A. W. Tozer

One of my favorite authors is A.W. Tozer. Though he died in 1963, his words always demand thinking on the reader's part. Consider. . .

"The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they feel too much at home in the world. In their effort to achieve restful "adjustment" to unregenearate society they ahve lost their pilgrim character adn become an essential part of the very moral order against which theya re sent to protest. The world recognizes them and accepts them for what they are. And this is the saddest ting that can be said about them. They are not lonely, but neither are they saints."

BTW I asked myself, Do I meditate on God's Word as often as I do the words of men---even men like Tozer?

Coming in Second

This last week many of my family were caught up in the Ladies’ Classic Basketball tournament. Several times each day I would ask about the games and how things were going. I made the statement one day, “well second place isn’t that bad.” Then my younger son said, “Second place is first loser.”

We talk a lot about sportsmanship and being a good loser, and I certainly do not agree with the “win at any cost” philosophy of sports, but my son’s statement happened to ring a bell with me as I was preparing a sermon from Revelation 2:1-7. In many ways it was a great church, but in this letter we find that it was a church where Jesus comes in second. That is tragic because we know from the sports world that nobody really cares who comes in second, that is why there is such an emphasis on winning. It is no longer how you play the game, it is who wins and comes in first that really matters.

That is why coaches and teams work so hard, because they want to win each contest. While I do not believe that is the way it should be in the world of sports, I do believe that is exactly the way it should be in the spirit world. Who and what comes in first will determine whether your life really counts for God. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

So I ask, “Are we a church where Jesus comes in second? If He comes in second in my life and your life, there is no way he will be first in the life of the church. What is more important to you:
*a new television or your tithe to the LORD?
*Watching a football game, or being in church on Sunday night?
Are you as faithful to church as you are to your club, or to the sports team for which you play?

Make sure He finishes first in your life and church this new year.

A New View of Christmas

The season between Thanksgiving and New Years is one of my favorite times of the year. It is sort of an extended Christmas for me. We begin with our Christmas celebration at my parents with the siblings and all of their children, and their children’s children. Then I take a relaxed approach to preparation since, for the month of December, I usually have less than half the number of sermons to prepare. I use that time to reflect and to plan for the coming year. As I said, it is one of my favorite times of the year.
This year, has been a reality check in many ways. For the first time in years, all of my siblings would not be at our Christmas at Thanksgiving Celebration at my parents. Then, I received word that a dear friend’s health was failing quickly. Top that with my youngest daughter’s health being undiagnosed, and another hospital stay. One dear saint who always had a word of love and support went home to Jesus on a Thursday, and then our friend passed away early the following Sunday morning. It was a busy week with many other things taking place and the day of one funeral brought news that a special young lady for whom I had performed her wedding 12 years earlier had passed away leaving her husband and a nine year old and a five year old. I would need to travel out of town to officiate at the graveside.
Needless to say, when the week of Christmas rolled around, all we had done in preparation for our traditional Christmas was place an undecorated evergreen in the corner of our family room. No presents purchased, no decorations. . . just a bare tree.
We were hoping for a special Christmas, since our oldest son is scheduled for boot camp March 1st, and our second son the Marine Corps and Paris Island January 19, not to mention a trip to Israel Jan 2-13. Not much time when I return and every day precious to spend with the “boys.” I made the mistake of telling the MSGT that I thought my son would make a good soldier. My son interrupted and said, “Marine Dad, not a soldier, a Marine.” It is hard to imagine him away—five years active duty. Life is certainly changing. This would not be like previous Christmases.
This morning my wife and I awoke earlier than the rest and began to prepare the Christmas meal when the phone rang. A young man said, “Pastor, I hate to call you on Christmas Day, but can you come up to Johnson City Medical Center? My Dad had an brain aneurism and isn’t going to make it.”
My wife woke the family and brought them into the family room where we read the Christmas story from Luke 2, and exchanged the fewest Christmas presents we have had since children had blessed our family.
Leaving the rest of the Christmas meal preparation with my wife, I got in the car and headed out for the hospital, Christmas Carols on the radio. I passed all of the businesses closed for the day. Few cars were on the road. I thought, I wonder if this is what it will look like after the rapture? No, not enough people left behind. Then I passed Waffle House. It was opened and jam-packed. I wondered why all of those people were there instead of home with family enjoying a day of feasting. Was this their normal Christmas, or had they gone through a Christmas season that forever changed their celebration of the day.
I arrived at the hospital and heard the story of how this dear man who had been blind was attending his nephews funeral yesterday when the aneurism burst. I thought of the last conversation I had had with him. Each week his wife or son would lead him into the worship center where he would sit one row from the back center, bottom section. He loved the messages from Revelation. A few weeks ago, he told me how much he longed to be home with Jesus.
We had a time of comfort from the Scripture and then went to ICU where only the ventilator was keeping him alive. As the dear family gathered with me around the bedside, I asked them their plans. They said, “that is one of the reasons we wanted you to come. We must decide when to take him off the machine. There is no chance for him to survive and the Dr. wants us to make that decision.”
We talked about proceeding or waiting and what it would be like for future Christmases if he were to go to heaven on Christmas day. Then the sweet wife said, what better Christmas present for him than to go to heaven on Christmas Day.
It was all this preacher could do to keep it together. This Christmas has surely been different. I don’t know that they will ever be the same again This year, so many deaths, so much hurt, so much sickness, two sons leaving for military service. Then this preacher got a great Christmas lesson. This is why the baby was born. He was born so that we might have life, and life eternal. Death is not the end, it is the great gift of eternity—the reason the baby was born.
I sat in the car for a moment in silence. I called home to tell my wife to put dinner in the oven, I was headed home. She said, “By the way, I’ve invited a couple over who were going to eat left-overs.” I wanted to share the Christmas meal with friends.
From now on, Christmas will be different for me.

