TUCKED AWAY FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Today, Monday, was not a good day.  Not only was I drained emotionally, mentally and spiritually from preaching yesterday, but physically I just did not (do not) feel well.  Nothing hurts, and there are no sharp pains.  The best way I know to describe it is I just feel 'blah.'  My devotion time was nothing dramatic.  My prayer time was nothing monumental.  I had my personal time with the Lord, because I know I needed to, but I must be honest and say that I didn't come away with some fresh, new revelation from the mail room of Heaven. 

Fast forward to late-evening.  I'm still feeling "blah,' and have taken more than 5000 mg of odorless garlic (which is a natural antibiotic by the way), as well as loaded up on Vitamin C, Zinc, and my daily multivitamin.  But, guess what, I still feel "blah."  While surfing through some of my favorite blogs, I came across one from one of my spiritual heroes.  I have never heard him preach when God didn't do a work in my heart.  I have never read his books without feeling that the ink was still wet on the page with a fresh word from God for my soul.  I am referring to Chuck Swindoll, former President of Dallas Theological Seminary, the voice of Insight for Living radio, and current pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Dallas.

His blog post was "good news from a far country."  It was a "word fitly spoken" like "apples of gold."  Once again God had used this dear man of God to be a voice, not an echo.  I am taking the liberty to post a portion of his blog below.  I pray it will speak to you as it did to me.

"In the ministry, monotony and mediocrity often mesh like teeth in gears. One spawns the other, leaving us yawning, bored, and adrift.  In referring to monotony, I do not have in mind a lack of activity as much as a lack of purpose. Even as pastors, we can be busy yet bored, involved yet indifferent. Ministry can become tediously repetitious, dull, humdrum, pedestrian.  In a word, blah.

Look into the faces of fellow pastors when they’re not in the pulpit. Talk to other ministers on their day off. Those on the mission field are equally susceptible. Show me an individual who once soared, whose ministry was characterized by enthusiasm and excellence—but who no longer reaches those heights—and I’ll show you a person who has probably become a victim of the blahs.

A blah attack may sound harmless, but it can leave us in an emotional heap, seriously questioning if ministry—and at times, if life—is worth it.  Yet even during your drab and seemingly meaningless assignments of the pastorate, God is there! From your yesterday to your tomorrow—God cares. From the little involvements to the big ones—God knows. From the ministerial duties that will never make the headlines (which seem to be mere busywork), all the way to those things that gain international attention—God is engaged!

So the next time you feel those clammy, cold fingers of the blahs reaching around you, you can pray along with me: “From yesterday until tomorrow, You, O Lord, are there. You care!”

  (Chuck Swindoll, Insight for Living Blog, November 9, 2010)

I needed this word today, and I have also tucked it away for future reference.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Steve

MONDAY MEMORIES

I sit here this quiet, chilly morning contemplating the events of the past few days with an attitude of gratitude.  Of course, everyone knows that last week as a monumental week in the world of domestic politics.  On election night, as the results came pouring in, we watched as the GOP regained overwhelming control in the House, and narrowed the margin of control in the Senate.  Yet, when all the results were in, my mind pondered the same question, "Will this really make a difference?"  In my heart I want to believe that it will, but it my head something tells me that it won't, because we've heard and seen it all before. 

The issue is not political party, nor is it the answer to the problems in this country.  The issue is moral and spiritual purity that can only be regained if God, the One who has so richly blessed this great land, is put back in His proper place.  Until He is allowed back in schools, we will continue to have shootings, drugs, out of control delinquents, and low educational standards.  Until He is allowed back into the justice system, we will continue to murder millions of precious lives who have been "fearfully and wonderfully made" by their Creator.  We cannot separate the natural from the spiritual.  We cannot separate the economical from the eternal.  We cannot separate vision from values.  We "reap" what we have "sown," are sowing and will continue to sow. 

Had a good day in God's house on yesterday.  The house was near capacity, and God gave me liberty to preach a tough message, "The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly" from 1 Cor. 2-3 dealing with the "natural man," the "spiritual man," and the "carnal man."  I pray that the seed was sown on good ground, and that God will get the increase all to Himself. 

