One Pastor's Perspective

I have told this story from the pulpit.  But as far as I can tell from researching, I have never written about it in my blog.  And it is too good to miss!

The date was June 28, 2014.  It was a few days after my nephew and his wife welcomed the first great-grandchild into the Wike clan.  Mom and Dad were driving down to Charleston to see her and wanted us to meet them there.  I told Mom approximately what time we would leave Florence and asked her if she was okay getting there.  She assured me she had printed a map from her computer and could find it!!

Diana and I went down I-95 and hit I-26 heading for Charleston.  As usual, I-95 was a circus.  I was stressed to a maximum level when we merged onto I-26.  We merged on and ended up behind a greenish Dodge van that wasn’t even going the speed limit.  And we were stuck behind them!!  And I was not happy.  I probably mumbled something about using the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal.  Then I slowly realized I knew that van …  We drove up beside them to see it was Mom and Dad!!!  We knew Mom was nervous about driving into Charleston, so we made a plan to stop and let me drive them.  I think Mom got into the car with Diana and I drove the van and Dad.

We got there and saw little Molly for the first time.  She was so sweet and precious.  Mom and Dad were in awe of that little one.  It was a great moment to witness, and I am thankful I was there.

A little later, my mind started spinning.  I started thinking about the rate of speed on I-95 (speed limit is 70, but you drive a little faster if you don’t want to be hit from behind) and the same on I-26.  I told my Mom “You know, that was SOOOO lucky that we merged onto I-26 at just the right time to get right behind you guys.  We couldn’t have threaded that needle any better had we been talking on cell phones the whole time.  That was some luck!!”

My mom responded, “No, that wasn’t luck at all.  I knew I would have a hard time finding their house and getting around in Charleston, and I had been praying the whole time ‘Lord, I don’t know how You are going to get us there.  But I am trusting You.’  I am not at all surprised that you showed up.  You were the answer to my prayer.”

WOW!!  That is just how she lived, too.  Complete trust, KNOWING that God would make good and guide her in.  That not only testifies to her faith, but stands as a legacy to me.  I will never forget that day.  God really DOES care and He is at work all around us.  Open your eyes and see!!  Remove the filters and have a little simple faith.  Believe and see that the Lord is GOOD!!!

When God says “Step up!” what will YOU do?

For years, I have been telling my Ebenezer family that God is at work all around us … All we have to do is wake up and look for Him!  This is not only true for Ebenezerites, but is a universal truth.  If you know Christ as Savior, you can count on this truth!  This idea was not originally mine … Henry Blackaby wrote about this in Experiencing God many years ago.  But we know this to be a tried and true principle of Christian life.

I believe there are rare moments in the lives of Christians when God calls us to join Him in extraordinary things.  These are not every day events … Some of them only happen once in a lifetime, if that often.  With all of my heart, I believe God is calling His children at Ebenezer to one of those events RIGHT NOW.  And I wonder how we will respond!

In less than two weeks, I will have been on staff at EBC for TWENTY YEARS.  That is 140 in dog years.  When I came to Ebenezer in June of 1995, people were talking about building a new sanctuary.  We were crowded and needed space.  Ebenezer had been talking about this for YEARS.  For TWO DECADES, we have talked.  We have prayed.  We have raised money.  And here we are!

This past Sunday morning, representatives from our New Facility team stood and talked about details concerning the bids that came in to build our new worship center.  They asked the church to pray about increasing their approved total from $2.5 million to $3.1 million.  They talked about how the scope had changed and there are several things that were not in the original plans that need to be done.  (For example, the parking lot absolutely HAS to be repaired.  I think I saw the Von Trapp family escaping from Germany in one of the crevasses that has opened up.)

Anyway, here we are.  I reminded the team a few weeks ago that God is NOT surprised by any of this.  And none of this is more than He can afford.  These ladies and gentlemen have worked hard, prayed non-stop, and thought through this entire process.  And here we are.

God is saying “Step up, Ebenezer!”  Will we?  Pray hard and ask Him what He wants us to do!!

