Sitting at Jesus' Feet, Clothed, and in One's Right Mind!

Sunday afternoon, January 13, 2008

This is what Jesus said to Legion after He had cast the “legion” of demons out of him: “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you” (Luke 8:39a). This is Legion’s response: “And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him” (vs. 39b). To be sure, this man was well-aware of the great things that God had done for him—very well-aware! He had been demon-possessed, had not worn clothing for a long time, lived in tombs, instead of a house, and most of the time he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard (see vs. 27 & 29); however, now he is sitting at the feet of Jesus—clothed and in his right mind (vs. 35b)! There is no wonder that he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city the great things that God had done for him!

I really do not mean to hurt your feelings (seriously) but the truth is this: before Jesus rescued you (and me!) and set us free, we were in the same fix as Legion—even worse! No, you might not have lived in tombs and you might have been fully clothed; however, you (and I!) were indeed bound with the chains and shackles of sin, hopelessly doomed to such a terrible existence. In other words, if Legion had something to tell, then you can bet your life that you and I have something to tell, something worth telling not only an entire city, but also the entire world!

There is something about this “sitting at Jesus feet, clothed, and in my right mind” that sets my feet to dancing! In my opinion, this is newsworthy—world-wide newsworthy! I mean, to go from living in tombs, shackled, and demon-possessed, to sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in my right mind is quite a leap!! The miracle of miracle, is my guess!

Anyway, when I read this tonight, I couldn’t help but think about the contrast between our response to the good news and Legion’s response; we spend so much time trying to dissect the Scriptures, debating whether “this” is truth or not, and trying to convince others that we have it right and they have it wrong, but Legion had only one thing on his mind—telling anyone who would listen about the good things that God had done for him.

I really do think there is a message in this for you and for me and it is probably past time for us to hear it: God did not call us to dissect and debate the Scriptures; instead, He called us to be His witnesses not only at home (Jerusalem), but also to the remotest parts of the world. In other words, He called us to go into all the world and tell everyone about the good things He has done for us.

You see, a credible witness can witness only to what he/she has seen; the debate is fine, as is being a student of the Scriptures, but in the end our task is to be His witnesses—to tell others what we have seen with our own eyes (the great things He has done in our lives!).

Please allow me to issue this challenge to you: be on the lookout for opportunities to tell others about the good things He has done for you, and tell them! Be His witness! Remember this, if you choose to take the challenge: most of those to whom Legion witnessed, were scared out of their wits (vs. vs. 35b)! You think about that—

Jesus' Final Instructions

Saturday morning, January 12, 2008

These are the final instructions Jesus gave to His apostles before His return to His Father: “And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5). Hmmm, this has been a source of debate, even confusion and division, for longer than I can remember, which is a rather long time; however, that shouldn’t deter our brief look at His words this morning.

This is the context of our text: Jesus is preparing for His immediate departure from this earth—the Ascension, as theologians call it—and He is well-aware that He cannot leave these men without first empowering them for the task that is before them—being His witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth (vs. 8). As a result, He tells them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised—the coming of the Holy Spirit, who will baptize them with a baptism far greater than John’s, a baptism that will equip them to be powerful and effective witnesses to what they had both seen and heard, as they journeyed with Him over the past three years.

Sadly (in my opinion), many believers, rather than simply accepting Jesus’ words for what they are, have missed His real message by trying to figure out how to make this happen again not only in their lives, but also in the lives of other believers. As one might expect, trying to reproduce this event, begged this question: How will we be able to distinguish between the genuine and the false? I won’t attempt to enumerate all the options that resulted but I will say this: as a result of trying to answer this question, the church suffered much division and confusion and probably for this good reason—some things are better left to Him.

With that said, what are we to glean from this passage? Obviously, Jesus’ words were directed to His apostles, not to you and me, and for a particular time and purpose. Unmistakably, Jesus was preparing His apostles for His immediate departure, for His return to His Father. There is absolutely nothing said in this passage that would cause me to think that Jesus expected this experience to be replicated in our lives, some 2000 years later. So, what is in this text for us?

First, it is obvious that the future of the church depended upon the power of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of the early believers; without Him there would be no church, and in my opinion this holds true today. It is the Holy Spirit, who gives power and credibility to our lives, as we witness to what we have seen and heard.

Second, the evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives is seen not in our speaking in tongues or in our handling snakes, but in the power and credibility of our witness, which (by the way) often goes unseen.

Third, we are to be His witnesses wherever we are and, as believers, we should expect our witness to be credible and powerful because the Holy Spirit DOES live in each of our lives—all day and everyday!

Finally, forget about trying to replicate the Pentecost experience and, simply, accept the fact that you are living in Pentecost; you are the Temple of the Holy Spirit! YOU ARE HIS POWERFUL, CREDIBLE WITNESS AND THIS WITNESS IS EVIDENCE ENOUGH!

The Scriptures and Eternal Life

Friday morning, January 11, 2008

This is what Jesus said to some Jews, probably Pharisees, about the Scriptures and their relationship to eternal life: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life” (John 5:30-40). Hmmm—this is interesting, so let us look at the context of His words!

As you know, the Jews, especially the Pharisees, were very adamant about the importance of keeping the Ten Commandments, and they were because they believed not only that they were the “heart and essence” of the Scriptures, but also that obedience to them was necessary for pleasing God. Just for the record, Jesus knew this, too, even better than you and I know it, which makes this “context” so interesting.

As the centerpiece for this exchange, He healed a lame man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath Day, which was a definite violation of the fourth commandment—Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy—and, as you might imagine, the response He received from the Jews (Pharisees) was not exactly warm and fuzzy!

Anyway you cut this, on the one hand Jesus was pushing the envelope with these Jews about as far as it could be pushed, and for good reason; on the other hand they were reacting harshly, also for good reason—they sincerely believed that He was desecrating what they held as Holy—the Ten Commandments! However, we must remember this: Jesus was correct and they were incorrect, notwithstanding they were sincere.

To make matters worse, Jesus called God His Father (vs. 17-18), thereby, making Himself equal with God, which really infuriated these Jews, even to the point of seeking to kill Him! Then to make matters even worse, Jesus told them that He gives life to whomever He wishes (with the strong implication that they were not on His “wish list”!). We can only guess, as to their response to this!

Now back to the text and to the matter that REALLY infuriated these Jews (this is my paraphrase): “I will concede this much: you guys really are good students of the Scriptures—very good—but your reason for being such good students is incorrect, seriously incorrect; consequently, you have missed their message. You sincerely believe that you will find eternal life in the Scriptures (mainly by keeping the Ten Commandments); however, you are sincerely wrong and you are for this reason: the Scriptures bear witness of Me, clearly telling you that unless you come to Me, you are not on My “wish list” and the obvious fact is that you are unwilling to come to Me.”

To be honest, when I encounter people, who are so sincere that they are not teachable, I get the “willies,” especially, when it is obvious that they are sincerely wrong. Yes, in many instances there is room for debate and discussion; however, when it comes to eternal life, there is no room for either. There is but one way and that way is Jesus—period!

Now, let me infuriate you (well, some of you!): Unless He has placed you on His wish list, you cannot come to Him—period! Remember? “The Son gives life to whom He wishes” (vs. 21b). I might as well go ahead and add this: He doesn’t add you to His wish list simply because you want Him to, or because you walk an aisle, or because you pray the “sinner’s prayer”, or because you do something to attract Him (obedience, for example); instead, if you are on His wish list, you are “in order that His choice, according to His purpose might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls. . .” (Romans 9:11b).

If I succeeded in infuriating you, there is a good chance that you are on His wish list; otherwise, you wouldn’t and couldn’t give a damn (Now, take that to the context!)

