Pennies

Jack Hayford, a well-known pastor and leader, once told the story of how God deepened his love for people. Walking across a parking lot one day, he noticed a penny on the asphalt. He thought, It's more work to stoop over and pick up that penny than it's worth. About to enter his car, he suddenly felt a whisper from the heart of God: "It's still ONE." Jack realized God was softening his heart, so he bent down and picked up the forgotten penny. In the following weeks the pennies seemed to appear everywhere - each time an unexpected reminder of the preciousness of each person. He scooped up every penny he found, even those in odd places. One late night in an airport, Jack walked into a restroom. The place was smelly and unclean, but there in the mess, he found yet another penny. This particular penny was his greatest challenge yet - it stared at him from the bottom of a dirty urinal. Knowing God was teaching him something, Jack grabbed a handful of paper towels, picked up the penny, placed it in the sink, and scrubbed it with all the soap he could find. He carried that rescued penny home, keenly aware that God was stirring an intense passion in his heart for souls.1 I wonder if we have that kind of passion today for those that are lost and undone without God. I wonder if we have a passion for those that may not be as "dignified"? I believe that it took a lot of faith to reach his hand down in an old dirty, smelly, disease infested urinal to rescue a lonely penny. Jesus would do that, TODAY! If Jesus was walking this land today (just as He did some 2 thousand years ago) He would reach out for the homeless, unfortunate, rebellious, prostitute, drug addict, alcoholic, sex addict, rapist, homosexual, habitual lire, deceitful minded, conniver, etc... and love them. I believe that there are people, Christian and sinner, that feel like the penny in the bottom of the urinal. Feelings of discouragement, disappointment, hurt, loneliness, guilt, etc... Jesus is reaching out to those people also, TODAY! My prayer is that I would not neglect, turn my head from or ignore a person just because they smell, they look rough, or they live a sinful life, because they need salvation too! Have we as a church gotten used to our "shirt and tie" and forgotten about the sinners that we are commissioned to go and spread the gospel too? We need to have the heart that Paul had when he said, "... I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen and according to the flesh" Romans 9: 2,3 (ESV). 1Jack Hayford, The Parable of the Pennies (Jack Hayford Ministries, 2007).

Battle Gear

"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 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 saints." Ephesians 6:14-18 (NIV) If you read the previous passages of scripture (vs. 10-13) you see that we have a battle to face and that we are to put on armor to fight that battle with. We are not battling against flesh and blood (although sometimes it may seem that way) but we are fighting a realm that is beyond most people's imagination. If you are a "born again Christian" you have a wrestling match that is never ending. This shouldn't be scary, disheartening, frustrating, or whatever the emotional feeling that a person has, because we have the armor for the battle laid out in the scriptures. We have before us five (5) defensive tools (armor) that are used in this battle and two (2) offensive tools (armor) that is also used. Defensive armor: TRUTH - Isaiah chapter 11 tells us of the "root of Jesse" a "Branch", "the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him", "Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins and Faithfulness the belt of His waist". Jesus is the "Truth and the Life" (John 14:6) RIGHTEOUSNESS - Isaiah chapter 59 tells us that the Lord put on righteousness as a breastplate. We have to put on the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a breastplate and let it be a protector to us (it protects the vital organs, heart, lungs, etc...). PEACE - "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, Your God reigns!" Isaiah 52:7. We must walk in the peace of God and let Him cover our steps and protect us with peace that passes all understanding. FAITH - I John 5:4 "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith." We have to have the shield of Faith to "use" to fight off the schemes and shots that the enemy is firing at us. SALVATION - We are to put on the helmet of Salvation and receive the mind of Christ. First Thessalonians 5:9 says; "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ, who died for us...". Offensive armor: SWORD OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD - "God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it - no matter what." (Hebrews 4:12,13) (MSG) The Word of God is to be our guide and roadmap. We are to use it's words as a weapon on this warefare with the enemy. PRAYER - First Thessalonians 5:17 says; "Pray without ceasing". Eugene Peterson put it this way: "Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live." (MSG) Join with me today and let's fight this battle with the right tools!

Rouse Up

2 Samuel chapter 5 talks about King David inquiring of the Lord about a battle with the Philistines. We have battles in our lives just about everyday. We make choices in our lives just about everyday. We have some kind of decision that we have to make in our lives everyday. Those battles, choices, and decisions may be good battles, choices, and decisions, or they may be bad battles, choices, and decisions. How can we take those battles, choices, and decisions and be confident that we are going to be victorious? We do what David did. We inquire of the Lord about our battles, choices, and decisions. David knew that there was going to be a battle against the Philistines and the first thing he did was inquire. 2 Samuel 5: 18, 19 "Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?' The Lord answered him, 'Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you.' " David used good sense when it came down to choosing this battle and he made the right decision. He asked the Lord what to do. He was victorious because the Lord assisted him in this battle. We can be victorious in our battles, heartaches, frustrations, etc... if we would just learn to inquire of the Lord about our business. "As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me." (2 Samuel 5:20b) King David was in battle against the Philistines and the promise of the Lord was that he would hand over the enemy to David and his men. I like the analogy of the waters breaking forth. When I read this passage of scripture I can vision David's army coming against the Philistines in a way that caused the Philistine army to be in awe and amazment of the feeling of overshadowing. When I think of waters breaking forth, I think of a gushing, forceful, speedy, energized body of water spreading out and covering whatever it falls upon. This is how the power of God should be in our lives. If we are facing giants (the Philistines were in the land of gaints) we can overcome those gaints by the force of God that works in us by just releasing ourselves to the obedience of God's will in us. Whatever the battle, it's not greater than the power of God. Whatever the choice, it's not greater than the power of God. Whatever the decision, it's not greater than the power of God. We need to let the power of God break forth like waters into our lives and we will see the glory of the Lord work in our daily lives. David inquired of the Lord in his battle. We must do the same and in so doing, we will see that the Lord will go before us and cause us to "hear the sound of marching". When we hear from God we are to move quickly and as King James says, "bestir thyself" - become active, rouse up. It's time to be active in the Kingdom of God and rouse up some dead spirits that have been just laying around among giants and to go forth in His name and live victorious!! Inquire of the Lord today and watch Him do a work in you!!

