One Pastor's Perspective

I just had a great breakfast with Tom Blackaby … One on one.  A chance to talk about everything in the world, and to talk about nothing.  We did both!

At one point, he told me a story that I will roughly quote: “Once, at a preaching conference, there were four speakers on the agenda for an evening.  The first three spoke and each went overtime.  The third, who was a preaching professor at a seminary/college, eloquently spoke and upon his finish left the podium to a standing ovation.  The fourth man stood, knowing things were way overtime, and shared the word God gave him.  He left the podium with half of the room on their knees before the Lord.”

Which pastor would you rather be???

One of the things I like about Tom is there are many similarities between us, about which I had no idea until we spent some time together this weekend.  And I know when he shares, he is sharing what God put on his heart to share.  I’m thankful for men and women who follow the Holy Spirit and trust Him.  God can do much with disciples like that!!  Lord, make ME a disciple like that!

It boggles my mind … I guess it’s human nature.  But I don’t see how anyone can claim the promises of God while walking away from Him and everything He is about.  To use God’s word as a smoke-screen, covering sin, is an abomination before Him.  And yet, it happens every day.

In John 15, Jesus reminded us that HE is the vine and WE are the branches.  He challenged His disciples to remain in Him and in His word … to love each other with the kind of love God has for us … and to obey His commands.  If we do these things, our lives will bear fruit that glorifies God.  And Jesus reminded us to not think this is something we can do under our own power.  Just like the branches, we MUST REMAIN ATTACHED TO THE VINE.

You can front on Facebook, Twitter, in real life and fool the entire world with your double-life.  You cannot fool God and you cannot fake the fruit that glorifies Him.  End of story.

A fact of life for every Christian is that we will face attack from Satan if we are pursuing God’s will.  The enemy will try everything in his power to knock us off track because he wants to see the kingdom of God fail, the church fail, the family fail, the Christian fail.  One of the most difficult things for me (as a pastor) is watching this happen to others.  But, we can ALL do more than watch!!!  Ever thought about prayer as a WEAPON??

Jesus Christ LOVES YOU and HAS A PLAN FOR YOU.  He is interceding for you at this moment.  Paul wrote to the church at Rome that the Holy Spirit intercedes for you and prays for you even when you don’t know what to pray.  When you are at your lowest, the Holy Spirit is praying for YOU!!!!  Prayer is powerful!

In Ephesians 6, Paul challenged us to put on the full armor of God:

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

God provides everything you need to make it through this … And I AM PRAYING FOR YOU.  And, if you are facing the fiery darts launched by Satan, I’ll just betcha there are other Christians praying for you, too!!  BE STRONG IN THE LORD!  Recognize our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against Satan!

I was talking with a friend the other day when the question arose … Does God speak to us?  Does He answer questions for us?  How can we know it is Him?

All I know is what I’ve experienced in this realm.  My answer is YES, and experience is my evidence!!

Have I ever heard His voice, loud, audible, and deep??  No.  But I know He speaks to us in a variety of ways.  Two decades ago, I was a young man who seemed to have the world by the tail!  I had a great job as a senior systems developer for a small computer company on the outskirts of Spartanburg.  I’d been married for almost four years to the love of my life and had a six-month-old daughter.  And life was good, or so it seemed.  Even though I’d grown up in a strong church in Greenville, I’d only known Christ as my personal Savior for a couple of years.  And beneath the surface I was running from a call that would ultimately lead me here to this place.

It was a frightening prospect to walk away from a great job, making great money, to pursue a call to ministry.  As God and I “discussed” this move, I prayed for a voice.  I begged for a voice.  I never got it.  (I even asked for a billboard.)

What I did get was a clear call and many, many confirmations.  Confirmations from God’s word.  Confirmations from His people.  It finally reshaped the WAY I prayed.  “Lord, if YOU open the door, I will walk through.”  My life has never been the same!

Does God speak???  ABSOLUTELY!  He is speaking all around us!

The real question is do we listen?

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus made it clear that good soil is the one we want to be! Good soil produces a crop which glorifies God! Every Gardner wants to plant only in the best soil … So what does it take for us to BE the good soil God wants?

It’s up to God …AND us! One of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit is convicting us of our sin. I’ve often preached and fully believe we cannot clean ourselves up enough for a relationship with God. God is constantly at work in our lives, pruning and guiding us to do our part in tending the garden of our life!

Yes, we do have a role to play. Confessing our sin and turning AWAY from it! In other words, repentance! Turning and walking away from things in our lives that do not glorify Him or build His kingdom! Throwing that junk out of the garden! Loosening the soil and picking out the weeds and rocks! God will show us what to do … But we need to get on our knees and do it!

Are you willing?

I freely admit this … I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I AM GOING!!  I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH IS GOING!!

Some will read this and say “AHA!!  I TOLD YOU HE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING!!”  Yes, I’ve heard that a time or two in my years at EBC.  But, not to worry … I have NO IDEA where I am going, but I am following THE ONE Who DOES!!!

Last night, I committed (along with a few others) to take a journey.  A journey led by God.  And I realize we are very much like Moses and the Children of Israel (except, hopefully NOT the unfaithful part)!  But we are on a journey to wherever God leads us!!  The key is HE is leading, not us!!

This flies in the face of conventional wisdom.  And that’s okay.  There are times, as followers of Christ, when conventional wisdom just doesn’t apply.  Or, maybe another way to write that is “there are times when God’s wisdom outweighs conventional wisdom!”  When, you might ask??  ALL OF THE TIME!!!

So, today I have NO IDEA.  And it is WONDERFUL!!  Lead on, GOD!!!

You know, it’s interesting to see and hear the different levels of respect for God’s house in 2011.  I was talking to a friend Sunday morning before he walked into the sanctuary.  He had a travel mug in his hand and was drinking coffee from home.  As he stood there and talked to me, he said “I’ve got to finish this before I go in there.”  WHY??  RESPECT.  Bryan and I both grow un in a age where we were taught to REALIZE we were in God’s house and respect it.  I know that was an act of devotion to God, as simple as it might seem.

When I lived in New Orleans, things were different.  It was nothing for a kid to get up and move around … and maybe RUN around … during worship.  People would drink coffee in the sanctuary.  BUT THERE WAS STILL A REVERENCE.

Reverence … RESPECT … for God’s house is an attitude of the HEART.  I really do think it extends to EVERY SPECK of His property.  In the Youth Assembly Building.  In Young Hall.  In the Family Life Center.  It ALL belongs to God and we should respect and revere it.

But, if we really believe He owns the cattle on a thousand hills … that HE created it all and there is NOTHING that is not subject to Him … then shouldn’t we live our lives EVERYDAY in respect and reverence to Him??  Shouldn’t we behave with a reverence to God NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE??

It really is all a state of the heart!  And, what if respect for His House extended to EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY of this planet??  I think maybe it does ….