God’s timing is perfect!  But it doesn’t always fit into our plans.  We live in a world where immediate delivery on goods and services is desired and rewarded.  Let’s face it:  We ALL would rather go to the pizza place that can deliver our custom pie in 15 minutes (or less) from order to table.  That place 45 minutes will not see our repeat business no matter how good it might be.  WHY??  Because our society places speed above quality (in many cases).

Personally, after being on my “new way of eating plan” for 17 months now, I would wait an HOUR for the world’s best pizza.  But that is a another story for another day.

God’s timing is PERFECT, in how He answers our prayers and in how He unfolds life before us.  It fits perfectly with His will on earth and works to the good of His kingdom, as well as US!! We don’t always understand that.  We rarely ever like it.  But, we MUST admit it is true.

In the next few weeks, IF you will give your control of situations in life over to God, watch and see how He unfolds everything when the time is right.  You might not see it immediately, but as you look back you probably will.  And it will blow your mind!!

Looking at my blog this morning, I realized it has been almost TWO MONTHS since I posted.  That is not right.  My life has been rather topsy-turvy since November, 2014, but that is no excuse.  This week I will remedy that situation.

There is a thought that I cannot shake.  It came out yesterday in the pulpit at Ebenezer.  it is a truth that has been staring me in the face for years, yet I failed to recognize it.  Until about two months ago.  Seems there is no reason I should have overlooked this truth, but I did.

There are THREE FORCES in the life of every man and woman that seek to pull them away from Christ, that seek to separate them from a relationship with a loving God.  At least, this is how I see it today.  THREE powerful forces.

The first and most obvious is the devil.  Yes, I believe the devil seeks to kill, steal, and destroy (see John 10:10).  He wants nothing more than to annihilate the Kingdom of God.  He is vain enough to believe he can actually do it, too.  But he cannot.  He will seek every opportunity to remind you that YOU are not good enough, that GOD is not strong enough, that he is in charge of things down here.  Or, so he thinks.  For years we have seen him work.  We like to blame him when things go awry.  Sometimes we give him way too much credit.

The second force is the world.  Yes, the devil is the ruler of the kingdom of the air, he is the leader of the world.  But there is a whole world around you that does not serve God or seek to serve Him.  They choose not to believe Him, to believe in sin, to believe in the saving power of Christ.  AND THEY DO NOT WANT YOU TO BELIEVE, EITHER.  There is a lot of truth in that old saying, “Misery loves company.”  They work equally as hard to pull you away from your commitment to God, your relationship with Christ.  And some of those doing this are friends … family … those we love and trust.  Be on your guard, because they can do much damage.

The third force might be surprising, and you might not like my writing this.  You can always stop reading at any time.  But the third force is YOU.  (I suffer from this as well.)  The third force is that earthly nature, with which we are all born. It naturally migrates towards wanting IT’S OWN WAY above God’s way and His will.  And sometimes it will gently pull away from the leadership of God, from the leanings of the Holy Spirit.  And sometimes it will run full-throttle in the opposite direction from God (see the book of Jonah).

In a nutshell, there are things all around your life that will try to pull you away.  But, DO NOT FEAR.  You can overcome this.  Place your hand firmly in His.  Walk with Him everyday.  Believe and KNOW that there is nothing in heaven or earth strong enough to ply yourself from His hand.  He will NOT let you down!!

A sad journey today. Very soon I will be on the road to Easley to attend my uncle’s funeral and spend some time with my dad.

Death is always difficult. Sadness envelopes you when it is someone close. When a Christian dIes, there is always hope and comfort in knowing that disease will never again touch that person. But that doesn’t lessen the sense of loss.

My dad loved his brother dearly. They were close all throughout their lives. I know if dad didn’t suffer from NPH this would be a horrible day for him. In a sense it is even harder in the fact that he cannot seem to get into the grief process. Every time he deals with knowing Bob died it is as if the first time he has heard the news.