I learned a long time ago that I am not the Holy Spirit.  I cannot change hearts.  I cannot convert hearts.  I cannot challenge hearts.  I can only do what He has called me to do, and that is faithfully declare the "unsearchable riches of Christ," then allow Him to do what only He, and He alone, can do.  I pray that took place yesterday.

The battered and bruised Indianapolis Colts went down to the Philadelphia Eagles 26-24 last evening.  It was a game they should not have lost.  They are now 5-3, and unless some key players get healthy fast, this may be one of the worst seasons the Colts have had in the past 10 years.  While I am saddened, I do find some comfort in the fact that the Jaguars are 4-4 (and won't win many more games) and the Cowboys are 1-7.  Thanks be to God.

Today is a day of personal matters.  I have many things to do to prepare for life on the road over the next couple of weeks...oil change, brake inspections, tires rotated and balance, and wheel alignment.   Praying for "mercy and grace in time of need." 

I go out today with this thought in my hearts...."Without Him, I can't.  Without me, He won't!"

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Steve

A WEEKEND TO REMEMBER

What a weekend!  It began on Friday as I celebrated 16 years of marriage to the love of my life.  Nothing big.  Nothing fancy. We were just together for a movie and a Starbucks, but as the commercial says, "Priceless."  What other gift could I ever want besides her?  I pray, if Jesus doesn't come, He will grant us another 16 years of marital bliss, and I can become the bridegroom to my bride that He is to His bride.

Saturday we played host to the College & Career tailgate party for the Florida/Georgia game.  It was fun.  Not the game, but the sights and sounds of late teens, and early to mid 20 year olds.  They always bring something fresh, new, exciting and unexpected.  I must say, we have been blessed with some of the most dedicated, committed and faithful young people that I have ever been privileged to pastor.  Many of them are actively serving the Lord in various ministries of NBBC.  I am proud of them. 

Of course, Sunday speaks for itself.  I preached a message yesterday morning that probably wouldn't be heard much in the pop-psychology preaching of today.  In a day where we have succumbed to giving people what they want, we are producing a generation of weak-kneed, anemic, puny, malnourished, carnal Christians who don't even possess a working knowledge of the basic tenets of our faith. 

Thus, the church has become everything but what Christ intended for it to be.  As the great Southern Baptist statesman, R. G. Lee once declared, "We have become social clubhouses instead of being spiritual lighthouses.  We have become museums that magnify the saints, rather than hospital that minister to the sinners.  We have become a group of political organizers, rather than spiritual agonizers.  We have become keepers of the aquarium, rather than fishers of men."  It's time for God to clean house so the blind can see, the lame can walk, the deaf can hear, the captive can be set free, the bound can be delivered, and the lost can be saved. 

I sensed the Holy Ghost doing a deep work in the hearts of people yesterday, both seen and unseen.  I am grateful.  I have asked God to clean house in my life, because He doesn't deserve to live in a dirty house.  I have asked God to clean house in our church, because He doesn't deserve to be robbed of the glory that belongs to Him.  I don't want to be a living thief, do you?

Of course, October 31 is known to most as Halloween, however, to me, it is a remembrance of the bravery, courage, and sacrifice of a man named Martin Luther who, in breaking from the apostasy of the Catholic church declared that salvation is by "grace alone" through "faith alone" in "God alone."  Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the door of the cathedral at Wittenburg, October 31, 1517, ignited what we now know as the Protestant Reformation. 

I closed last night with these words, "Many have said that they would be willing to die for their faith.  Jesus never asked us to die for Him, He only asked us to live for Him.  Soldiers are willing to die for a nation, while Christians aren't willing to live for their King."

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Steve

THOUGHTS FROM SUNDAY

A wise preacher of yesterday once said that "Mondays can either be used for observation, celebration or resignation."  I will seek to use this post to serve as the prior two of the three (although I have succumbed to the latter more Mondays than I care to admit). 

Yesterday was an "interesting" day in the Lord's house, to say the least.  I use the word "interesting" because that seems to be the only appropriate word to draw from the well.  Even now, I'm grasping for a word, but I just can't get away from "interesting," so I will leave it at that.  Just an "interesting" atmosphere for worship.

