing to be a puppet. As the lies and accusations were being fired at me during the meeting, the Spirit of the Lord showed me these were a people who were rejecting His direction and leading.
You could almost see a giddy joy on the faces of those behind the undoing of my pastorship and were well aware of the intent of the meeting: Would I bow?
Instead I shook the proverbial dust from my shoes and packed my belongings. I know they will have to give an account for their words, motives, and actions. I left with no remorse. I do not feel we made one misstep in following the Lord in any conversation, stand, or direction my wife and I took, in spite of the continual obstacles presented.
And yet my heart grieves over a responsibility I still feel to the number of sheep who want to follow God and knowing I’m leaving them in the hands of those who have played church so long they forgot the voice of the Lord.
A number of months ago the Lord gave me a stern warning over that church: either they were going to repent and follow (our biblical pattern of the Christian walk) or the doors would be closed. As I left the church for the last time Wednesday night, by the prompting of His Spirit, it was apparent to me the choice they had made. The legacy that started with hope and love will end with a legacy of sin and shame. Knowing how to finish the race is as important as how we start it — by faith.
I’m trusting my Father to watch over the innocents who are left in this wake. He will take care of them and eventually lead them to places of worship that desire growth, change, and Him more than the spirit of jealousy, envy, and strife.
God have mercy on those who live and lead contrary to His purposes.
The past two posts have dealt with our relationship with the Lord and how our view is often twisted. In the first post we talked about how we are born in sin. We are sinners, through and through. Everyone is. No exceptions. Realizing our sinfulness required us to also see God’s holiness and the hopelessly, desperate position we found ourselves to be.
Romans 3:23 — or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (NIV)
And the penalty earned by our lifelong rebellion is eternal separation from God, but He wants us to have life.
Romans 6:23 — The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
When we yield our hearts to Him and repent of our sin, lay down our will, and ask Jesus Christ to be Lord of our life, we become children of God the Father.
John 1:12 — Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. (NIV)
And this passage is beautiful …
Ephesians 1:4 — just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will (NIV)
But the ongoing war we wage seems badly tilted in favor of the enemy only because we fail to realize the finality of His wondrous gift of grace. We continue to struggle with sin. We battle temptation every day of our life. And many, many, many people have just given up trying to fight the good fight. Why? The answer is simple. We don’t realize exactly what it was God did to us and for us.
We look at Jesus and the cross and we see salvation and heaven. We see the ‘fire escape’ from hell. While that is a reality, the gift is much greater and deeper than deliverance from the smoking section of eternity. We’ve got to see the bigger picture of what our Father did for us. It’s vital to our walk and our relationship to get a fuller understanding of what Jesus meant when He said, “It is finished.”
When God showed His mercy to us and showered us with His grace, He put His very righteousness in us and made our spirit come alive to Himself. We were previously spiritually dead and hell bound. But now we are alive and He calls us His children. We’re His kids! But that wasn’t all He did, praise God!
The enemy continues to lie, tempt, and rob our hope and, more importantly, the close relationship we have with the God of the universe whom we now call Father. But the reality is very clear from the book of Romans and paints an entirely different picture … one we must get buried so deeply in our hearts that it changes our entire mindset.
Romans 6:16-18 — Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (NIV)
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He was declaring an end to the reign of sin over people. He was saying, “Devil, you’re done. You have no more legal ground over them.” Jesus gave us freedom through His grace offering and redemption to God the Father for all who would believe on Him.
You’re no longer shackled to sin. He freed you completely and fully from being a slave to sin. You’re now free! Free to say NO to temptations and struggles. Free to serve righteousness. Free to choose God and His ways rather than be tied to your former fleshly desires. Pre-Christ, you couldn’t do that. You might change your behavior, but you couldn’t change your heart. But with the Holy Spirit residing in you, the freedom to say no to sin and yes to God is available to you.
Satan will continue to try and pull you down. He’ll continue to try and deceive you and make you think you’re incapable of following after the Lord, but the devil is a liar. We’re no longer chained to sin. You are free. What the enemy uses now is nothing more than smoke and mirrors — empty promises and hollow threats. He employs “used car sales” tactics. He’ll do whatever he can to rob you of your ever-growing, intimate relationship with the God of the universe who chose you to be His child and then made a Way for it to happen through His grace!
Now you can see why the following promise of God is so beautiful.
1 Corinthians 10:13 — The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. (NLT)
The way out of any temptation you face will always be through Him and only by His grace. You can never fight off temptation on your own. We couldn’t before and we can’t now. But acknowledging God and His grace and then hiding in it allows the Lord to fight your battles for you and He’ll lead you to His safe refuge every single time.
His grace is everything! His grace is all you need. When this truth, when this genuine reality of what transpired in the spiritual realm takes root in your heart, your life will forever be changed. You’ll be free to chase God and allow Him to continue to change you until we reach heaven. He is truly the author and finisher of our faith. He started it in us when He gave us faith to believe. And He’ll finish it when He brings us home to spend eternity with Him. Our Father is building a dwelling place for us to be with Him forever because He loves us that much. We’re His. We’re free because of Him.
