Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
God's Garden
This morning as I was looking out at our perennial garden with all of it's variety of beautiful foliage and flowers, I considered how year after year, God enables these flowers to come back up and bloom all over again, and not only that but increase in quantity and quality with each succeeding year.
I thought how that's so like God and how He relates to me. Day after day, year after year God enables His love and His beauty to grow in me and each succeeding year His love and His beauty continue to grow within me and hopefully observed and felt by those who rub shoulders with me.
Consider James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." Thank you, God, for all the good gifts you send our way. Thank you for perennial gardens that reflect you beauty and your love.
Note: The photos of Lupines and Red Hot Poker are from our garden.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunny Day Thoughts
I'm sitting here reflecting on how great it feels to have two sunny days in a row. After the long run of rainy days, of dark, forboding clouds, and cool weather, I feel a sense of rejuvination again with the bright, warm, sunny days.
I was reading from Psalms this morning and in chapter 84, verses 10 & 11, David writes, "...I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
As I was sitting in my office with the bright morning sunshine streaming through my window, reflecting on God's grace and glory, the concept of God as a sun and shield was opened up to me. Just as following those long, wet and dark days, the bright sun comes and warms my heart, the brightness of God's love, the warmth of His grace and the brilliance of His glory are all part of the "sun and shield" of who God is in the midle of the darkness of life.
During the dark days of my life God is a shield to protect me from all the harm that I tend to permit into my life and just as surely as he is my shield in those times, he is my sun when I emerge from the darkness of the deep struggles of life, shining His light into my life, warming my soul, once again, and bringing hope back into my life.
Thank you, God for the sun!
I was reading from Psalms this morning and in chapter 84, verses 10 & 11, David writes, "...I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
As I was sitting in my office with the bright morning sunshine streaming through my window, reflecting on God's grace and glory, the concept of God as a sun and shield was opened up to me. Just as following those long, wet and dark days, the bright sun comes and warms my heart, the brightness of God's love, the warmth of His grace and the brilliance of His glory are all part of the "sun and shield" of who God is in the midle of the darkness of life.
During the dark days of my life God is a shield to protect me from all the harm that I tend to permit into my life and just as surely as he is my shield in those times, he is my sun when I emerge from the darkness of the deep struggles of life, shining His light into my life, warming my soul, once again, and bringing hope back into my life.
Thank you, God for the sun!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Value of a Bible
Tonight as I wait for a "happily in-love" couple to fill out a marriage questionnaire in preparation for our counseling sessions, I'm reflecting on a letter I received yesterday. The letter comes from someone I don't even know and in his letter he is thanking me profusely for the Bible I gave to him (Someone requested a Bible for him). He makes sure he thanks me for the Bible, but then he says, "I am thanking you also for more than just the Bible."
He says, "If death would have come instantly to me several months ago I would not have known my destination. Now, day-by-day, as I have been reading my Bible, I came to realize that Jesus Christ loves me, and that I love him, that I too, can be with Him some day soon and that I should not continue to fool myself any longer. Now I know that when my 'time comes' I will be ready to live with my God! Thank you for setting me on the right road and I thank God for being truly born."
As I was reflecting on this letter, I was deeply moved, once again, to see how powerful the Word really is. This young man found the Lord by reading the Bible I gave to him. As I was reflecting on the marvel of God's Word, the Holy Spirit brought 2 Timothy, 3:16 to my mind, "All scripture is 'breathed by God' and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of god may be competent, equipped for every good work." This, I believe, is what Paul had in mind when he penned these words to Timothy.
He says, "If death would have come instantly to me several months ago I would not have known my destination. Now, day-by-day, as I have been reading my Bible, I came to realize that Jesus Christ loves me, and that I love him, that I too, can be with Him some day soon and that I should not continue to fool myself any longer. Now I know that when my 'time comes' I will be ready to live with my God! Thank you for setting me on the right road and I thank God for being truly born."
As I was reflecting on this letter, I was deeply moved, once again, to see how powerful the Word really is. This young man found the Lord by reading the Bible I gave to him. As I was reflecting on the marvel of God's Word, the Holy Spirit brought 2 Timothy, 3:16 to my mind, "All scripture is 'breathed by God' and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of god may be competent, equipped for every good work." This, I believe, is what Paul had in mind when he penned these words to Timothy.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
My Hope is in the Lord!
This morning as I was sitting with the Lord He impressed upon me, once again, in a powerful way that there simply is no other place to turn to put my hope in than in Him! The Lord had me perusing Psalms 146, where David is full of praise to the Lord for all that He is.
- He made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in it.
- He keeps His TRUTH FOREVER!
- He executes justice for the oppressed.
- He gives food to the hungry and freedom to the prisoners.
- He opens the eyes of the blind and lifts up those who are depressed.
- He loves the righteous and he watches over strangers.
- He eases the burden for the fatherless and the widow but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
I echo David's exclamation in Psalm 39:7 where upon reflection of all that is wrong around him he shouts aloud, "My hope is in you, Lord."