I am grateful for God's grace in enabling me to preach yesterday.  Yesterday morning I preached, "Don't Wait Too Late" from Isaiah 55: 6.  It was a word about Meeting God, Missing God and Minding God.  The word "while" is the word that arrested my attention.  "Seek ye the Lord WHILE he may be found; call ye upon him WHILE he is near."  The word suggests a specific season of opportunity.  WHILE Jesus makes Himself known, and WHILE He passes by is the time to reach out and touch the hem of his garment.  I pray many did just that, both inwardly and outwardly.

Last night I preached a message I had been looking forward to preach for some time, "Analyzing the Handwriting of God."  There are 3 different occasions in scripture where the "finger" of God wrote something.  It is said that our handwriting says a great deal about us, so I attempted to show what God's handwriting says about Him.  I can't speak for anyone else, but I thoroughly enjoyed preaching the message.  If God spoke to no one else, He resonated truth to my own heart.  I am grateful.

I closed the message last night by looking at a fourth appearance of God's handwriting.  There isn't a specific reference to the "finger" of God writing, but a word is used in Ephesians 2: 10 to suggest that God is still actively honing His writing skills.  It is the word "workmanship." 

 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, that God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

The Greek word for "workmanship" is 'poiema,' from which we derive the word 'poem.'  What a graphic reality!  I am God's poem.  He is writing His story on my life everyday.  One day the final punctuation mark will be placed at the end of my life's sentence, and what He has assessed from my life will be recorded in the annuls of history.  I pray that the poem He writes on my life is one that will reflect the beauty, skill and glory of the author.

All in all, we had a good day at NBBC.  Although it was "interesting" I pray that, in some way, God will use it to have an impact of eternal value.  As I told a group of preachers last night, "I did all I can do, so I'm trusting Him to do what I didn't do, couldn't do, and can't do." 

I am thankful for Debra Fitzwater and her 3 children who became a part of our church family yesterday.  Since I have a hard enough time with multiplication and division, I will let the Lord take care of the addition to His church.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Steve

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE MADE SIMPLE

I am grateful for the ministry of Major Ian Thomas.  A highly decorated British soldier in World War II, Major Thomas went on to become a mighty soldier in God's army, declaring the truth of the "Christ Life."  I shall never forget the day my pastor placed his classic work, "The Saving Life of Christ" into my hands.  Immediately, I was confronted with truth that was completely new to me.  It was truth that I had never be exposed to before.  Being raised in a rather "legalistic" environment, I was taught that we are saved by grace, and then the Christian life is evidenced by a list of "do's" and "don'ts."  Little did I know that what had been implanted in me was the belief of a "third work of grace." (Although my Baptist brethren/teachers would never admit it)

Then came the day when the Spirit of God shined the light of Bible truth upon my heart.  I came to see, know, understand and finally (after much resistance) appropriate the life of Christ in me, for me, and through me.  So often before I would live in disgust, defeat and discouragement seeing how miserably I was doing in attempting to live the Christian life.  What a glad day when the realization came that I wasn't responsible for living the Christian life, because I COULDN'T LIVE IT!  The Christian life was nothing more, nothing less than Jesus Christ Himself living through me.  It is called the "exchanged life," and thanks be to God for the day that an exchange took place in my life.

Below is an except from this classic work from Major Ian Thomas' "The Saving Life of Christ."  I will let the Holy Spirit speak through him to you, as He did to me.

"Christian living is not a method or technique; it is an entirely different, revolutionary principle of life. It is the principle of an exchanged life" not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20).  I would like to explore with you what is the true spiritual content of our Gospel ­ not just heaven one day, but Christ right now! Christ in you, on the grounds of redemption ­ this is the Gospel! To preach anything less than this must inevitably produce "Evan-jellyfish" ­ folk with no spiritual vertebrae, whose faith does not "behave!"

Do you remember what James says in his epistle? "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead" (chapter 2:26). The "spirit" there means breath, and a body without breath is dead. Stop breathing ­ and folk will bury you! In other words, a living body breathes, and a living faith breathes, and a living faith breaths with divine action. A living faith breathes with the activity of Jesus Christ. That is why the Lord Jesus, in John 6:29, said, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent."  That is the work of God. It is your living faith in the adequacy of the One who is in you, which releases His divine action through you. It is the kind of activity that the Bible calls "good works," as opposed to "dead works."

