Unending Prayer

            Have you ever wondered from a practical standpoint what Paul meant when he instructed us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, to pray without ceasing?  You mean like never stop?  Like when I’m talking to someone I can pray at the same time?  To me I like to think of this as unending prayer.  Sure throughout our day we should be lifting up concerns for others, the church, our country, its leaders, and our own needs, yet all day we can choose to never say amen. 

            I believe we can and should invite God to share in every one of our daily experiences and keep the lines of communication open.   What would each of us look like if we had someone like Paul praying for us?  Imagine if you were one of those Colossian believers who was told, “since the day we heard about you we have not stopped praying for you.”  (Col. 1:9)   Now that’s some prayer support!

            God wants us to pray all the time.   Watchman Nee had it exactly right: “Our prayers lay the track down over which God’s power can come.  Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but cannot reach us without rails.”   So don’t stop praying.

                                                               “BUSTING OUT”

           Do you remember the day someone introduced you to Jesus and shared that He was the perfect sacrifice that allowed you to have a personal relationship with Almighty God?   I hope so.  That was the day your Christian life began.  It was the day you received the free gift of salvation, but did you know that was the best, greatest, last free gift you would receive from God?   Every minute we are given thereafter is our gift back to God.

            In Luke 22: 19-21 (and other places in the Gospels) we find Jesus having communion with the disciples.  In verse 20, He said, “This is the new covenant between God and his people –an agreement confirmed by my blood and poured out as a sacrifice for you.”   After I have received the cup from Christ and accepted the agreement He made on my behalf, what other appropriate response should I give than to bust a hole through the bottom of my cup and make myself a conduit through which Christ’s life  and power can overflow to the world?

            Samuel Chadwick put it this way, “ Spirit filled souls are ablaze for God.  They love with love that glows.  They serve with faith that kindles.  They serve with a devotion that consumes.  They hate sin with fierceness that burns.  They rejoice with a joy that radiates.  Love is perfected in the fire of God.” - BUST OUT & BURN BRIGHT!

                                    “Don’t Go There”    

            In Psalm 143:7 the King David says, “Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens.  Don’t turn away from me or I will die.”   Do you ever feel that deepening black-hole of depression that wants to consume you?  Or do you sense you’ve been orphaned in this cold cruel world where no one would know if you lived or died?  It’s like the chicken and egg thing; sometimes it’s hard to tell which come first the depression or the loneliness.   They go together and often by improving one the other get better. 

            King David’s son Solomon who succeeded him was rich beyond compare, but writes in Ecclesiastes 4:8: “This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can.  But then he asks himself, ‘Who am I working for?  Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?  It is all so meaningless and depressing.”  

            Haven’t you ever felt that way?  I have.  Isn’t it interesting that Solomon’s father King David wrote in Psalm 68:6: “God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.”  See the links of depression and loneliness; relationships and joy?

            Getting connected can be easier than you think.   Join a prayer group, church choir, book club, bowling league, or health club.  Get a pet, take a class, and find someone to take to a sporting event or movie.   Is there a service you could offer as a volunteer?   Take an old friend a gift and update the friendship.   If you’re shy hook up with someone more gregarious who can help you become well-connected. 

             Conquer loneliness and depression, choose not to t go there. “The most obvious lesson in Christ’s teaching is that there is no happiness in having or getting anything, but only in giving.”  Henry Drummond.

           

                                     “Getting Ahead”         April 25, 2011

            Bumpsters!   Maybe you don’t have these guys in your town.  (Sorry guys but I’ve noticed they’re almost always guys.)   They are hyper testosterone driven road-runners who rev their engines at red lights, blare obscene music through open windows, and never miss a chance to cut you off.  Where are they going?  Buy a beer?    See a chick?   Make a deal?    Funny thing is for all the wasted gas, stress, and drama they might shave a good twenty seconds off their trip.   (I know I sound like a jabbering old man.)      

            G.K. Chesterston once said, “One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time.”   Psalm 37: 7 instructs us to “Be still, before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.”   In verse 9 those of us who trust in God are promised an inheritance of the land.  Verse 10 says, “soon the will wicked will disappear.  Though you look for them, they will be gone.”

            No matter what good things we attempt to accomplish in life no doubt oppositions will come.    We can’t allow Bumpsters and other obstacles get in the way of our commitments.   “No great work is ever done in a hurry.  To develop a great scientific discovery, to paint a great picture, to write an immortal poem, to become a minister, or a famous general~~to do anything great requires time, patience, and perseverance.” -W.J. Wilmont Buxton   Remember, to get ahead, we need only to keep moving in the right direction.

         

“Don’t we pay him enough already?”    April 19, 2011    

            (I know it’s late.  We bought our son a car last night!)

            I hope you’re not one of those church members that begrudge the Pastor thinking, he gets a hefty salary for less than a full day of work.   If so, you only need to hang out with him for a few hours and you’ll appreciate the enormity of your Pastor’s job.  How would you like to be God’s 24 hours Customer Service Representative?

            Every Pastor will tell you their first and greatest need is prayer.   Tell him in particular when and what you are praying for him.   Try getting to church early and pray as a team for your Pastor and his family.   Don’t make him come to you, instead go out of your way to speak with him and ask about his needs.   He needs your compliments and defense from the gossipers. 

            Support your Pastor’s reading by enclosing gift cards to bookstores or magazine subscriptions, inside short handwritten notes.   (Pastors of large churches don’t have time for email, but will always read personal handwritten notes.)   Don’t forget dinner invitations, gift cards to his favorite restaurants, and free baby sitting opportunities.   Timeshares offers and other vacation opportunities provide essential time for R&R.   