One's Possessions

Tuesday morning, January 8, 2008

The following is an excerpt from what Jesus had to say about anxiety, worry, and priorities: “Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also” (Luke 12:32-34). There is a portion of this that, shall I say, stands out, at least in my view, and it is this: Don’t be afraid; sell your possessions and give to charity. Of course, Jesus said this within the context of telling us that His Father had chosen gladly to give us the entire kingdom, which in my opinion ain’t too shabby; however, I still can’t persuade myself to sell all of my possessions, give the proceeds to the Salvation Army, and, then, to wait on the kingdom (whatever it is) not only to come, but also to materialize and cover my nakedness. I know He prefaced this with, “Do not be afraid” but, gosh, this scares me to death.

Let me tell you why it scares me: When Jesus tells us not to be afraid, He usually does so because He knows that we will have every reason to be afraid, and in this instance, I can think of many, not to mention those He knows, to which I am not privy. In other words, I have every reason to believe that my obedience to this passage would scare the life out of me (and probably you, as well), which is probably why I have not been obedient, and, I might add, my disobedience probably tells you much about where my heart is—or my treasure.

Yes, I feel sure that many of you are thinking that Jesus did not mean for us to take this literally, and you might be correct; however, if we have any desire to live beyond anxiety and worry, we would, probably, do well not only to take this text literally, but also to get our priorities in order. Yes, I also know that some of you just had this bright thought: “If I get my priorities in order, I will no longer need to sell all of my possessions and give the proceeds to the Salvation Army!” Unfortunately, if you had this thought, you also have the cart before the horse. I have the very strong feeling that there is a indirect relationship between my owning possessions and my priorities being in order—the more possessions I believe I own, the less orderly are my priorities. In other words, ownership requires caretaking and caretaking requires time and, therefore, caretaking become priority—almost always! Yes, it has its subtle way of operating, but it is very effective!

Have you ever considered the lilies of the field—how they grow? Have you noticed that anxiety does not increase one’s life-span by even a minute; if anything, it decreases it by years? Have you noticed that even when one has an abundance of possessions, his life does not consist of his possessions? Have you considered the ravens and how they survive? Do you know how much more valuable you are than a raven, especially to God?

Then of course, there are those who are quick to say, “I do not own any possessions, therefore, I am in good shape!” If you are one of these, you might do well to remember this: PRIDE COMMETH BEFORE THE FALL.

I fully expect to see the coffers of the Salvation Army overflowing with the proceeds from the sale of our possessions! Yea, right! We much prefer to be anxious and to worry and, I might add, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting of it!

Jesus Needs a Jackass!

Wednesday afternoon, January 9, 2008

This is what Jesus said concerning His means of transportation into Jerusalem for His “triumphal entry” into that city: “Go into the village opposite you, in which as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one yet has even sat; untie it, and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ thus shall you speak, ‘The Lord has need of it’” (Luke 19:30-31). Hmmmm—interesting, to say the least!

In the first place, it is very difficult for me to believe that Jesus ever really NEEDED anything, certainly not a jackass; however, this text indicates that, well, He needed this particular jackass.

In the second place, His reason for “needing” this jackass, really blows me away—it would be His means of transportation for His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem! Surely, He could have chosen a black stallion, or at least a Pinto, even a Palomino, but no, not Him—nothing would do Him but a common, unbroken jackass, aka a donkey!

In the third place, if (and I do say IF) He really needed this donkey, He could have very easily said, “Let there be a donkey” and there would have been a donkey, I mean a jackass of a donkey—in the right place and at the right time. I mean, shucks, this would have been a “piece of cake” for Him, but no, He NEEDED this jackass—the one that was tied to the tree over by the synagogue, the one that had never been ridden because he wouldn’t let anyone ride him.

In the fourth place, the men who asked why the donkey was being untied, owned the thing (vs. 33), and it is my guess that they stood scratching their heads, as a result of the response they received—”The Lord has need of it”. I can only imagine the look on their faces, as their donkey was being led away, and I would love to have seen the look on their faces the next morning when they opened the “Jerusalem Gazette” and saw Jesus riding their donkey into Jerusalem, along a path strewn with coats and palm fronds!

One more thing before I get to my point: When Jesus NEEDS something that you think is yours, even if it is only a jackass, you might as well do as these guys did and give it up without a fight, and, I might add, you (like these guys) will in all probability be amazed at what He does with your “jackass”!

Now, the fact is this: Jesus does not NEED anything. He is completely self-sufficient; however, He sometimes pretends to NEED something in order to let us get in on the action, in order to bless us with the gift of participating in what He is doing. Again, I can only imagine how those two disciples (vs. 29b) felt when they “found it just as He had told them” (vs. 32). Because I know nothing about the men who owned the donkey, I cannot say how they responded; however, if they loved Jesus, I can tell you that they were mighty proud that He was riding on their donkey (probably wishing they had received an advance notice, so they could have offered Him one of their finest horses!).

So, quit concerning yourself with whether or not Jesus NEEDS anything and make up your mind to be ready to untie your “jackass,” if He should pretend to need it and send someone for it. I can only tell you this: you will be glad you did—really glad. Not to mention this: you will probably get the surprise of your life!

God's Promise Fulfilled

Thursday morning, January 10, 2008

This is what Jesus said (among other things) about His church: “. . . I will build My church and the gates of Hades (Hell) shall not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18b). Soon (very soon) after making this declaration, He told His disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ (vs. 20, in case you don’t believe me!). Please allow my paraphrase: “I and I alone will be responsible for building My church and nothing will stop me or hinder me, not even the gates of Hell, but don’t tell anyone who I am or what I am about; let’s keep this a secret.”

Funny how none of the politicians, be they Democratic or Republican, are taking this approach today. Oh, to be sure, each of them is making it clear that he (or she) will rebuild America and do it in such a way that no one, not even the radical Muslims (the gates of hell), will be able to overtake her; HOWEVER, none of them has said, even implied, “Let’s keep this a secret!” Each of them is spending more money, than most of us can even imagine, for the sole purpose of letting everyone know who they are (the best candidate by far) and what they are about (being America’s “messiah”!). To be sure, His ways are NOT our ways—period.

Regardless of the promises any of the presidential candidates might make (raise taxes, cut taxes, secure the borders, open the borders, quit the war, bring the troops home, stay the course, end the IRS, implement the Fair Tax, begin universal health care [God forbid!], decrease crime or increase crime) they will NOT keep them—not a single one of them—and they will not because it is not within their power to keep them. The fact is this: everything these politicians are saying is mere rhetoric (the ability to use language effectively, especially to persuade or influence people; fine-sounding but insincere or empty language) and, amazingly, many American really place their hope in the foolish rhetoric of these demigods.

Then there is Jesus and His, “Let’s keep this a secret!” mentality. Basically, this is what He said (my paraphrase): I am the Christ, the Son of God and I will build My church and I will build it without anyone’s help and I will do it in such a manner that nothing, not even the Gates of Hell will be able to overpower it—THIS IS MY PROMISE TO YOU—but do not tell anyone because I do not want to be bothered with unsolicited help, nor do I want there to be any question, as to who built the church, or as to who sustains her! Now, listen up: Jesus never makes a promise that He will not keep—period.

Many years ago, God promised me that He would allow me to see the true church, the one He built and sustains (I remember right where I was when He spoke to me!) but to be honest, although I remember the moment very clearly, I had almost lost hope, as to ever seeing it.

Last night the GCF group met to begin thinking about how we might best do the unthinkable—LET THE SECRET OUT that Jesus doesn’t need any help, and, thereby, make others aware of what we enjoy, as a part of the Body of Christ—no frills, no programs, no financial drives, no pressures—just church in it purest and simplest form. We gather on Sunday mornings for fellowship, for worship, for the preached/taught Word, and for the sacraments.

It took me until this morning to realize what I saw last night; finally, after all of these years (almost 30), God let me see the true church and He let me see it in action! Yes, I know that the true church exists across the entire world but, as He promised, He let me see it and see it in all its glory last night, as He manifested it in a small group of believers, who were sincerely seeking Him. I am humbled and encouraged, beyond anything mere words might communicate.

What One Would Think Ain't Always the Way Things Is!