"Good works" are those works that have their origin in Jesus Christ - - whose activity is released through your body, presented to Him as a living sacrifice by a faith that expresses total dependence, as opposed to the Adamic independence (Romans 12: 1,2).  It is only the life of the Lord Jesus -- His activity, clothed with you and displayed through you, that ultimately will find the approval of God."

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Steve

DIVINE INTERRUPTION

Yesterday was an interesting day.  Let me rephrase that.  Yesterday was an interruption day...Divine Interruption.  If you were to look at my planner, you would have seen that yesterday was a day of meetings.  I arrived at the church for the first meeting, (a few minutes late as usual) only to discover that my first appointment was running late as well.  I waited....and waited....and waited...and waited a few more minutes.  Finally, after 40 minutes I concluded that this meeting would not take place.  Normally, I would not wait on an appointment for 40 minutes, especially when other things were on the docket.  I can't tell you why I waited this time either, or maybe I can.

I know now what I did not know then.  God interrupted my plans for His own.  About the time I was walking out to get into my car, a car that I quickly recognized pulled in the parking lot.  I hadn't seen this car, or the person driving the car, in a good while, but I quickly recognized them both nonetheless.  At first thought, I was a little apprehensive.  For one thing, though they were a member of our church, they had not attended in some time.  For another thing, the last time I saw them, let me suffice it to say that it was a strange encounter.  Thus, my apprehension was due to the fact that I had no clue what they wanted, or what God was doing.

However, for the next 2 hours, God unveiled why I waited on a no-show appointment, and why He had kept me from leaving.  Fences were mended.  Apologies were accepted.  Tears were shed.  Misunderstandings were clarified.  The air was cleared.  And, God was glorified.  Had I left 5 minutes sooner, the divine interruption would not have taken place.  But, the God who is not controlled by time or circumstance had other plans.  I'm glad He did.  I was quickly reminded that:


"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." (Prov. 16: 9)

My schedule had been interrupted by a divine arrangement, appointment and assignment. It was not anticipated; but it is certainly appreciated.

To God be the Glory!

Grace and Peace,


Pastor Steve

TIMES OF REFRESHING

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."  (Acts 3: 19)


By the time Sunday night rolls around, I am making progress if I can even remember who I am, and what I had for lunch.  Preaching 3 times on Sunday drains me, even more so the older I get.  I'm not complaining, because there's nothing else I would rather do.  When a preacher is who you are, preaching is what you do.  It's a "fire shut up in my bones."  Last night was no exception.  I remember driving home from church, with Noah navigating for me, and he was chatting a mile a minute.  I remember hearing his voice, and I remember him talking about everything from girls to BCS rankings to the Colts' game we were rushing home to see, but don't ask me for details, because I just can't remember.  I was a zombie.

I made it in, showered, changed, relaxed, plopped down on the sofa and started watching the Colts game.  I was still a zombie, that is until the Colts fumbled 4 times and almost gave the Redskins a victory.  Finally, everyone started winding down.  Noah got quiet, which means he is either pouting is sleepy.  Kim had finished making her egg salad and was on the computer.  My mother-in-law had already retired for the night.  So, there in my zombie state, I began reflecting on the day the Lord had given me the privilege to be a part of at NBBC.

I will not attempt to describe or explain it lest I put unholy hands on holy things.  I will simply suffice it to say that "Jesus Passed By."  When the evening service came to a close, we had been privileged to witness 13 souls saved, 5 rededications, and 2 surrender to preach the gospel.  It was a God thing!  The Big Preacher grabbed the microphone, and the little preacher just tried to get out of His way.  I was in the presence of the Holy One of Israel, and I stood amazed at watching Him work right before my eyes.

When all the lights were out, the game was over, the television turned off, and the cell phone put on the charger, I laid in the dark, still a zombie, but with these words running from my heart to my head, "^"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

My weary body was still being refreshed by His wonderful presence.  Thanks be to God!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Steve