Thoughts on Christmas Eve

Christmas was born in the mind of God. We have taken Christmnas out of the hands of God and put it into the hands of man. For many, it has become a day to which we look forward because it means a day off work, a vacation from school, and a chance to visit relatives. I love these things as much as anyone, but do we come to the point in all of our coming and going and celebrating that we are like the little girl who looked at the decorated tree and all of the presents under it and asked, "Where does God fit into all of this?"

The reason for Christmas is that God loves us so much that He became one of us. The wonder of it all. What is our response at Christmas? The angels announced it, the spontaneous song of Joy rang out. The shepherds went to Him. What will be our response?

Will this Christmas be just another holiday, or a Holy Day? In this day of overwhelming problems--crime, inflation, unemployment, personal issues-- our world needs hope. And pardon me, but Santa Clause just cannot supply that hope. But Jesus does. God cared that we have Christmas. He cared so much about us that He did something for us that no one else could do. He sent His only Son who was willing to be born to die for us. Can we break out of our self-containment to reach out to others in love? Not because it makes us feel good, but love others as He loved us--a love undeserved, unrestrained.

We so often hear, "What did you get for Christmas?" We rarely hear anyone ask, "What did you give for Christmas? This year when people ask you, "What did you get?" What better opening line for you to share with them what God gave you. Let me tell you about the best gift I have ever received. God gave me eternal life through His Son, Jesus.

Merry Christmas.

The Wonder of Christmas

In the story, The Fire We Can Light, Martin E. Marty related the Jewish Hasidic story of a famous rabbi to illustrate the need for strict observance of the ritual law.
The original master went out to the woods, lighted a fire, and said a paryer when confronted with a great problem.
His successor, a generation later said, "The fire we can no longer light, the place we know, and we can still go and say the prayer."
By the third generation, they said, "The fire we can no longer light, the place we can no longer go, but the prayer we can say." So the master stayed home and said the prayer.
The fourth generation said, "The fire we can no longer light, the place we can no longer go, the prayer we can no longer say, but we can tell the story and that is enough."

As we approach Christmas, there is a great danger that we will content ourselves with just telling the story again. Has Christmas lost its wonder for you? Don't just KNOW Christ this Christmas, SHOW Christ this Christmas.

The Shift

Over the years of my ministry there has been a shift among the majority of those who attend the local church. I would not say “all” but for many the mood is:
More “I want to be served” than “I want to serve.”
More “doubt” and less “faith”
More “suspicion” and less “trust”
More “how I feel” than “what are the facts”
More “If I don’t like something, I will go somewhere else,” than “loyalty”
More “emotion” than “true worship”
More “what I want to do” than “commitment”
More “what I believe” than “absolute truth”
More “I believe” than “the Bible says”
More “postmodern” less “God says it, that settles it”
We have “marketed” the church so much that we have created a “shopper” mentality. Churches compete with facilities, programs and every gimmick and teaching the basics of the Word of God as they apply to life has fallen way behind. We do not equip our children to be prepared for the hostilities of the world. The big reason is that our parents are not living lifestyles any different from the world. Most churches today truly have “a form of godliness” without any power. God help us. Pray for revival in the church, local and universal.