Friday evening, January 4, 2008
This is what Jesus had to say to those of us who become weary and heavy-laden: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light” (Matthew 11:28-30; NASB). Because this is Jesus speaking, I know that it is true, BUT sometimes I do wonder if He is saying what He appears to be saying. His yoke might be easy and His load might be light (I am sure that they are!) but from all indications, I haven’t quite learned how to make practical application of this in my own life.
If you notice, He is telling us to “learn from Him,” if we expect to grasp this, which I surely want to do; however, I am beginning to think that I am a much slower learner than I have previously believed—not the brightest lamp in the room, kind of thing. I mean, gosh!, this notion of rest sounds great to me—not the kind of rest one needs after raking the yard or digging a ditch, but the kind of rest one needs when he is “soul-tired.”
To tell you the truth I have never used that phrase before now, but it is a very good one—descriptive, to say the least. It is one thing to be weary from raking leaves or digging ditches, but it is quite another to be weary and, yes, “heavy laden” from having to deal with those things that are of the soul—mind, will, and emotions. Unlike the weariness that results from manual labor, it is the kind of weariness from which recovery is difficult—very difficult—because it never seems to take a break. It is the kind of weariness that would be similar to raking leaves, not for an hour or so, but week after week after week, without any breaks, except worse. REST FOR YOUR SOULS! Now that sounds great to me but enjoying it is another thing.
You remember the story of the man who was walking down the road, carrying a very heavy backpack, stumbling along and barely able to put one foot in front of the other, when someone stopped in a pickup truck to offer him a ride, which he gladly accepted. He climbed into the back of the truck and off the driver went, merrily down the road, until he looked in the rear view mirror and saw that the man was still carrying the heavy backpack! Sometimes, I think I might be that man; to be sure, I do seem to be carrying quite a bit, in spite of the fact that Jesus offered me such an incredible ride.
Now don’t panic on me, as I do have and enjoy “spirit rest”. Long ago, I learned and believed that I am His and nothing can change that—absolutely nothing—and when I did, I stopped striving to gain what was already mine—spirit rest. I can tell you with integrity that I am not weary or heavy-laden with worry about my relationship with Jesus; I am truly resting in Him, which, I might add, is a good thing, a very good thing—the most important thing—because all this other “stuff” will pass away!
Even so, Jesus did tell us that if we would come to Him and watch Him (learn from Him) when we are soul-tired (weary and heavy-laden; mind, will, and emotion tired), He would give us rest for our souls! Well, just for the record, I am watching Him, as carefully as I can, purposing to learn from Him—quickly—because I really could use some soul-rest!
If I could just learn to drop the backpack from my own shoulders into the bed of the pickup truck—
One would think that after 50+ years as a Christian, I would have learned this long ago, but what one would think ain’t always the way things is!

Daddy's Girl!

Saturday afternoon, December 22, 2007

It is 3:00 PM, as I begin writing this perspective, and in two hours quite a crowd will begin gathering here in our home; Amy (our daughter) is hosting a party for the folk who work with her at the Coliseum Medical Center. She has been baking and cooking for several days and, finally, has everything in place—enough food to feed the Salvation Army!

To be sure, Amy has made her Daddy proud and for many reasons, not the least of which is the success she has enjoyed in her nursing career. When she graduated from High School, she immediately began her nursing school career at Georgia Baptist School of nursing in Atlanta, where she proved to others and to herself that she had chosen the right career. Interestingly, her passion has always been in the field of critical care, where emotions run as high as a kite in March and stress is as thick as molasses in December. For all these many years, she has worked in the trenches, always having the lives of several very sick people in her care.

As I write this, I can recall several occasions where her patients rewarded her with quite nice gifts, as the result of her compassion and expertise while they were in her care. I find it strange that some people really do appreciate what others do for them and make it a point to make it evident, while others, for reasons beyond me, believe their care is some kind of entitlement they deserve.

Over the years, some significant others have noticed her abilities and her professionalism and, as a result, she has quickly moved from the trenches of critical care, to being the charge nurse for the step down unit on the coronary care floor, to her present position—Clinical Coordinator.

I never will forget leaving her at Georgia Baptist Nursing School; I honestly thought I was going to have to rent Annis a room with her (she cried all the way home and for the next month!). I mean, Amy was just out of High School, young and green, and we were leaving her about six blocks from the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta! Really!

Well, you can rest assured that in spite of our concerns, she was in “hog heaven,” as we say down here in the South. I never have figured out why she spent so much time at fraternity parties at Georgia Tech, as she never did get a degree from there. Oh well, some things, one will never understand!

In spite of her rather active social life, she was soon cast in the middle of critical care nursing, even working at Grady Hospital in their critical care areas (a very good thing on her resume!), where she got more experience in five minutes that most get during their entire nursing careers.

One thing is for sure: she has NEVER had to look for a job, and from the looks of things, she never will. She has made many turns in the road of her life, but the one turn that was absolutely, positively the right turn, was her choosing to be a Registered Nurse, and not just an RN, but the best one she could possible become.

Needless to say, she has made her Daddy proud and, to be honest, I am looking forward to meeting her colleagues tonight and to watching her serve them a great big helping of compassion and care!

It is now 10:41 PM, the party is over, and it is clean-up time! It really was fun being involved and meeting the folks, all of whom seem really to love and respect my little girl!

Wow! I am blessed and very much so!

A Subtle Deception!

Although, I originally wrote this in November of 2005, it bears repeating (in my not-so-humble opinion!):

As you well know, the members of the secular world are doing everything they can to distract us from the true meaning of Christmas, having launched their schemes weeks ago, even months.

On the surface, it appears that the secularists are using this season of the year to pursue the almighty dollar—to get rich (I heard Bill O’Reilly say, just last night, that the secularists ought to be on their knees thanking Jesus for Christmas; otherwise, they would not be making all the money); however, I am afraid their roots grow much deeper than the mere pursuit of money.

Underlying this façade is the deep root of the power of sin, and it is working overtime; albeit, stealthily, to energize the forces of evil—the demons of hell. No longer lurking behind the scenes, they are out in full force and their goal is not what it appears. The power of sin has them energized to use the commercialization of the holy, righteous, and good day of Christmas to deceive us into believing that God is, somehow, out of control and the true significance of Christmas is being lost. In other words, the power of sin wants us to believe that the forces of evil are winning-out over the power of God! It knows that, as soon as we are convinced, we will launch an all-out assault on the commercialization of Christmas and in doing so, never engage the real enemy. The power of sin knows that wars are never won unless the true enemy is engaged; consequently, it will do anything to camouflage itself.

I see a very significant parallel between “the power of sin and the commercialization of Christmas” and “the power of sin and the Law.” If you remember, the power of sin used the holy Law of God to convince Paul that his relationship with God was determined by whether or not he kept the Law, i.e., if he kept the Law, God would be pleased with him; however, if he failed to keep the Law, God would be displeased with him. In other words, the power of sin convinced Paul (at least for a while) that because he could not keep the Law, try as he might, it was his enemy, the enemy that prevented his living in continued fellowship with God. As you can see, the power of sin was purposing to deceive Paul into believing the lie of all lies (righteousness comes through the Law), which by the way, will always make the Law appear to be your enemy.

One must admit that in Paul’s life, the power of sin was successful; at least, for a predetermined season. For sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me (Romans 7:11). I think it goes without saying; if Paul was susceptible to this deception, so are we!

Ultimately, the power of sin did not want to be revealed as Paul’s enemy for the same reason that it does not want to be revealed as the enemy of Christmas—it knows that wars are never won unless and until the true enemy is engaged. To be sure, the power of sin did not want Paul to see the Law as his true friend, the one that would drive him to Jesus, because it also knows that when that truth is revealed, its power is terminated.

