I will never forget my first experience outside the USA. In January 1980, I spent three weeks preaching in Nigeria on a mission trip. I felt so far from home. The language was different, the culture and customs were different, the beliefs, the food, the laws-all different. No matter how hard I tried to fit in, I was an outsider; a stranger, an alien to that country.
After an exhausting journey back to the US and a long wait in the customs line, I handed the agent my passport. He looked it and me over thoroughly, looked at his computer files, stamped my passport and said some of the most beautiful words I ever heard, Welcome home. This stranger had finally returned where his citizenship was-home.
In preparation for this Sunday's outdoor worship celebration, I am studying about our citizenship. I am encouraged to know that there is a reason I don't fit into this world, I don't understand it's language, or it's culture-this is not where my citizenship is.
Don't let the strangeness of your surroundings get you down. If you are saved, then you are a stranger here in this foreign land. Get your passport ready, soon we'll be going home.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Eph. 2:19
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Get It While the Gettin's Good
Get that one!
We were having a blast collecting shells as we sit partially in the water at the beach. My grandson had just noticed a beautiful purple seashell at the same time I did. Get that one! Noticing it was about five feet from us, rather that getting him off my lap and walking to the shell, I decided to wait until after the next wave left. With an incoming tide, that next wave broke farther up the shoreline, rolled over the shell, and returned back to the ocean.
It's gone, Papaw! It's gone.
I noticed it at the same time. We waited, watched, and waited some more but we never saw that purple shell again. We had missed our opportunity.
Life is full of those-once in a lifetime opportunities. Most of us Christian adults know better; we know from experience time is quickly moving on and we have no guarantees that those opportunities will ever be available again. When we have them, we better do what my mountain kinfolk say, You better get it while the gettin's good.
If there is a letter you need to write, a hug to give, a call to make, a kiss to give, a witness to share, a blessing to bestow, a gift to give-do it now! This is the day. Seize the moment!
At any second, everything could change and you will never have that opportunity again.
Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth. Prov. 27:1
We were having a blast collecting shells as we sit partially in the water at the beach. My grandson had just noticed a beautiful purple seashell at the same time I did. Get that one! Noticing it was about five feet from us, rather that getting him off my lap and walking to the shell, I decided to wait until after the next wave left. With an incoming tide, that next wave broke farther up the shoreline, rolled over the shell, and returned back to the ocean.
It's gone, Papaw! It's gone.
I noticed it at the same time. We waited, watched, and waited some more but we never saw that purple shell again. We had missed our opportunity.
Life is full of those-once in a lifetime opportunities. Most of us Christian adults know better; we know from experience time is quickly moving on and we have no guarantees that those opportunities will ever be available again. When we have them, we better do what my mountain kinfolk say, You better get it while the gettin's good.
If there is a letter you need to write, a hug to give, a call to make, a kiss to give, a witness to share, a blessing to bestow, a gift to give-do it now! This is the day. Seize the moment!
At any second, everything could change and you will never have that opportunity again.
Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth. Prov. 27:1
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Why?
Why are you wearing those shoes?
Because they are my comfortable shoes.
Why are they your shoes?
Because I bought them.
Noticing mine were not Velcro like his, Why are you tying your shoes?
One thing my three year-old grandson does well is ask questions. In fact, all of us probably ask our share of questions when we were growing up. That's one way we learn. It is a sign of growing, of not having all the answers.
I have also learned that patience is a major quality needed in this realm of endless questions. When I am bombarded by questions, I want to patiently answer those questions. The questioner must also be patient for an answer.
Sometimes children ask, Why, about things they don't understand, and we know they would never understand, even if we took all the time and eloquence in explaining. It's at those times I either say, Just because, or I say nothing at all. It would be no use to continually ask, or pitch a fit, or show displeasure-I am not going to answer. Not because I have no answer, but because I have no answer a little boy would understand.
Praise the Lord for His patience, His long suffering, His kindness in giving us answers in His Word to our many questions. And when I ask Him a question and find no answer, I want to be content that it is just because. He always knows best.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9
Because they are my comfortable shoes.
Why are they your shoes?
Because I bought them.
Noticing mine were not Velcro like his, Why are you tying your shoes?
One thing my three year-old grandson does well is ask questions. In fact, all of us probably ask our share of questions when we were growing up. That's one way we learn. It is a sign of growing, of not having all the answers.
I have also learned that patience is a major quality needed in this realm of endless questions. When I am bombarded by questions, I want to patiently answer those questions. The questioner must also be patient for an answer.