Still thinking about Worship

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel where he came before the children of Israel at a very decisive time in the nation. The people of Israel were wavering as to whether they were going to worship the false god Baal or worship God Jehovah.
I really believe that is where America is today. Polls show that Americans believe in God, they also show that their belief in God doesn’t make much difference in their daily lives. A syncretism of materialism and theism has replaced the command to worship Jehovah God and Him alone.
I believe a number of Christians have sold out to the world. They are sort of worldly Christians. It is not that they do not love God. They do love God. But if they were to take a stand for God, I mean go hard for God and let the devil take the hind road no matter what anybody else thinks, there is no telling what would happen in America.
The problem of that the church today is a half-hearted love for God, a half-hearted worship, and a half-hearted lifestyle. Thre are too many churches who have a form of godliness, but none of its power.
The evangelist Billy Sunday said, “We talk about worldly Christians, we might as well talk about heavenly devils. . .”
In the Mt. Carmel encounter:
1. Worship was the issue. The people went to the mountain over the issue of who they were going to worship: Baal or Jehovah. The issue was actually lordship, who would be lord of their lives? In our world today, it seems the answer for many is evident and it is not Jehovah.
2. Elijah’s worship invited God’s power. His worship was so powerful that God came by fire and demonstrated himself with such divine power that it defies human explanation. How much happens in the average church today that demands divine explanation? How many things do churches do that depends on God’s power?
3. The people responded with worship and awe when they saw God’s power. When they saw that the Lord was God Jehovah, they immediately turned from the false gods and began to worship the Lord. When people see that we have a God who offers something more—peace in the midst of the storm, the ability to live beyond the circumstances of life, meaning and purpose to life, they will desire that as well. People respond when they see God’s working and moving in power.
God will not demonstrate His power when the people who are called by His Name are not as committed to him as they are the other areas of life. He must not only be present, or even prominent; He demands preeminence.

REQUEST: Please pray for my youngest daughter. As I write this, she is back in the hospital with no explanations. . .

Preparing to Worship on Sunday AM

I haven't posted a blog in sometime, but hope to get back to it regularly. I was preparing for this coming Sunday and I thought of a few things that I really wish people would take seriously in preparation for Worship on Sunday. I think it would help you concentrate on Him when you come to church on Sunday.
1. It is a good idea to make sure your entire family retires early enough on Saturday evening to be resete4d and ready to meet God on Sunday. Bad idea to stay out late, etc.
1. Plan to arrive early enough sot hat you aren't distracted by hurry and are not a distraticon to others by arriving late.
3. Jot down specific actions or decisions you need to make as direct response to what God says to you from His Word.
4. Listen to the message in the songs with enthusiasm.
5. Consider your giving to be an act of worship and devotion to Him
6. The Bible teaches us to "greet one another". The church is the spiritual family and we need to develop a sincere interest in one another.
7. Respect the Lord's day


just a few thoughts that would enrich Sunday for you.

Haven't posted for a while.

Been immersed in "intense" preparation time for new series. Hopefull will return to posts in next week or two. Thank you to those who have asked....

Experience

Experience is a very slippery word.
Dr. J. I. Packer said, "Experience coming to imperfectly sanctified sinners cannot help but have dross mixed in with the gold. No experience just by happening can authenticate itself as sent by God to further His work of grace."
The mere fact that a Christian has an experience does not make it a Christian experience. As a matter of fact, the same phenomena that Christians claim to experience have also been experienced by non-Christians.
One of the interesting studies points out that there are people both inside and outside the Christian faith that have had out-of-body experiences. Lost people have the same experiences. Anthropologists know that among primitive, pagan tribes similar incidents have occurred...where folks spoke in unknown tongues, had visions, there were prophetic utterances...there were physical healings, there were casting out of contrary spirits...I mean these things happened among pagans in primitive tribes.
Now, this doesn't mean that all similar Christian experience is false. What it does mean is that such experience cannot authenticate itself. And this is extremely vital to understand. Experience cannot authenticate itself. You cannot say, "I've had this experience and that means it's authentic." You just can't do that. It has no basis because experience is a subjective part of our lives.
Then also in this matter of experience, there is the inclination to make our experience a standard for everyone else. Have you ever noticed that? If God healed me, that means God will heal you. If God made me wealthy, that means God wants all His children to be wealthy. Let God do something extraordinary for one person and we rush to declare that it's the ordinary experience for every Christian. But, it is not.
The sole and final authority must be the Word of God.