The power of sin uses the commercialization of the holy and good day of the birth of Jesus to deceive us into believing that the success or failure of the celebration is determined by how effective we are at eradicating the commercialization. In other words, the power of sin wants to get the onus off its own back and onto the “back” of the commercialization of Christmas. It would much prefer that we focus our energies on eradicating the commercialization of Christmas, rather than on resting in Jesus’ finished work, that way its power continues its effectiveness! You can rest assured that the power of sin wants us to see the commercialization of Christmas as our enemy, certainly not as our friend. It does not want us to realize that it is the commercialization of Christmas that drives us to the true meaning of that Blessed Holy Day because it knows-well that the moment that truth is revealed, its power is terminated!

MY PERSPECTIVE: If we allow Satan to deceive us into viewing the commercialization of Christmas, instead of the power of sin, as our enemy, we will become so preoccupied with “righting” what is “wrong” that we will miss what is “right”—The Celebration of the Birth of Jesus! What we can see becomes much more important than what we cannot see, and Satan laughs—loudly and proudly!

Thought I would remind you—

Laughter in Pain

Wednesday morning, December 19, 2007 [Less than one week ‘till Christmas!]

Last night Annis and I attended a Christmas party with some long-time friends, along with some not-so-long time friends, at O’Charley’s restaurant here in Macon. Hmmm, let me count; there were seventeen of us present and accounted for, with two of the group “missing in action.” We ranged in age from 20 something to 70+, with 8 males and 9 females. Although we came from different backgrounds, eleven of us had one particular commonality—to one degree or another we are involved in funeral service. Three of us are actually licensed as Funeral Directors/Embalmers and the rest work in various supportive roles. Two of us are ordained ministers! Needless to say, O’Charley’s will never be the same!

From my vantage point, everyone had a great time, as was evidenced by the abundance of laughing and talking and EATING, and that is a good thing—a very good thing! As God’s providence would have it, I was honored to sit next to the other “ordained minister” and, as you can imagine, we had quite a time (well, I did, to be sure!). Although he is much younger than I, he is almost as crazy as I (not yet certified crazy, but almost!), so believe me, we had fun!

As I watched everyone laughing and having a grand ole time, I couldn’t help but think about what was beneath the surface of the laughter. Because I know each of them, I was very aware that our laughter was like a medicine, a medicine we all needed. Without exception, every person in our group is very familiar with the heartache and pain and confusion and sense of helplessness that so often accompanies this life. You would be hard-put to imagine a difficulty that someone in this group has not experienced—family problems, financial problems, marriage problems, children problems, medical problems, vocation problems, ad infinitum.

One of the group told me that his brother and sister-in-law were recently involved in a motorcycle accident, both with serious injuries, no insurance, no money, two children, and intoxicated at the time of the accident; another of the group had a young family member commit suicide not too long ago; several of the group are dealing with children who have addiction problems; one of the group just had shoulder surgery; another of the group has a son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren serving in the Air Force in Korea; another of the group had a very-near-death experience resulting from a ruptured aorta, that left him with several permanent physical problems; and on and on it goes.

Tragically, this is true regardless of the group; it is simply impossible to gather a group of people together who are not very familiar with the very difficult difficulties that accompany this life. We do a pretty good job of pretending most of the time because we do not want others to think that we are going through difficult times—we do not want others to feel sorry for us, or to know about our personal stuff, certainly not to think less of us than they already do!

I found this very revealing last night: after the party but before I had left the room, someone was already talking with me about some very difficult “stuff” that he was presently experiencing. Yes, we can laugh loudly and heartily and it is good to do so—VERY GOOD; however, as hard as we might laugh, that all-too-familiar pain is always lurking just beneath the surface of the laughter, eagerly awaiting to sink it claws into our hearts again, doing its best to bring about death.

A good Funeral Director does everything he/she can to make death look like life and, believe me, sometimes that is no easy task.

A Matter of the Heart

Wednesday morning, December 12, 2007

My computer just reminded me that I have an appointment with my cardiologist Friday afternoon at 2:00, which at first glance is no big deal, especially when compared to having my prostate checked; however, this woman is my HEART doctor and it has “sick sinus syndrome,” which requires that I have a pacemaker. Now, a pacemaker is no big deal—really!—until it gets to be five years old (which mine is and then some), which is when the battery begins to run out of energy (possibly!). Of course, this means that I have to have it checked often, like every month, to be sure it is in “Copper Top” condition (this was done last night!). The problem is this: no one ever tells me whether the battery is “full of energy,” “half-way full,” or “almost dead”. Since I am yet alive, I can only assume that it has at least enough energy for the moment!

Getting this pacemaker checked is quite high tech; I call somewhere in Connecticut or New York and speak to someone who does not speak true English (Southern!) and tell them that it is time for my pacemaker check. The rest is very routine: I place the telephone receiver onto a device that transmits an EKG from electrodes that are attached to my wrists to Connecticut or New York. This goes on for 40 seconds, and then I place a magnet over my pacemaker for another 40 seconds, which by the way shuts it off so they can determine how much energy is left in the battery (they NEVER tell me, however!), while I hope it comes back on (of course, the only way I can tell for sure is that I continue breathing!). Finally, I repeat step #1, only to hear, “PERFECT! Call us if you need anything!” Now, that “perfect” does NOT mean that my pacemaker’s battery is perfectly filled with energy; it simply means that the tech received a legible EKG.

As you might imagine, this continues to go downhill. This tech passes the EKG along to some monitor tech in India or Afghanistan or Iran, who decides if a REAL doctor needs to see it. If so, then the strip is sent via fax or carrier pigeon or email to a REAL doctor in Uzbekistan or Istanbul or Iceland, who determines if MY cardiologist needs to be brought up to speed. Well, this works out very nice because I get to see her once a year, unless her office calls to cancel my appointment due to some emergency, which means that it will be at least 6 more months before I see her. Well this ain’t (Southern for is not) rocket science; the way I figure it, it is entirely possible that I could have been dead for 19 months before MY cardiologist ever found it out, unless she reads the daily obits and happens to recognize my name.

For those of you who know me, you have probably already figured out that I have casually mentioned this to her, only to learn that she hates the way this is done, too, but Medicare won’t pay for it to be done in her office, so she has no other choice. Well, heck, even though I am eligible for Medicare, I only have part A because we (my wife and I) have other insurance until she turns 65 (which ain’t long), so Medicare wasn’t paying my bill anyway, but that isn’t the point.

The point is this: if we aren’t careful, the government is going to be taking charge of the treatment of our other heart—the one that really matters—and when it does, we won’t like it anymore than I like the way my physical heart is treated now. You can rest assured of this: if (probably, when) the radical Muslim world takes charge of the USA, what we know as freedom of religion will no longer exist and someone from Iran or Istanbul or some place, will be dictating more than you and I desire.

Just a reminder that complacency ain’t a good idea!

A Little Assistance, Please

Thursday afternoon, December 6, 2007

I just posted the following onto my church blog (http://gcfmacon.blogspot.com) in an effort to encourage my local congregants to prepare themselves for Sunday’s message. As you can tell (after you read the posting), I am in way over my head. Anyway, please go ahead and read the following:

This is an easy text: "If anyone sees his brother committing (sinning) a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death" (1 John 5:16-17). A piece of cake! Right?

Hmmm, well maybe not, at least not from my vantage point. In the first place, what is this "sin that leads to death"? I thought all sin lead to death! Even more, what is this sin that does NOT lead to death; again, I thought all sin lead to death!

As you can see, I have three options: (1) Bypass this text, like most exegetes do; (2) make a few inane guesses; or (3) admit the fact that I am clueless but also wait, watch, and listen. Rest assured that I will pursue the latter and hope against hope (really!) that He will bring into existence that which does not exist, namely some understanding of this text.

Thanks! Now, having read the posting, I am interested in hearing your ideas concerning this text. If you have any wisdom, please feel free to send it to me, as I will welcome it! The truth is this is not the first time I have encountered this text but it is none-the-less difficult. I always purpose to keep in focus the context of any text and this one is, certainly, no exception; however, doing so really doesn’t bring much light.