Next time you’re faced with a temptation, regardless of the size, scope, or strength of that temptation, remember you are free from sin because of His grace. FREE! And in Him we live and move and have our being.
It’s in this ongoing walk with the Lord that He starts the work of sanctification. The cleaning up. Again, His work, not ours. When we stop trying to do [on our own efforts] and just be [resting in His grace], God works miracles in and through us and reaches others around us by His Spirit.
Be free. Let go. Let God. And praise Him for His goodness endures forever! Amen.
— Pastor Rick
Christians tend to struggle in their walk and in their understanding of their relationship with the Lord. In the last post we took a look at the condition of our soul before God stepped in. The sum of our entire existence was sin prior to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
So how do we to view ourselves after we’ve surrendered our hearts? For most people, we continue to see ourselves in our previously fallen state. Not only do we see our failures, but we continue to see ourselves as failures. That’s an entirely different perspective than just seeing our mistakes. When we see ourselves AS the mistake, we’re not seeing ourselves the way God does.
Yes, we were riddled with sin. But when we dropped our façade and yielded our hearts to God, He miraculously cleansed us from ALL of our unrighteousness. Cleaning us up wasn’t all He did either. He imputed the righteousness of Christ … His very righteousness … into and onto us. From the Father’s perspective, we are righteous through the blood of Christ. We have complete right standing with the Father. From His vantage point, we are holy, blameless, spotless, sinless. He calls us His children and we call Him Father. But it’s hard for us to fathom that a holy, righteous God would want a dirty, nasty, orphan to call His own. Apart from Jesus, it would never and could never happen. But IN Christ, we have become His family.
Galatians 2:20-21 — I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (NIV)
And maybe the most difficult part of seeing ourselves the way our Father does is because we aren’t perfect (yet). We continue to struggle day-to-day with sin in our lives. We see every weakness and failure being quickly told by the enemy, “see, you haven’t changed.” But the reality is our spirit has been changed. We are a new creation. The outward part, our flesh, continues to wage battle, and we’re told this is the case. Jesus told His disciples …
Matthew 26:41 — “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (NIV)
Before we accepted Christ as our Savior, our spirit was dead. We wanted nothing of God or from God. Remember, according to Romans 5:10, we were His enemies and it was His infinite love towards us that drew us to Him. He made our spirit to come alive unto God through the sacrifice Jesus made at the cross. We now have a spirit that is alive and willing, but our old corrupt nature will continue to battle against our new-found life.
Galatians 5:17 — For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. (NIV)
That does not mean we are to yield to sin. We are to continue to strive towards sinlessness. The deception comes in rapidly that will hold us bound, often times, for years if not our entire lives. And we end up living broken, incomplete, unfulfilled lives because we believed the lie instead of His truth.
More on that in the next blog as I finish this short series.
— Pastor Rick
How do you view your relationship with the Lord? Most people struggle with their spiritual self-image. Don’t get me wrong, before becoming a Christian, we were horrid. There was nothing good about us. Everything we did was wicked and deserving of the full wrath of God. Our very best acts, deeds, works, thoughts, and intentions were a repulsive stench to the nostrils of God. We were His enemies and were running at break-neck speed towards hell without a glimmering thought of our impending eternal doom.
Then came that miraculous day when you bowed your knee to Christ. God, in His perfect timing, opened the eyes of your heart to see that you needed Him and that He had made a way through the cross. He stopped you dead in your tracks, so to speak, to show you His way of salvation for your soul. It was at this moment in your life that you truly saw the holiness of God and the complete, utter depravity of your own soul. For the first time you could see the eternal chasm of hell and damnation that separated you from God. The holy work of Jesus on a cross, a torturous instrument of death, bridged that gap.
When you went to pass from death to life through Christ you discovered the passage was at a cost you could never have afforded. Well beyond your reach, or anyone’s, for that matter. No one could possibly pay the cost. But God, in His kindness, drew you to repentance. He made a way for you by sending His only begotten Son who laid down His own life as payment for our sin.
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
When viewing our eternal and desperate need, we could now see the eternal and merciful answer. God gave us the ability to see our need for salvation. He gave us, by His grace, faith to believe. He extended to us, by His grace, mercy through the blood of Christ. He imputed the righteousness of Christ onto our lives and adopted us as His children. We were completely and fully redeemed by Him to Him and for Him.
Did you know that those in heaven rejoiced over you when you repented from your sin?
Luke 15:10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
This is a beautiful thing. It is something we could never do on our own. We wouldn’t have even have known our desperate situation without the love of God stepping into our lives and drawing us to Himself. We would never have even given pause to consider our treacherous race towards hell filled with selfish, destructive motives and intents. Every person who has ever lived is in this very same condition … sinful. We reek of sin. It completely and totally saturates everything of who we are and how we live. And yet God loved us so much that He gave … beautifully and wonderfully so.
After we accept His free gift, what next? The twist almost always occurs. More on that in the next blog.