In the middle of the muddle of all the economic hardship we are currently living through, in the middle of some "tough stuff" at Sandy Hill right now, I can truly say with David of old, "My hope is in you, Lord." Selah!
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Marriage Counseling
Tonight I began a series of Marriage Counseling sessions with a couple that will be married in August. Next Tuesday evening I will have the initial Marriage Counseling session for a second couple I will marry a week after the couple I met with tonight.
I've been reflecting on marriage counseling and here are a few of my thoughts after having conducted a number of counseling sessions:
I've been reflecting on marriage counseling and here are a few of my thoughts after having conducted a number of counseling sessions:
- We insist on it as pastors, but what value, really, is it when during the entire course of counseling, the couple only have eyes for each other and are so full of each other?
- When we discuss some potential problem spots in their marriage, do they really take seriously the potential issues these problem spots could lead to?
- Sometimes I get the distinct impression that these couples agree to counseling because I insist on it in order to marry them. They are not particularly interested in it.
- Many couples don't have a clear Biblical understanding of marriage and how God speaks to the relationship between a godly husband and wife.
- In spite of my questions, I find that I always look forward to these sessions as a precious time of getting to know better each person approaching marriage.
- I look forward to dialoging with each couple what the Bible has to say about marriage.
- I'm energized by the enthusiasm for making their marriage work, that each couple generally brings to the sessions.
- And finally, on wedding day, I watch that new couple walk back out of the church as, "Mr. and Mrs." and I have high hopes that this particular marriage is one that will be committed to honoring God, due in part to the influence I as their pastor was able to bring to bear on their marriage relationship through the time spent with them in marriage counseling.
So, in spite of many questions, I actually look forward to these times of interaction with couples about to "tie the knot." And I pray that God keeps them safe from all the distractions this world will bring into their marriage.
I invite you to partner with me, by supporting me in prayer as I use these sessions to impart the truth of God's Word to two young couples excitedly looking forward to their wedding day in August.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Here it is, Thursday already, the final day of our conference. This morning Crawford Loritts, a pastor from Atlanta, brought a powerful message on, "The Ministry of the Holy Spirit." Some of his introductory statements were:
1. "Effectiveness in ministry is an outflow of our walk with the Holy Spirit."
2. "We assume the Holy Spirit actively at work in our lives without developing a relationship with Him. We do our work from our learning from books and schools and then we give credit for our work to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told the Disciples in Acts 1, "You will have power..." (Dunamis-Gr.) Dunamis, among other things means "Inherent activity." The power of the Holy Spirit moves us to action. He stated that there are three aspects to ministering in the Holy Spirit. They are:
1. We are commanded to do so.
2. The case for Holy Spirit-Led Leadership.
3. The commitment to Holy Spirit-Led Leadership.
A. The command. (Eph. 5:18) "Don't be drunk with wine, but filled with the Holy Spirit. The cultural practice of the religious Ephesians would be to become drunk with wine believing that this brought them favor with Dionysus, the god of sensuality. Paul, knowing this tells the new Ephesian Christians, don't be filled with wine, as you did during the festivals with the god, Dionysus, but rather be filled, instead, with the Holy Spirit. It's a command for us to be filled.
It's a command in the imperative tense. Any believer not living under the control of the Holy Spirit is living knowingly and willingly in sin and disobedience to God. We need to be intentional about a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. It's controlling in nature. We are to "take the lid off of the bowl." For many of us we have become ministerial technicians. It's also continuous. "...but be filled." The Greek sense is to be "continually" filled with the Holy Spirit. We need the Spirit of the living God every minute of every day. "I need thee, oh, I need thee." We must die to self and invite the Holy Spirit to take over continually, consciously.
B. The Case for the Holy Spirit. (Gal. 5:16-25) There are five key words from the text that make the case for the Holy Spirit. "Walk," vs. 16; "Led," vs. 18; "Fruit," vs. 22; "Live," vs. 25a; and "Walk," vs. 25b.
1. Walk (vs. 16) (Gr. peripateĊ) It's how one lives their lives. Paul tells us to "Walk" as one who's outward characteristic is to be dependent on the Holy Spirit. If we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, we operate in a supernatural way. If not, we operate on our own.
2. Led (vs. 18) Speaks to freedom produced by the Spirit of God. Being filled, "or led," by the Holy Spirit produces freedom, joy of obedience and lightens our burden.
3. Fruit (vs. 22) Christlike character. The fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit re-creates the image of Jesus within us when we are "filled." When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are filled with all of the fruit, singular. It's all one fruit. We receive the entire package of fruit, even thought some of our fruit may not be ripe yet.
4. Live (v. 25a) Live life to the fullest. Jesus said, "I have come to give you life and I give life more abundantly! If we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, "It doesn't get any better than this.
5. Walk (vs. 25b) (Gr. stoicheĊ) This word, "walk," represents the confidence with which I approach life. Be prepard-ready for battles. Being confident of everything. "I trust in God even if I cannot see the way forward." If you live by thye Spirit and are full of the Holy Spirit, then you MUST begin walking like it.