Yes, I know: it would be so much easier, if I would simply bypass this one, but I am really hoping to hear something fresh from Him, so I will wait and watch and listen! And by the way, you might do a bit of that, as well; who knows, revelation just might come upon us, and that would be a good thing!

Anyway—I will be eagerly waiting on your responses!

Blessings,

Mac

Surrendered Prayer

Sunday afternoon, December 2, 2007
This is what John said about prayer: “And this is the confidence which we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14-15; NASB).
In the first place, I do not think John meant for the likes of you and me to get bogged down in dissecting this passage and miss what he is telling us about prayer; even so and at the risk of becoming bogged-down, I do want to point a few obvious things: (1) I do not understand most of what he is saying, and that should be obvious, at least to those who know me; (2) I do, however, understand some of what he is saying, not the least of which is this: If we ask God for something He wants us to have, He will give it to us; (3) I also understand that he is telling us that our “asking” is important (not so much for God but for us); however, I must be careful here because I would not want to lead you to believe that God will only give us that for which we ask (think about how much He has given to you without your asking!); (4) Furthermore, I also understand that our having to ask confirms and declares our dependence and our helplessness; it forces us to deal with our pride (the boastful pride of life), not to mention that it also forces us to admit that we are not God; (5) I also am very aware that he is NOT telling us that God will give us whatever we want, and for this I am very thankful (if He had given me everything I have wanted, or thought I wanted, I would be in one huge mess—one bigger than the one I am already in); (6) I also understand that John is attempting to show us that most of our praying is centered on our attempting to talk God into giving us what we want, without even considering that our desires might be (probably are!) diametrically opposed to what He deems best for us; (7) To be honest, this is somewhat “fuzzy” to me: “. . . If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (vs. 14). I do understand that this could, simply, mean that He will always give us what He wants us to have (whatever is according to His will for us), especially if we ask Him for it, and if this is true, then the key to effective praying is knowing His will for us and asking Him for that and only that. I wonder, however, if this line does not have more to do with the manner in which we ask, than it has to do with our knowing what is will for us might be. If this is true, then we should be focused on knowing HOW to ask, rather than on what He might desire for us. Take a minute to read the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane—the place of crushing—and listen, carefully, to how He presents His request to His Father. Obviously, this “place of crushing” had worked its work in His life, and He was, therefore, before His Father, as a child—scared and frightened out of His wits. While sweating drops of blood, He cried, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; however, not My will but Thine be done” (you can look it up for yourself).
My point: Jesus had come to that place that I am choosing to call “The Place of Surrendered Prayer”; He had come to that place, where He was finished trying to change His Father’s mind about what was in front of Him; He was ready for God’s will to be done—regardless. Now notice this: Jesus’ coming to this place of Surrendered Prayer did not cause God to back down and change the next several days for Jesus—not one bit—instead, it equipped Jesus for what was in front of Him.
Ask from that place of Surrendered Prayer—no longer attempting to manipulate God, just surrendered to His will for your life. It will be tough getting there—I promise!

A Novel Idea!

Friday morning, November 30, 2007
As you well-know, tomorrow is December 1, the beginning of one of the busiest times of the year for Christians and, especially, for those who serve as church staff members. In light of this, and also realizing that I will probably be considered a heretic, I am going to make this bold suggestion: With the exception of Sunday morning worship services, let us cancel all church programs for the month of December and encourage everyone to purpose to return to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus. Now, I seriously doubt that the leadership of your church will agree with my suggestion and cancel their Month-of-December programs; however, that doesn’t mean that you can’t take the month off for the purpose of returning to the desire of your heart—the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
I will take the lead and tell you that we at Grace Christian Fellowship have no programs planned for December, other than our Sunday morning worship services (and they are simple, uncomplicated, and free from fluff) and I am praying that each of us will enjoy the break and truly seek to return to that secret place in the cleft of the Rock, that place of intimacy with Him, that place where things are simply, simple.
To be honest, I do not know which is doing the most damage to the Christian community—the organized church or Wall Street. You can rest assured that Wall Street is overtly doing everything it can to make this Christmas season an economic success, and in so doing, it has distracted almost everyone from what is really important and, I might add, it could care less. Sadly, during the month of December, the organized church does an even better job than Wall Street at accomplishing its somewhat covert purpose (attracting the masses in order to receive more money in order to finance its many programs) and, even more sadly, it does it in the name of Christianity. Oh, I know what “they” say, but please don’t be so easily deceived. Is every local church guilty of this? Of course not but many are and that is obvious fact. Put your church to the test by suggesting that all programs be cancelled for the month of December in order to provide its members the much-needed opportunity to return to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus, and this fact will become obvious to you.
Better yet, let your church know that, with the exception of Sunday morning worship services, you are taking the month of December off and tell the leaders why! I promise you that doing so will not keep you out of Heaven, that God will still love you, that He will still be very proud of you, and in all probability you will find a place of intimacy with Him that, otherwise, you would never have known. If I am correct in this, you will be mighty thankful that you chose to abandon all the “fluff” of Christmas and to return to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Him!
After all, He is the reason for the season, and He wanted me to remind you. You really do not have to follow the crowd and, truthfully, you probably need a break from doing so. Yes, I am a renegade, not a crowd-follower—never have been and have no plans to become one.


Blessings!
Mac

A Matter of Prayer!

Sunday evening, November 25, 2007,
Although today has had no more hours than any other Sunday, it has been a long day and, to be honest, I am glad it is almost my bedtime. For some reason, the older I become, the earlier my bedtime comes. Maybe it is true that old folk need more sleep than younger folk, but I have always believed that I could do most of my sleeping after I am dead (my physical body, of course!). I guess you could say that I am having to do a bit of adjusting—emotionally and physically—to this old age stuff. Regardless, I am really looking forward to a good night’s sleep!
Now, on to the reason for my writing this “perspective” at this time of the day: I really need your prayers, as I will be speaking at the memorial service for a lady I have known for many years, who died very unexpectedly sometimes during this past Friday night or early Saturday morning. Normally, I do not ask you to pray for me when I speak at funerals, as I do so very often and, consequently, I am rather accustomed to doing so (I did not mean for that to sound arrogant or conceited!); however, this one is different. Please allow me tell you why.
I first met David and Nancy (the now deceased lady) many years ago, when they became members of Benevolence Baptist, the church I served as pastor for some 14 years. At this time, their children were very young but, as you know, time flies and they are now adults, and then some. Sadly, about seven years ago, their daughter was involved in an auto accident that left her paralyzed and, as you might imagine, her mother, Nancy, became her sole caretaker, a tremendous undertaking, even for a mother. Only God knows the bond that was created between this mother and daughter during the past seven years.
One night this past week the family was at home doing their normal routine, when suddenly Nancy fell to the floor—a massive heart attack. She was rushed by ambulance to the Medical Center, where a heart catheterization was done, only to learn that the damage done to her heart, as the result of the attack, meant that she was not a candidate for by-pass surgery. The Docs dismissed her on Wednesday of this week with appropriate meds, and she went to her Mom’s home here in Macon, to spend several nights, and hopefully to recuperate.
In the middle of all of this, David had to have his daughter transported to the Medical Center, where she remains, as of tonight. Early Saturday morning, he had to carry out the most difficult task of his life—tell his daughter that her Mom had died.
It is one thing to learn that your Mother just died but it is quite another to learn that your sole caretaker has also died. Because of her size, David is unable to take care of her; consequently, she is going to have to live the rest of her life in a personal care home. As you might imagine, this is more-than-difficult for this entire family, but only Heaven knows the difficulty this young lady is experiencing; sadly, she will be unable even to attend her Mother’s memorial service. How in the wide-world will this young lady ever be able to adjust to this loss and to her new life?
Anyway, I really do need your prayers because 40 years worth of experience speaking at funeral services does not prepare me for this one. The fact is if He doesn’t come through, well you know the rest. This family really does need to hear genuine words of encouragement, and your prayers just might bring them forth. I am, certainly, counting on them!

Blessings with thanksgiving!

Black Friday or Good Friday?