            If you don’t have much money, give free professional services or technical skills to meet his needs.   Give him your business card with a hand written note offering complimentary services to Pastors.   Simple things like making sure his car gets washed, lawn gets mowed, and a hundred other services church members could offer might really bless him and make his family feel appreciated.    

            The Message Bible instructs us in 1 Thessalonians 5:12 to “honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience.   Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!”   Have a blessed day and Honor your Pastor!   

How Much Does a Broken Neighbor Cost? April 15, 2011

April 15, 2011     “The Cost of a Broken Neighbor” 

            A few years ago I was rushing to finish a lawn and must have forgotten to blow off the lawn clippings that had gathered on one of my customer’s neighbor’s lawn.   The next week this neighbor came and told me sternly that I needed to make sure I blew any grass off his driveway that resulted from my cutting.  He was right of course.  I apologized profusely and over time he would wave and even chat with me from time to time.   After this man’s wife had a stroke and he was unable to cut his own lawn anymore he asked me to take over doing his lawn.   Today he is one of my best customers.  Had I copped an attitude, a great opportunity and financial blessing could have been missed. 

            This past week with all the national budget deliberations it’s easy to adopt an attitude of, “we can’t afford it.”  I have a hard time picturing Jesus saying that to all of those many poor, sick, injured, and depressed people that sought after him.   As Americans it’s easy to say we should be taking care of our own people but do we?  And more important, will we in the future? 

            Just in the New Testament alone we are instructed eight times to love our neighbors just as we love ourselves.   (Check them out - Matthew 5:43, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33,  Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14,  and James 2:8).   I wonder today what it takes to really love our neighbors and fellow Americans.   Do our neighbors have to be old enough?   Sick enough, Disabled enough?  Poor enough?   Insane enough?  Military decorated enough, or even White (or your own ethnicity) enough? 

            I KNOW Jesus wouldn’t have placed these types of preconditions on those he came to heal and save.  In Matthew 9:36 of the New Living Translation we find, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  Before we start taking on our cultural political speak, we need to consider Jesus’ example.   And, lest we start thinking we have a pass just because we aren’t perfect like Jesus was 1 John 3:17 pops up.  “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need, but shows no compassion-how can God’s love be in that person?”   God wants and requires that we love and show compassion.  In Romans 13:8, it’s made very clear, “If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.”  

            If loving your neighbor is hard your in good company.   Consider what GK Chesterton said says about this, “The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies: probably because they are generally the same people.”    Have a great evening and weekend and don’t forget to show a little love! 

Help! April 13, 2011

Help!   April 13, 2011

Do you have a hard time asking for help?  Perhaps it’s our American culture that makes us think we have to do everything ourselves.  We even see it in small children.  “I do it myself.”  What is it that fuels such stubbornness?  An unbalanced sense of self- importance?   Pride?   Arrogance?

You know, we don’t have to do everything ourselves.  In John 15:26, Jesus promised to give us another helper who is the Holy Spirit.  This person of the Holy Spirit was provided to help us in our times of weakness, (Romans 8:26).   Do you ever wish there was someone who would stay with you all the time.  Bingo, Holy Spirit (John 14:16.)   Have you ever wanted someone to give you honest guidance?  Holy Spirit again (John 16:13.)   Would you like someone to explain what’s going to happen to you in the future? Holy Spirit (John 14:26).  Now let’s get even more practical.  Do you need someone to help you remember where you placed your car keys?  The Helper  (John 14:26.) 

Charles Spurgeon once said, “A church in a land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing.  If you have not the Spirit of God Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody else’s way; you are a fruitless tree standing where a fruitful tree might grow.”   

“Tonight Heavenly Father, I ask that you would strengthen these readers to reach out to you their faithful helper, strengthener, truth-giver, future-teller, guide, sustainer, and memory expert.   Let them experience your abiding presence in their lives now and always.  Amen.”

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 WINK!

Wick-i-pedia defines a wink as “a facial expression made by briefly closing one eye. A wink is an informal mode of non verbal communication usually signaling depending on context sexual attraction or shared hidden knowledge or intent.  I’m of course referring the latter application.  Sarah Palin became famous for, among other things, an ability to wink her way through interviews and speeches that had not been well thought out or planned. Yet, now as I’m pointing fingers I have four pointing back at me. Do I just wink at things I excuse as ok when God calls these things sin?  YES.

Winking at sin is nothing new. The apostles tell us in Ephesians 4:31 to get rid of all Bitterness and in Hebrews 12:15 to not let it grow inside us poisoning and corrupting many. I confess I’ve winked at bitterness and held it inside.  I’ve also been guilty of Gossip, yet there are over 14 different scriptures that tell me to turn aside from it. What about Anger? Everyone gets angry right?  Doesn’t the Bible liken anger to the sin of murder?  (Wink Wink?)  And what’s the first and greatest commandment? No idols. I pretend that I don’t put the computer, my job, family, and even church ahead of time spent with God. And finally, what about Coveting? The last of the ten commandments. Me? We excuse coveting as liking the way something is marketed or dismiss envy as just succumbing to advertizing.

Ok. Don’t leave me hanging on here feeling guilty all by myself, wink wink? I think what it comes down to is a passion to take what we see as "little" sins seriously. It helps me to realize that just one little sin cause Jesus to have to be nailed to that tree as payment for my selfishness.   Perhaps its more about keeping our mind and will focused. I’d like to close tonight with a challenge from Charles Wesley, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”  Have a great evening.