Sometimes children ask, Why, about things they don't understand, and we know they would never understand, even if we took all the time and eloquence in explaining. It's at those times I either say, Just because, or I say nothing at all. It would be no use to continually ask, or pitch a fit, or show displeasure-I am not going to answer. Not because I have no answer, but because I have no answer a little boy would understand.
Praise the Lord for His patience, His long suffering, His kindness in giving us answers in His Word to our many questions. And when I ask Him a question and find no answer, I want to be content that it is just because. He always knows best.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
No Other Place To Be
I love our Life @ Englewood video at the beginning of our worship times. Along with the urgent reminders, there are pictures of those who made decisions last Sunday along with the new members. The song playing in the background is exciting and a blessing; No better place on earth, than the road that leads to heaven........ and it ends with these words on the screen- No better place to be.
I agree with that, no other place, no better place to be than in heaven. I must confess that when I see those words, I am also reminded of Israel. I love the Lord Jesus Christ, I love the Bible, I love His principles taught in the past, and I love His promises about the future. All that takes place in one country on earth-Israel.
Exactly one year from today we will be in Israel leading a group of thirsty, seeking saints on the pilgrimage of their life. Beulah Land-no place like it on earth. It was in this country where 95% of the Bible was written. It was in Israel where the prophets preached, where the tabernacle and temple was, where it all started, and where it will all end. No place like it on earth.
Next June 21-July 1, 2011, my friend Bob Pitman and his wife Sheryl, are going to join Tebra and me as we lead anyone who wants to go with us as we experience Israel together.
I am starting to count the days. No better place on earth.......
For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. Deut. 11:10-12
No better place to be.
I agree with that, no other place, no better place to be than in heaven. I must confess that when I see those words, I am also reminded of Israel. I love the Lord Jesus Christ, I love the Bible, I love His principles taught in the past, and I love His promises about the future. All that takes place in one country on earth-Israel.
Exactly one year from today we will be in Israel leading a group of thirsty, seeking saints on the pilgrimage of their life. Beulah Land-no place like it on earth. It was in this country where 95% of the Bible was written. It was in Israel where the prophets preached, where the tabernacle and temple was, where it all started, and where it will all end. No place like it on earth.
Next June 21-July 1, 2011, my friend Bob Pitman and his wife Sheryl, are going to join Tebra and me as we lead anyone who wants to go with us as we experience Israel together.
I am starting to count the days. No better place on earth.......
For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. Deut. 11:10-12
No better place to be.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Call to Commitment
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. Heb. 11:27
In making Moses into a man of God, God prepared him for over eighty years. He has worked with Moses through the steps of Protection, Education, and Confrontation. Next comes the crucial step in Moses life I call Secluded Isolation.
Here was a man raised in a royal palace, given special privileges, treated with respect and preference. He thought he was somebody. He had a B.S. degree, a Be Somebody degree. This was one reason he had taken matters into his own hands and killed an Egyptian. Now, he has to run for his own life and hide from the police. For the next 40 years he lives as a fugitive in the land of Midian. His job-leading sheep.
It was here, on the backside of a desert, that God prepares Moses for the work He had been preparing for him. In seclusion, in isolation, Moses earned his B.N. degree,a Be Nobody. God was using this time to get the 'self' out of Moses life, bringing him to realize all he needed was God.
He will do the same in all of us. Do not be afraid of sickness, job loss, or any circumstance in life that causes you to be alone and quiet. God is using that time to teach you things you will need for the next step in the journey.
That next step, the final step for Moses to take so that God would use him to glorify Himself, was the step I am preaching on today. It is the step of Commitment, where we are willing to do anything, go anywhere, at any time, at any cost.
Which step are you at in this matter of God making you into the person He wants you to be?
In making Moses into a man of God, God prepared him for over eighty years. He has worked with Moses through the steps of Protection, Education, and Confrontation. Next comes the crucial step in Moses life I call Secluded Isolation.
Here was a man raised in a royal palace, given special privileges, treated with respect and preference. He thought he was somebody. He had a B.S. degree, a Be Somebody degree. This was one reason he had taken matters into his own hands and killed an Egyptian. Now, he has to run for his own life and hide from the police. For the next 40 years he lives as a fugitive in the land of Midian. His job-leading sheep.
It was here, on the backside of a desert, that God prepares Moses for the work He had been preparing for him. In seclusion, in isolation, Moses earned his B.N. degree,a Be Nobody. God was using this time to get the 'self' out of Moses life, bringing him to realize all he needed was God.