Friday morning, November 23, 2007 [32 days until Christmas!]
My morning routine is probably not what most expect from a preacher (no comments from the peanut gallery, please!). Upon awakening, I walk to the kitchen and turn on the coffee pot (usually just after attending to a personal matter or two), then make my way back to my bathroom, where I brush my teeth, shower, and then dress for the day. Then, as if I am driven to do so, I walk outside and retrieve the morning paper (I really do not know why because most of it is, well, it is not worth reading), make my cup of coffee and my bowl of cereal, and then I sit down at my kitchen table to eat, drink, and read, not the Bible but the paper. As I am writing this, I am also wondering why I even read the Telegraph; now that I think about it, I think I do so just to be sure that I am not in the obituaries. Obviously, my name was missing this morning, which is a good thing because I have several things I want to do today, not the least of which is direct a funeral for someone else (“someone else” being the operative words).
Anyway, this morning, the paper reminded me that today is Black Friday, and when I said it reminded me, I mean that it did so in a not-so-subtle-manner; there must have been five pounds of advertisements from every store imaginable stuffed into the paper, along with several articles about Black Friday, scattered throughout the various sections. After I finished my morning routine and walked into my office to begin this “perspective”, I heard someone on the TV talking about Black Friday. OK! I get the message; today is Black Friday all over the good ole USA!
Just in case you haven’t figured this out, as of yet, I thought I would tell you that the “black” in Black Friday really means that the retailers are doing everything they can (surreptitiously, of course), to sucker you and me into bailing them out of the RED and putting them into the BLACK! They REALLY want today to be BLACK Friday, and I cannot say that I blame them for that. (Just before I finished writing the previous sentence, someone in another state called me, and in the conversation, told me that she arrived at Penny’s at 3:30 this morning, to get-in on those incredible bargains. She even told me how happy she was to have saved so much money (I never have understood how one saves money, while spending it!), so I guess the retailer’s scheme is working—BIG TIME!
Now, I am NOT attempting to be a “scrooge”, nor am I attempting to put a “damper” on your holiday shopping experience, especially if you are planning on buying me nice (expensive!) gift; however, I am attempting to remind you that there is an enemy, who will be doing everything that God will allow Him to do , in an effort to distract you from the “simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.” And, I might add, he will push the envelope to the limit, and then some, if he can get away with it (thankfully, God has him on His leash!).
My intention with this “perspective” is to remind you that Jesus really is the reason for this season (and every season for that matter), and in doing so, to encourage you not to get caught-up in the commercialization of the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The truth is this: He never has been for sale or for rent, and everything He has is already ours—free of charge to us—and He has promised to meet all of our needs according to His riches in glory!
To be honest, this is the season for us to focus on the “simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus” and to refuse to be distracted by the Wall Street’s desire to be in the BLACK!
To heck with Black Friday; for us, it is another GOOD FRIDAY! Hallelujah!

Thanksgiving Day--2007

Thursday morning, November 22, 2007—THANKSGIVING DAY
Earlier today, I was reading the story of the frustrated disciples; you remember it, I feel sure. A father had asked Jesus’ disciples to cast the demon out of his lunatic son, and try as they might, they could not get the job done. Now that I think more about the story, I would guess that the father was more frustrated than the disciples; after all, he had to deal with his son every day, and from his perspective, things just continued to worsen—regardless of what he did to get the boy healed. I have to believe that he saw this encounter with Jesus’ disciples, as his last real opportunity to see his son healed and, when they failed to produce his desired results (and theirs, for that matter), he was probably overcome with that dreaded and all-too-familiar sense of hopelessness.
Well, he was until Jesus approached them and the disciples told Him of their dilemma and He responded with such incredibly powerful words, words that, obviously, overcame the power of evil and released the power of God. Listen to them: O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me. And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once (Matthew 17:17-18). As you are probably already realizing, this father’s sense of hopelessness immediately turned into a most incredible sense of joy and thanksgiving! I mean this is good, as in very good; it is the kind of good that everyone of us longs to see.
It does leave me with a question or two (which is not unusual for me): (1) What would this father’s response have been had Jesus been unable to cast out the demon (or had He simply chosen not to cast out the demon); (2) Why do we so seldom see this kind of instant healing (I guess I should have put that in the first person singular, since I have never seen it, not even one time!)?
I would like to think that this father would have been able to say something similar this (and really believe it): “Jesus knows what is best for me and for my son and I am content, simply, resting in His best for us. I know that He always causes all things to work together for good for those of us who love Him, and that is enough for me.” The truth, however, is this: I think he would have been very, very disappointed and walked away very frustrated with the entire notion that Jesus and His disciples were pushing—Christianity, for lack of a better word.
Jesus’ probably answered my second question, but something is still lacking, at least for me. Listen to what He said in response to the disciples asking him, virtually, the same question I have just raised: “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (vss. 20-21). I could be incorrect, but I have the strong feeling that, even though they were elated at the boy’s healing and the father’s joy, they walked away very, very frustrated, not only with their own lack of power, but also with their lack of understanding, especially regarding what Jesus said to them. I mean, a grain of mustard seed IS small, for Pete’s sake! How small was their (and my) faith? And His “nothing shall be impossible to you” line is really hard, as in HARD—DIFFICULT!
Yes, I do know that good Christians, especially preachers, are not supposed to be frustrated, especially with understanding the Scriptures (they surely should never admit it), but this one is—often—and, ironically, he really wants to “get it” because I know some folk (me, for example), who need “instant” healing, at least from my vantage point!

Is Darkness Overcoming the Light?

Wednesday morning, November 21, 2007
This morning, I am at home, sitting in my new office, looking out the windows at some of the most beautiful Fall colors one could ever see. The sky is a beautiful blue; the shadows that are strewn around on the earth’s floor, along with the reflections of the Fall colors in the small lake, create a most impressive sight. And the stillness, the quietness! How could it get much better?
It is a strange kind of beauty, however, because, as I enjoy it, I cannot help but think of those who for whatever reasons are not enjoying it—never have and probably never will. Somehow, the beauty of God’s creative abilities completely escapes them; they seem to be totally lost in the darkness of the soul—a darkness in which some of them live, as the result of their own foolishness choices and in which others live, as the result of no fault of their own.
To be honest, I have lived the vast majority of my life, basking in the beauty of His incredible love, mercy, and grace—completely smitten by the beauty of not only His creation, but also of His Person. For reasons beyond me, I have been able to experience the wonder of His glorious creation and Person, even in the midst of some of life’s very difficult experiences, so much so, that it has been my privilege to spend most of my adult life attempting to help others see beyond the darkness of their own souls into the light of His glorious beauty and splendor. Honestly, it has been an incredibly rewarding journey for me—one that I could have never deserved—a thing of mercy and grace, indeed!
This past year has, however, taken me down some paths that I would have never chosen to travel, none of which should have even shaken me, but the sum of which have not only shaken me, but shaken me in the depths of my soul. There have been some moments when the “darkness” seemed to be overtaking the “light” and, I might add, perception is oftentimes what we believe is reality. There have been some moments, when the battle has been so fierce, that I wondered if God had forgotten or reneged on His commitments and promises!
One of the things that has made this so intense is the fact that He called me to preach—Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. To be honest, there have been not a few Sunday mornings when the notion of having a hot dog stand on the beach sounded like a good idea! You see, when it seems that the darkness is overtaking the light, preaching is not easy (and preaching is usually very easy for me—the passion of my soul!).
If I have learned nothing else, I have learned that when I am weak, He is strong! I might even paraphrase that and say this: When I am aware that I am not just weak but dead, He somehow manifests His life in a way that I can better understand.
There is a piece of me that wants to be able to tell you that I would relive all of the painful events of this year, just to learn what I have learned; however, there is another piece of me that wants to tell you that I have NO desire to relive this year, regardless of what I might learn during the rerun.
The good news is this: He loves me enough not to concern Himself with or to be influenced by my desires, especially those that enable my foolish notions that the darkness is overtaking the light, especially His Light!
Yes, I will know Him because He is determined that I know Him, as in really know Him; in other words, He is determined that I walk in the Light that He is—regardless of my perception of how bright it might be shining!