— Pastor Rick
It happens. Things will be going along swimmingly and then something unexpected hits and you’re left wondering what to do. Maybe the air conditioner went out and is going to cost you $4,000 that you don’t have. Or maybe you just were diagnosed with cancer. Or maybe you were barely scraping paycheck to paycheck and you just found out you’re being laid off from your job. Or maybe your marriage is on the brink and you just found out you’re expecting another child.
It could be almost anything. Life does not follow our plans no matter how well we may plan them out. All sorts of stresses, trials, and tests hit our lives and we’re often wondering how we’re going to make it through this latest challenge. The one you’re facing always seems bigger than the last one you endured regardless of whether it really is or not.
How about if you knew you only had hours to live before someone was going to kill you. That kind of stress would seem nearly unbearable. Even worse if you knew you had done nothing to warrant being killed. Sure the people on death row have some sort of idea why they’re about to be executed. Whether they believe in capital punishment or not, they can understand they killed someone and, by law, are deserving the death penalty.
Yet Jesus was an innocent Lamb being led to the slaughter.
Matthew 27:19 — Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.” (NLT)
While Jesus was being unlawfully tried after a set up by the legalistic religious zealots, the only one to come to His defense during the trial was Pontius Pilate’s wife. She was the only one who spoke up on His behalf declaring Him innocent and telling her husband to leave Jesus alone.
Hours before her dream, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane earnestly asking the Father “if there be any other way, let this cup pass from Him”. But there wasn’t. Jesus knew, but He needed to know for sure that He would truly have to suffer and die for our sakes. He sweat blood droplets. That’s stress.
He knew, in advance, He would be taking upon Himself the entire outpouring of God’s wrath against sin. His Father loved Him and found no fault in Him. But Jesus became sin, became the very embodiment of sin, our sin not His. OUR sin! He took that holy wrath and punishment from the Father upon Himself for us.
2 Corinthians 5:21 — God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (NIV)
Jesus took what was not His (our sin) and made it His responsibility.
He bore the judgement of sin in His body so that we could have His righteousness imputed to us.
Suddenly the trials we face don’t quite seem as big. You see, we have an advocate with the Father … Jesus. We can go to Him in prayer and seek His guidance and trust His answers are coming. It may not be an answer we want to hear, but the answer is coming when we place our whole trust in Him.
We might be told, “No, you will not be able to keep your house. It will be lost to foreclosure, but I will take care of your needs.”
And maybe that’s the truth of the whole situation … we get ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ too easily confused. Having a 2600 square foot home with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths isn’t really a need. Having a $50k car that requires high performance gasoline and specialized maintenance every two months isn’t a need. That restaurant with the delicious $45 filet mignon isn’t really a need.
I think you get the idea. Things we take for granted in this country, things we believe we’re entitled to, don’t really measure equally from an eternal perspective.
So what DOES matter? And more importantly, how are we supposed to respond when faced with a trial?
Good questions, both.
When we’re asked what really matters in life, the answer is simplistic. God’s glory. That’s why we’re here. It’s what this whole thing called life is about. Giving God the glory in everything. We’re commanded that in everything we do, to give God the glory. Our faith brings Him glory. Setting our hearts and lives in submission to Him brings Him glory. Even the suffering we endure brings Him glory when we trust Him throughout it.
How should we respond when we’re faced with adversities? Don’t be surprised. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are like, “I never thought this would happen to me.” Really? Where have you been hiding? Has your head been stuck in the sand blinding you to life’s little explosions? Life hits us all. No one is immune. Jesus told the parable of the storm coming and the house built on the sand crumbled, but the one built on the rock stood. Did you notice the storm hit both houses?
Last year my family was hit with an tremendous heart break with the loss of our 26 year old son. Richie endured a battle against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy his entire life. The doctors originally diagnosed him and gave a life expectancy of 12-14 years. His life was a living example of both how to endure struggles and giving glory to God in the process. He believed he would be healed. His faith was strong in the Lord. Regardless of a good day, bad day, good month, or bad month, he never wavered. His heart and focus was on the Lord. He prayed and read the bible every day. His relationship with the Lord grew stronger as his body grew weaker. In the end, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he would be healed. And he had a peace with the Lord that whether that healing came on this side of eternity or the other, it didn’t matter. God was the one that would heal him and He would be glorified in and through our son’s life.
White-knuckling the storms is one way to make it, but there’s no peace in it. Placing all of your hopes, fears, dreams, goals, faith, and life in the awesome working power of Jesus Christ and allowing Him to change you by the Holy Spirit glorifies God. AND He fills you with a peace in your heart in the midst of you’re enduring. It’s always easier to have peace when you don’t look at death as an end, but rather just turning a page. because we are truly all eternal beings. While we dearly miss our son, and are still going through the grieving process, we also know where he is. We thank God for the time we had to be his parents and have hope in the promise that we’ll see him again soon.
Regardless of the trial you’re facing, place everything about your test and your life into the hands of the Father. Let the words of Jesus on the cross give rest to your soul.
John 19:30 — It is finished. (NLT)
It. Is. Finished. Beautiful words. While we may not see the victory ahead, Jesus has already won the battle, defeated our enemy, overcome death and hell, and made the way for us to become children of God … to His glory.
— Pastor Rick
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