He will do the same in all of us. Do not be afraid of sickness, job loss, or any circumstance in life that causes you to be alone and quiet. God is using that time to teach you things you will need for the next step in the journey.
That next step, the final step for Moses to take so that God would use him to glorify Himself, was the step I am preaching on today. It is the step of Commitment, where we are willing to do anything, go anywhere, at any time, at any cost.
Which step are you at in this matter of God making you into the person He wants you to be?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Doing God's Will My Way
Chapter 3 in the shaping of Moses into a man God can use is called
Significant Confrontation.
Exodus 2:11-17, tells us how Moses confronted an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew. This was wrong and the man needed stopping. Moses had the granted authority to stop the man and release the Hebrew. However, Moses reacted liked so many who want the right thing to be done-he tried to do God's will in his own way and that never pleases God.
He killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. God's Word warns us, "Be sure your sins will find you out." It wasn't long until Moses' sin was uncovered and he was confronted by another Egyptian, and then by Pharaoh.
When you are confronted with the will of God, how do you try to achieve it? A tragic mistake is to attempt to do God's will in the strength of the flesh. Do God's will God's way. The time will be right; the results will be righteous.
And when you are out of God's will, expect a confrontation, from your companions, as well as from your authorities. God can use these confrontations to make you usable in His hands.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the LORD upholds him with His hand. Psalm 37:23-24
Significant Confrontation.
Exodus 2:11-17, tells us how Moses confronted an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew. This was wrong and the man needed stopping. Moses had the granted authority to stop the man and release the Hebrew. However, Moses reacted liked so many who want the right thing to be done-he tried to do God's will in his own way and that never pleases God.
He killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. God's Word warns us, "Be sure your sins will find you out." It wasn't long until Moses' sin was uncovered and he was confronted by another Egyptian, and then by Pharaoh.
When you are confronted with the will of God, how do you try to achieve it? A tragic mistake is to attempt to do God's will in the strength of the flesh. Do God's will God's way. The time will be right; the results will be righteous.
And when you are out of God's will, expect a confrontation, from your companions, as well as from your authorities. God can use these confrontations to make you usable in His hands.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the LORD upholds him with His hand. Psalm 37:23-24
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Making of a Man of God- Part 2
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it. Prov. 22:6
Moses is one of the few men in the Bible that have been referred to as "a man of God." I have been challenged as to what causes a man to be a man of God? In the life of Moses I see five steps in him becoming a man that God could show Himself through:
Step 1- Supernatural Protection Hebrews 11:23; Exodus 2:1-10
Step 2- Spiritual Education
The Bible tells us in Exodus 2 that little baby Moses was found at the river's edge by Pharoah's daughter. She need someone who would nurse Moses, rear Moses, and train Moses. She asked a young Hebrew girl, Miriam, to find her someone who could do all that for Moses. Of course, she got the mother of her and Moses. Just when the devil thought he had destroyed the deliverer of Israel, God saves him, secures him, and trains him-all at the financial expense of the enemy.
And when he is old he will not depart from it. Prov. 22:6
Moses is one of the few men in the Bible that have been referred to as "a man of God." I have been challenged as to what causes a man to be a man of God? In the life of Moses I see five steps in him becoming a man that God could show Himself through:
Step 1- Supernatural Protection Hebrews 11:23; Exodus 2:1-10
Step 2- Spiritual Education
The Bible tells us in Exodus 2 that little baby Moses was found at the river's edge by Pharoah's daughter. She need someone who would nurse Moses, rear Moses, and train Moses. She asked a young Hebrew girl, Miriam, to find her someone who could do all that for Moses. Of course, she got the mother of her and Moses. Just when the devil thought he had destroyed the deliverer of Israel, God saves him, secures him, and trains him-all at the financial expense of the enemy.
Moses' parents did just what God's word teaches, they trained Moses in the way he should go. That word trained means, to prepare for an event such as an athelte training for a contest; to form into proper shape; to discipline for effective use. Moses' parents knew God had a purpose for their son's life, so they poured their spiritual training into him.
Even though Moses was intellectually trained for hours each day in the educational program of Egypt, he never forsook his spiritual training at home. It was those few hours with his parents, praying with them, listening to them, watching them example godliness to him, that shaped and fashioned Moses. This spiritual training daily from his parents gave him the solid foundation he neede to stand firm the rest of his life. Eighty years later he was the man of God that God used, because his parents made spiritual education a priority.
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