As If I Really Need Reminding!

Tuesday morning, November 20, 2007
The following is a response I received from the “perspective” I wrote on November 18, just a couple of days ago: “I thought I would copy these words over again, just to remind myself (as if I really NEED reminding) that these monsters have just about overwhelmed me this year as well: stress, worry, distraction, pain, frustration, and disappointment. To bring you up-to-date.....remember the teaching job I told you about with such excitement? Well, it seems it is coming to an end due to the poor planning and truthfully, gross mismanagement of funds by the board of directors. In short, as of December, they will not have the money to pay me. Teaching these snotty-nosed 7th - 10th graders has been a complete joy for me for the past few months. So to say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. Frustrated? And how! Distracted? Yes, to the point of not being able to concentrate on teaching my classes. Stress, worry? You bet, because now I have to return to full-time work and really have no clue how to get back to that. And yet, I come home, turn on my computer, and read that you say that this is all because of His relentless and reckless, determined pursuit of me and my knowing Him intimately. As of this VERY moment, my first response is, ‘Then, would You PLEASE stop this??’ Because the pain factor just becomes too great at times. And then I look at what you wrote more closely and this is what strikes me . . . ‘You mean He loves me THAT much? Really?’ And I hang my head when I realize that I just need to re-focus on that amazing, UNRELENTING love that will not let me go. THAT'S what I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving. And it's all your fault for reminding me. :)
His UNRELENTING love—love that will not let us go, ever! Settled forever in Heaven! To be sure, each of us is very thankful for His love (where would we be without it?) but SOMETIMES we, like my friend, at least want to say, “Would You please stop this?” When we do, I really do not think we want Him to stop loving us; instead, we want Him to change the way He is showing His love to us. We would much-prefer that He use a method that is less stressful, worrisome, distractive, painful, frustrating, and, yes, even disappointing. Well, maybe you don’t but I, often do (just for the record).
Now, the truth is this: I have journeyed with Him long enough to know that I REALLY do not want Him to do anything but what He deems best—I really don’t—but sometimes I would appreciate a bit of anesthesia. As my friend said, “At times the pain factor is just too great!” and I will add, “especially for old folks!” One would think that He would “go easy” on those of us who have one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel BUT He doesn’t. For some reason, I get the impression that He thinks He made us out of tougher “stuff” than He made the younger generation. Maybe He did, who knows?
Anyway, it is kind of neat to hear that someone was smitten by the fact that He really does love her THAT much!
Blessings,

Thankfulness!

Sunday afternoon, November 18, 2007
Earlier, when I was contemplating my message for today, thinking particularly about Thanksgiving, and specifically about the things for which I am most thankful, I found myself thinking of things like food, shelter, clothing, transportation, health, family, insurance, pensions—the things that make life easy and comfortable—and I am thankful for these things (very thankful!), don’t get me wrong; however, it didn’t take Him long to remind me that my “thinking” needed an oil change.
Once again, I do not want to be misunderstood and have you thinking that I am not grateful for EVERYTHING He provides for me that makes life comfortable and easy; the fact is I like “comfortable and easy” much more than I like the alternative . I have noticed, however, that He seems to be more interested in my knowing Him than He is in my living an easy and comfortable life, and I have also noticed that those who seem to know Him best are not among those who live easy and comfortable lives.
Now that I have had time to think about it, when I mention “easy and comfortable” I am really not thinking so much about enjoying things like sleeping between clean and warm sheets, or driving a nice car, or living in a nice house; instead, I am thinking more about being free from stress and worry and distraction and pain and frustration and disappointment—those things that seem to have the ability to make life anything but comfortable and easy.
Yes, I know that “good Christians” ought never experience stress or worry or pain or frustration or disappointment, even be distracted, which tells you what kind of Christian I am (according to the religious definition), which means (I suppose) that I just need to “get my life right with God” and, thus, end this perspective.
You might find this a bit strange, but my life is “right” with God (I am absolutely sure of this because Jesus did for me, what I could not do for myself), and I do have many of the things that most people believe will make their lives comfortable and easy—I am presently healthy, I live in a nice house, I drive a nice car (truck), I sleep between clean, warm sheets, I have insurance (life and medical), I have an incredible family, our pensions are in place, and I even have a house in the mountains of North Georgia—HOWEVER, I am NOT free from stress, worry, distraction, pain, frustration, or disappointment! The truth is this: over this past year these things have almost consumed my life.
Maybe you do not know this, so I will tell you: When these things consume your life it is not easy to enjoy the things that you thought would make your life comfortable and easy, which is probably why He brings them into our lives and causes them to consume us. He really is very interested in our knowing Him and finding ultimate fulfillment and pleasure in Him, and, I might add, He is relentless and reckless (at least in my opinion) in His determined pursuit.
It is not easy to write these words (it scares me to death, to tell you the truth), but here they are: At this Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for His determined and reckless pursuit of my knowing Him!
I find it interesting that Paul finally came to the place where he could say (with integrity) that it was his determined purpose to progressively become more intimately acquainted with Him (Philippians 3). All I know is this: He took Paul through some really tough times before these words became words of his heart—his passion (see 2 Corinthians 11:24-30).

Many Servants but Few Friends

Thursday morning, November 15, 2007
As I was finishing my second “read” of Malcolm Smith’s book, “The Power of the Blood Covenant” this line jumped off the page (284) at me: ‘He has many servants but few friends.” How true and how tragic, especially in light of the fact that He redeemed us, not to be His servants but to be His friends. This is what Jesus said: “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends” (John 15:15a).
In my opinion, it has been the teaching of most local churches that has robbed us of even being aware that Jesus desires our friendship; instead it has taught us that we are here to serve Him (as if He needs our service!), so as to help Him get everyone saved, even if in the nick of time. The real tragedy lies in the fact that we have been so naïve, as to believe it!
Now, don’t misunderstand me: it is quite the privilege to serve Him, BUT our service is not what He desires; He desires US—you and me! Take even a brief look at the
Song of Songs (Solomon) and I think you will find plenty of evidence to support this.
Folks, Jesus did not die because God need some helpers, people who could help Him accomplish what He could not accomplish on His own; instead, He died because God wanted intimate relationship with you and with me. Sadly, however, most believers spend their lives diligently attempting to be His servants—people who have no idea what He is doing (or so Jesus said in John 15:15).
Obviously, I cannot speak for you but I can tell you that I want to know what He is doing; I want to be in His inner circle of friends. Granted, this is not something I can achieve but it is something I can receive; HOWEVER, I can receive it only as I am willing to stop living as His servant and begin living as His friend.
Somehow, we need to begin to understand, to know, to really KNOW, that He is not interested in our being His slaves (servants), not at all; instead, He is interested in our being in intimate relationship with Him, so much so, that He has done everything, as in EVERYTHING, in order that we are free to spend our days (and nights) living in intimate relationship with Him. Please, please, cease striving and begin to enjoy intimacy with Jesus; after all, His desire is for you (or so the Song of Songs tells us!).
Did you get that? HIS DESIRE IS FOR YOU! Remember: He already has many servants, but He has few—very few—friends! Maybe, just maybe, you could take some time off from your diligent efforts to serve Him and, like Mary (Martha’s sister), spend some time just sitting at His feet, just being with Him, waiting and watching and listening. It really is OK for you to do; you might be nervous at first, but He has His very own way of making His friends feel right at Home!
Have a great day with Him, just being His friend!

Blessings,

Mac

What Good Thing Must I Do?