Work to the finish

"...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." Philippians 2:12,13. Last night during the wrapping up of our Crazy Love study at church, this scripture was brought to the surface. I've often heard this scripture referenced to the point that we are to walk in fear of messing up and to tremble at every stumbling step, that we need to walk around with our heads down so that we are not apt to be enticed by sin every time we turn around and if we find ourselves in trouble we should tremble until we make things right. I agree with the later part of the previous sentence, if we sin, we need to tremble until we make things right because if we don't repent, we're going to miss Heaven. But, I refuse to believe that Paul was talking about Christians having to walk in doubt and anxiety. I believe the scripture is referenced this way: to work out your salvation means to work it out to the finish. It's not a reference to the attempt to earn one's salvation by works, but it's a reference to the expression of one's salvation in spiritual growth and development. We are not saved by works! We are saved by the grace of God: "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4,5). "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9). We must grow spiritually and develop spiritually by walking in fear and trembling. To walk in fear and trembling is not to walk in doubt and anxiety, but rather it's referenced to an active reverence and a singleness of purpose in response to God's grace. We have to have a reverence to working out our salvation to the finish. We have a purpose (Jeremiah 29:11) that God has divinely given each of us to walk in His statues and to fulfill a calling that He has bestowed on each of us. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10). It's simple! Surrender to His authority over your life and walk in reverence to Him! We don't have to be a defeated people! Let me leave you with this encouraging scripture: "...we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39) Be blessed today in the name of the Lord!

Keep your clothes on

Very seldom do I give titles to the sermons that I preach, but I feel that it's something that I'm going to start doing because it seems to give character to what I've studied and to what the Lord is telling me. This past Sunday morning I preached a message titled "Keep your guard up and don't take off your clothes!" The Lord prompted me to preach from the book of Nehemiah chapters 2 & 4 and I derived the title from the very last scripture in chapter 4, vs 23 "Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water."

As Nehemiah was called from the position of serving the king as his cupbearer into the position of leading a charge to rebuild the ruins of Judah, he gathered around him a few choice men to help him survey the wall and it's gates to see how much of it succumbed to the devastation. The Spirit spoke to me and told me that in these days He is gathering men and women together to take a survey of the Spiritual condition of His people in our congregations around the world. There are many people that have been destroyed by the many schemes of the enemy in their lives that they seem helpless and hopeless because of the weakness that surpasses their faith. Their spiritual lives are in ruin because of a false foundation in their walk with Christ. They've tried to make it on their own and tried to live by the coattail of the preacher or their mamma and that just isn't gonna work anymore! I've heard for years that God is raising a generation that will not stand by and let the enemy win. I believe it's time that we start gathering around us Godly people that are not afraid to tell the devil where to go!

God used Nehemiah to win the trust and passion back for God that the people had fallen out of because of the ruin, hurt, misguiding and difficulty in their lives. Nehemiah gathered the people of God and was able to show them they could build the walls of Judah back, but in the building process there was going to be a fight. He told them they had to hold their building tools in one hand and in the other hand they had to have their fighting tools ready to sever the head of the enemy. In the process there had to be a mindset that they couldn't drop their guard or take off their clothes. The bible gives us some Spiritual armor to put on in our battle with the enemy that we must not ever take off no matter what the circumstance. Ephesians 6: 10-18, "Finally be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert..."
We must never take off our Spiritual clothes and never let our guard down. Be blessed today is my prayer!

Blessed beyond

Wow! It's been a very long time since I sat at the computer just to gather my thoughts for the blog. It's almost unreal that we are in a brand new year and already the first month of it is almost gone. My, how time flies! I'm so thankful for what God is doing in my life and so grateful for the opportunity to Pastor. When I was young, Pastoring was the farthest thing from my mind. If you had sat me down and told me that at the age of 41 I would be in my second Pastorate, third actually counting the short span at LifeHouse, I would have asked you what you were smoking.
I'm blessed! I'm blessed to have a wife, 21 years now, that loves me and takes care of me. We have often told people, including our kids, that we were married way too young, but I believe that by the grace of God and His helping hand, we have learnt to love each other more today than we ever thought we could. I believe the Lord has us together to lean on each other in this ministry and to confide in one another in times when no one else would understand.  I'm blessed to have two wonderful children that are athletic, smart and very good looking! I'm proud to say that my two kiddo's have made the greatest decision that they will ever make in their lives, they have given their life to Christ and I believe it because of the fruit that they bear. No, I'm not around them 100% of the time, but I have people looking out for them and I like the responses that I get.
I'm blessed to be the Pastor of a great congregation in Lebanon, TN. The Church of God of Prophecy in Lebanon has a group of people that are eager to draw closer to the Lord in unity. I believe that God is about to do a great work, a work that even our minds can't fathom. The Lord has given me a motto, if you will, for our church - "A New Anointing for A New Day!" God is in the process of aligning people with our church that are going to help in the cause of Lebanon being a beacon of light for the Kingdom of God. I'm excited about what God has in store!
I'm going to make it a point to try to be a better blogger so that I can share the praises of the Lord as He continues to be my guide and my Savior! May God richly bless you is my prayer!