C. Commitment to be filled by the Holy Spirit. There are three Biblical verbs that are key to living a life transformed by the Holy Spirit. They are: 1) Repent, 2) Yield, and 3) Believe.
1. Repent (1 John 1:9) The problem with the filling of the Holy Spirit is that we all leak. We must confess our sins and repent daily. The Holy Spirit can only fill what is empty.
2. Yield (Romans 6:13) We are having wrecks and making a mess of ministry because we are not fully yielded to the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.
3. Believe (Col. 2:6) We are to "Walk" in Him, we are to "Receive" Jesus by faith, and we are to "Receive" the Holy Spirit by faith also.
Trust me when I say my cup is full and running over. This has truly been a blessed time this week. I will be receiving an "MP3) of all the sermons from which I will run off CD'S for anyone who wishes sto listen to these messages. I will provide a listing of each of the messages from which you can choose which one (s) you would like copies of.
Please pray for me as we begin our trip home tonight. We plan to return home sometime Friday afternoon. Thanks again for the opportunity to attend this wonderful conference.
1. "Effectiveness in ministry is an outflow of our walk with the Holy Spirit."
2. "We assume the Holy Spirit actively at work in our lives without developing a relationship with Him. We do our work from our learning from books and schools and then we give credit for our work to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told the Disciples in Acts 1, "You will have power..." (Dunamis-Gr.) Dunamis, among other things means "Inherent activity." The power of the Holy Spirit moves us to action. He stated that there are three aspects to ministering in the Holy Spirit. They are:
1. We are commanded to do so.
2. The case for Holy Spirit-Led Leadership.
3. The commitment to Holy Spirit-Led Leadership.
A. The command. (Eph. 5:18) "Don't be drunk with wine, but filled with the Holy Spirit. The cultural practice of the religious Ephesians would be to become drunk with wine believing that this brought them favor with Dionysus, the god of sensuality. Paul, knowing this tells the new Ephesian Christians, don't be filled with wine, as you did during the festivals with the god, Dionysus, but rather be filled, instead, with the Holy Spirit. It's a command for us to be filled.
It's a command in the imperative tense. Any believer not living under the control of the Holy Spirit is living knowingly and willingly in sin and disobedience to God. We need to be intentional about a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. It's controlling in nature. We are to "take the lid off of the bowl." For many of us we have become ministerial technicians. It's also continuous. "...but be filled." The Greek sense is to be "continually" filled with the Holy Spirit. We need the Spirit of the living God every minute of every day. "I need thee, oh, I need thee." We must die to self and invite the Holy Spirit to take over continually, consciously.
B. The Case for the Holy Spirit. (Gal. 5:16-25) There are five key words from the text that make the case for the Holy Spirit. "Walk," vs. 16; "Led," vs. 18; "Fruit," vs. 22; "Live," vs. 25a; and "Walk," vs. 25b.
1. Walk (vs. 16) (Gr. peripateĊ) It's how one lives their lives. Paul tells us to "Walk" as one who's outward characteristic is to be dependent on the Holy Spirit. If we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, we operate in a supernatural way. If not, we operate on our own.
2. Led (vs. 18) Speaks to freedom produced by the Spirit of God. Being filled, "or led," by the Holy Spirit produces freedom, joy of obedience and lightens our burden.
3. Fruit (vs. 22) Christlike character. The fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit re-creates the image of Jesus within us when we are "filled." When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are filled with all of the fruit, singular. It's all one fruit. We receive the entire package of fruit, even thought some of our fruit may not be ripe yet.
4. Live (v. 25a) Live life to the fullest. Jesus said, "I have come to give you life and I give life more abundantly! If we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, "It doesn't get any better than this.
5. Walk (vs. 25b) (Gr. stoicheĊ) This word, "walk," represents the confidence with which I approach life. Be prepard-ready for battles. Being confident of everything. "I trust in God even if I cannot see the way forward." If you live by thye Spirit and are full of the Holy Spirit, then you MUST begin walking like it.
C. Commitment to be filled by the Holy Spirit. There are three Biblical verbs that are key to living a life transformed by the Holy Spirit. They are: 1) Repent, 2) Yield, and 3) Believe.
1. Repent (1 John 1:9) The problem with the filling of the Holy Spirit is that we all leak. We must confess our sins and repent daily. The Holy Spirit can only fill what is empty.
2. Yield (Romans 6:13) We are having wrecks and making a mess of ministry because we are not fully yielded to the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.
3. Believe (Col. 2:6) We are to "Walk" in Him, we are to "Receive" Jesus by faith, and we are to "Receive" the Holy Spirit by faith also.
Trust me when I say my cup is full and running over. This has truly been a blessed time this week. I will be receiving an "MP3) of all the sermons from which I will run off CD'S for anyone who wishes sto listen to these messages. I will provide a listing of each of the messages from which you can choose which one (s) you would like copies of.
Please pray for me as we begin our trip home tonight. We plan to return home sometime Friday afternoon. Thanks again for the opportunity to attend this wonderful conference.
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