Monday, November 12, 2007
On one occasion, a rich, young man came to Jesus, asking Him a question that was certainly worthy of an accurate answer—”What good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” Obviously, he was thinking in much the same way as the religious of today think—”What good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” I love Jesus’ response to him: “. . . if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Just for the record: this is the only accurate answer Jesus could have given to one so self-centered, as to believe that there was some good thing he could do that would enable him to obtain eternal life. Of course, His answer was “baited” and, as you might expect, the young, rich man took the bait, with his response: “Which ones?”
Which ones? Does this sound like the religious of today, or what? Most of those who call themselves Christians today truly believe that God grades on the curve, that 6 out of 10 really impresses God. The really sad thing about this young man is that he actually thought he was doing great, probably 10 out of 10; however, Jesus made it crystal clear that he hadn’t even made it past the first commandment—You shalt have no other god’s before Me! There is no telling just how often we think we are doing really well at keeping the Commandments, when in reality, we haven’t even made it past the first one? If God were to reveal to anyone of us the number of idols we worship, it would bring us to our knees in true humility.
Anyway, Jesus’ way of revealing this young man’s idol was quite powerful: “. . . go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow Me.” From what I can see, it didn’t take this young man long to recognize his idol and, tragically, he chose to reject Jesus in favor of his idol. Before you are too quick to judge this young, rich man, ask yourself this question: How would I respond to the same opportunity? Of course, your answer depends upon how much you value your idol, and, I might add, yours might be different from his. Of this I am certain: when He presents you with this opportunity, He will “hit the nail on the head” and you will be faced with. . .well, you will be faced with a decision of some magnitude.
You see, eternal life is a gift, not just any gift but God’s gift to His elect, and there is no good thing that you or I can do to obtain it, even if we sell all of our possessions and give every last penny of the proceeds to the poor. The truth is had this young man actually sold his possessions and given the money to the poor and returned to Jesus with a receipt from the Salvation Army, he would have come up short of obtaining eternal life. How do I know this? Easy! Had he done it, his possessions would not have been his idol.
I really hope you can see this: If Jesus should ask you to do anything to obtain eternal life, He would be purposely asking you to do something that you CANNOT do; otherwise, He would not be asking you to do it. Take heart! He does this in order to show us that our being blessed with the gift of eternal life is His doing, not ours—His indescribable gift!
I wonder what would have been Jesus’ response had this young man simply said, “Jesus, I really want this eternal life that You offer but, in spite of my efforts, I cannot keep the commandments; I have tried and tried but I always fail. Do you have any suggestions for me?
Better still: Maybe we just need to come to Jesus and be quiet and allow Him to do the talking.

It's About Time!

Thursday morning, November 8, 2007 (9:15AM),
As I begin writing this “perspective”, I am also waiting for the phone to ring; a Mrs. Bloodworth with the Social Security Administration was supposed to call me at 9:00 to assist me in scheduling the January arrival of my Social Security benefits. Since I have been waiting only 65 years and 10 months for these checks to begin arriving, one would think that waiting the past fifteen minutes would be a piece of cake, and it would be, if I didn’t have so many other things that I need to accomplish today. As you might imagine, however, I am choosing to give this call a place of very high priority (for some reason, I have this strange sense of urgency about having these monthly checks deposited into my checking account; it is as if I think the fund might run out of money before I begin receiving them!), so I will wait—probably not so patiently, but I will wait.

Saturday morning, November 10, 2007 (10:54 AM),
Well, I begin again after having been completely distracted for the past 48 hours; however, I did receive the aforementioned call at 9:30 on Thursday morning and, believe it or not, my first Social Security check is scheduled to be deposited into my account on January 16, 2008! Now, that is worth at least one HALLELUJAH!
Anyhoo, have you noticed how much time we spend waiting? Someone goes to the doctor to have a simple test done, and rather than immediately giving him the results (which they usually have), he is told it will be 10 days or 2 weeks before he hears back from the Doc. Or one goes to the grocery store and waits 15 minutes for the person in the front of the line at the checkout counter to fumble through her pocketbook, searching for the money to pay the cashier (Doesn’t everyone know that you have to pay at the cash register?). Or one is “running late” for an appointment, only to arrive at the railroad tracks and find that the slowest and longest train on the planet is barely moving past the cross arms, providing opportunity for a “patient” wait. Or a couple is expecting a baby on March 10th but it comes April 3rd! Or a couple is scheduled to meet another couple at a local restaurant at 7:00 but the wife is just stepping out of the shower at 6:45 and the restaurant is 25 minutes away. Or the Social Security representative is supposed to call at 9:00 but calls at 9:30, acting as if the time you spent waiting was of no value whatsoever. Or someone schedules a counseling appointment for 10:00 AM with Kevin but shows up at 10:20.
Someone once said this to me (out of their frustration with a subcontractor, who was late for a job): Time is money! In his case, this was surely true and, I might add, this is often the case; however, time is more than money, it is precious. Maybe you have forgotten but God has numbered your days: “Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them” (Psalm 139:16).
Maybe, just maybe, we should be better stewards of our time; it is my guess that doing so is much more important than being stewards of our money (which is very important!). How much time are you wasting? How much of the time of others are you wasting by your own irresponsibility regarding your time?
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven” and maybe it is TIME for you to become more responsible regarding the time that He has given to you.
Amen? Amen!

On Fear and Faith

Friday morning (just barely), October 26, 2007
Your responses to yesterday’s “perspective” let me know that fear is very much a part of the life of those of us who call ourselves His, but they also let me know that faith is also very much a part of our lives. Interestingly, out of all of the responses I received, I received only one that indicated otherwise—that if we really have faith, then we should have no fear.
As I was writing the previous paragraph, I received a call from one of God’s children, whose daughter-in-law just delivered a 2 pound, 4.5 ounce baby girl. As you might imagine, the past several days have been very difficult for this family, as the mother’s cervix was dilating very prematurely. To say that another way: this family has been fearfully trusting over the past several days. There is no doubt in my mind that they have had utmost confidence (faith) in God and in His ability to carry out His perfect plan for this family; however, there is also no doubt in my mind that they have experienced fear—the kind of fear that any human being would have, at the thought of losing a child and/or a grandchild. In my opinion, the Psalmist’s words, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Him”, becomes very precious in such times!
Go ahead and try to tell these precious folks that if they had really been trusting God, they would have had no fear; well, on second thought, please do not be that foolish. The truth is they are continuing to fearfully trust because this baby is very premature and they want it to survive and to thrive. Yes, I know that some would say that if they really trusted God, they would simply want what He wants, even if that means that the baby will not survive but, somehow, that mindset simply does not fit with what I know about Jesus. His “not my will but Thine be done” cry does in fact declare that, in that Gethsemane experience, His will and God’s will were opposed to each other. Granted, He did (finally) make the “. . .but Thine (will) be done” statement, but that did not remove the anxiety and fear that He was experiencing. He was a genuine man, even with feelings, in case you have forgotten, and certainly a man of perfect faith.
I will be the first to tell you that I have absolutely no fear concerning my relationship with Jesus, my security as a believer, my righteousness, or my eternal life; to be sure, His perfect love for me does, indeed, continually cast out those fears. If, however, I am to be honest with you, then I must also be the first to tell you that I would be experiencing the very same fear that this family is experiencing, if I were in their “shoes” and in various ways, I have been on many occasions.
Even if I live to be 100, I will never forget the night before my son’s 17th birthday, when he was involved in a terrible auto accident. When I knelt beside him in the brush and rubble, the first words out of his mouth were these: “Daddy, I am about to die, aren’t I” and my response was this: “Not if I can help it!” The picture that is even more vivid in my mind is when I was standing beside his ER gurney, realizing that it was very possible that he was going to die, and with a huge lump in my throat, saying, “God I release Him to you, which is all I know to do.” Was I fearful? You can rest assured that I was not only fearful, I was “scared to death” BUT I was also trusting—FEARFULLY TRUSTING—my Father to allow my son to survive and to thrive. In the end, He did and I am very thankful; however, I know of many other similar situations, where He did not, and I can only tell you that those parents were fearfully trusting, as well.
Sometimes, God does not do what we want Him to do and knowing that fact precipitates fear—always—but it also always gives birth to faith—great faith!