Praying for closure today for my dad and praying for Uncle Bob’s family.

Blackaby Ministries International has a network of ministry leaders, of which I am a member. The Spiritual Leadership Network constantly makes resources and materials available to help me improve. And let’s face it: I need all the help I can get!!

Today’s emailed devotion was powerful. Read these words:

True Worship

But an hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” John 4:23
God needs nothing from us. He is entirely self-sufficient. And, if He did need anything, He has legions of mighty angels standing at the ready to instantly do His slightest bidding. In light of this, it seems incredible that God seeks after anything. But He does.

God seeks worshipers. Not just any worshipers, but those who will worship Him in spirit and truth.

It is possible to attend a worship service without worshiping God. We can praise Him with our mouth while our heart is far from Him. We can sing beautiful sounding songs to Him while the lyrics are filled with falsehood. We can

Wear our finest clothes to church while our hands are covered in blood from the treacherous dealings we have had with others. God is not looking for just any kind of worshiper.

Are you tired of simply attending church? Have you grown bored with singing the same songs each Sunday? Do you find the pastor’s sermons uninspiring? Let God transform your worship into that which pleases Him. Approach Him at a spiritual level, in absolute truth. God is looking for you.

Ebenezer.  We hear the name and it conjures all kinds of thoughts.  For some, it is the first name of a most interesting literary character, Ebenezer Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol.  Others hear the name and think of the famous church in Atlanta that was the mother church of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  And in Florence, SC, it means even more …

Ebenezer Baptist Church was founded in 1778 near the site on which it stands now.  Richard Furman, Evan Pugh, and Timothy Dargan were among the leaders who planted this church and began a tradition older than the City of Florence itself.  The name “Ebenezer” comes from a compound Hebrew word meaning “Stone of Help” raised in 1 Samuel 7 by the Children of Israel to remember a great defeat God handed them over the Philistines.  In a time of great danger, God delivered them.  This “Ebenezer” raised by the Children of Israel would always remind them of that horrific battle and great delivery!!

A few moments ago I was looking on Facebook and I saw a picture (posted by Nicole Cameron).  Our latest Honduras mission team is wrapping up their work and preparing to return home and Nicole has posted some great pictures.  But this one really gets to me:

I look at this picture and am reminded of yet ANOTHER meaning of Ebenezer.  We know the academic meaning and we know the pop-culture meaning and even the local Florence meaning.  But to now THOUSANDS of people in Colon, Honduras, Ebenezer means something totally different.  It means HOPE.  It means LOVE.  It means that God has not forgotten them and that there are people who care enough to work hard, pay with their hard-earned money, take time off from their jobs and lives, and come to Honduras.  Come to this land those folks call home and make a difference.  Come and provide healthcare that almost none of them could afford, come and stand up for a bunch of orphans who could never stand up for themselves, and come tell everyone who will listen that Jesus Christ loves them and wants to save them.

And when I realize that, I feel like the most fortunate pastor in the world.  Because these Ebenezer people … they are MY people.  And when I see them loving on the world just as Jesus commanded us to love. I get really proud.  And love them even more!!!

Yes, it really MEANS something to be a part of this church.  And I am thankful!!

You know, there is one other question Paul answers, both in Ephesians 6 and elsewhere, about this Ideal Family thing.  What if one spouse serves God with all of their heart, and one does not??  What is that one to do?

The answer is STILL SERVE UP TO YOUR PART OF THE BARGAIN.  Yes, this really goes against the values the world has taught us about protecting ourselves and being careful.  HOWEVER … if you are married, you can either go “all in” or not.  And if your answer is “not,” then you are not planning to succeed anyway.  Paul writes on in Ephesians 6, telling slaves to obey their masters and do the best they can do, and in this they might show their masters Christ.  I’m not saying a Follower married to a non-follower is a slave, but the same principle is true.  Live your life according to the Holy Spirit as well as you can … God can use that to shine the light of Christ THROUGH you and to that spouse.

Test and SEE if the word of the Lord is true!!