I’ve recently read a very interesting book called, “Fixing Abraham” by Chris Tiegreen (published by Tyndale Publishing). The book deals with the way God worked in the lives of many biblical characters and how we’ve cleaned up the way God worked to make it a little more acceptable and “in our image.” If you really stop to think about it, some of the ways, if not most, God’s worked were really out there from a cultural point of view.

The book made me think about how God just might be working through some folks today. Many times I find myself shaking my head at them, but perhaps I simply need to keep my thoughts to myself. It just might be God doing something that doesn’t fit my way of thinking or my preferences.

I wonder how many of us would have accepted Isaiah as a prophet? Or how many of us would have looked at Paul as being an apostle? And how many of us would have considered that a pregnant teenage girl was really being used of God to bring His one and only Son to redeem us? And she was still a virgin!

Mary and the virgin birth of Christ………it wasn’t nice and neat; it wasn’t orderly, not to mention it wasn’t acceptable. But Mary leads the way in showing us how to respond to the “strange” workings of God. After the angel told her what God was up to, her response was, "I am the Lord's servant; May it be to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38 NIV)

For Mary, trusting in God was wrapped up in that one statement……”May it be to me as you have said.” And then she responded by simply “pondering” all these things. She didn’t jump to a conclusion or jump to judgment. I don’t know if she had figured it out at the cross. She may not have figured it out until she met Jesus again in heaven at the end of her existence on the earth.

Sometimes it takes us awhile to recognize that the things going on around us are really the work of God in our lives to bring about His plan for the ages. I’m prone to quick judgments; expressing opinions; and trying to make everything right, according to my understanding of what decent and orderly are about. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is not whether God is working or not, the question is more about my acceptance of what He is doing and HOW He is doing it.

In the Church today, around the world, there is a lot going on. Some of it I like, and some of it simply isn’t my cup of tea. But I’m working on being quiet about the things that are not my cup of tea. It just might be God using someone who is different than me and it might be God doing something that doesn’t fit my cultural view or even my theology. (Which means my theology needs to change!)

When that happens, I just need to back up, remember that I’m His servant and whatever the Master desires to happen, is okay and how He desires it to happen is okay as well.

Excuse me now while I take some time to sit and ponder.

Always in Pursuit!

I learned a new word yesterday as I was studying from 2 Peter 3. In this chapter, Peter is warning his readers not to start believing that God’s promises were not true just because they hadn’t come about as of yet. Obviously this was in direct reference to “The Day of the Lord.” Since that time, many have joined the ranks of those who doubt and believe that “The Day of the Lord” came about with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD and from that point on, everything has just moved along routinely without the threat of God’s judgment or the hope of His return. In the study of geology this is called Uniformitarianism. It means that the same processes that have occurred in the past will continue to occur and nothing new will happen.

I know many folks who have this mindset. They are like huge rocks and don’t want to be moved. They don’t like change, they want things to be the same today as it was ten years ago (with a few exceptions like cars, microwaves, big screen TV’s, i-pods, cell phones, etc). But they don’t want their job to change, their house to change, their church to change or the disciplines needed to stay close to God.

Just as God is not the author of confusion, He is not the author of spiritual Uniformitarianism. He is the author of change. When we come to Christ, there should be a huge change. Even if we weren’t drunks, drug addicts, murderers, abusers, etc, there should be a major change in our life when we come to Him! Our desires should change, our thinking should change and who knows what else God wants to change. He wants to renew, restore, and regenerate us!

Another thought I had was that in the Old Testament, the phrase for the Holy Spirit (God) was “The Holy Wind.” In the New Testament, God the Spirit is referred to as “breath.”

Then in John 3:8 we are told that the Spirit of God works much like the wind in nature. We don’t know where it comes from or where it will blow to. It blows wherever it pleases.

Sounds to me like following after God will bring about a lot of change. So, if any two days or any two events (like church on Sunday) are ever the same perhaps we haven’t followed the Wind!

Always in Pursuit!

I was reminded of a pretty basic lesson earlier today as I was reading the Word. It was really kind of interesting. I was reading from the last few chapters of Exodus, instructions to Moses about how the Tabernacle was to be set up. Not real exciting or what some might consider "heart thumping" reading. It would be safe to say that not too many “revival sermons” were ever preached out of those chapters. But I was reminded that God has an order to the things He has designed for my life. His plan for my life was not randomly put together. There was a design. There were things that needed to come about in my life before all of His plan can be revealed. There are things to come that need the things that have been for this plan to work.

Everything about God has an order. Creation has an order. The Law has order (maybe that’s were got the phrase “Law & Order?” okay, maybe not.) The Tabernacle had an order. Even dismantling and moving the tabernacle had an order. So it only stands to reason that the God who knows my name, the God who prepared works for me to do before the beginning of time, the God who sent His one and only Son to die for me would have an order for my life's plan.

I need to relax and allow His plan to be revealed. I heard Dick Foth say a couple of weeks ago that trust doesn't happen in the daylight, it only happens in the dark.

You and I have a promise that our steps will be ordered as we seek Him with all of our hearts and strive to do the right thing. And we can trust His order for our lives.

Seeing all of the plans God has for His kids is pretty exciting. It’s going to be a great thing in our lives.


Always in Pursuit!

It’s amazing how much can be said about someone in just a few words. I discovered this to be true about a man named Matthias, the replacement for Judas.

Scripture contains very few words about him. As a matter of fact, the only place he is listed is in Acts 1 where we have the account of the disciples/apostles “electing” a replacement for Judas, the betrayer.

We know nothing of his origins and nothing definite about his death. But what we do know is impacting.

We know that he had been present with Jesus since the time of John’s baptism by water. He had stayed faithful during those three years with Christ and the other disciples. He labored in apparent anonymity for three years. He wasn’t included in the inner circles with Peter, James and John. He wasn’t singled out for any particular tasks that the writers of the Gospels recorded for us. But he was faithfully present, doing what was put before him.

Then came that day in Acts 1. He was selected by the casting of lots. Luck? I don’t think so. Proverbs 16:33 tells us that even though casting of lots is used, it is still God who controls the casting of the lots. So we have to rule out luck. It was God. It was Matthias being faithful in all the things over the previous three years.

I read a great passage this morning from the Living Bible that sums up what happened to Matthias. “If you stay away from sin, you will be like one of those dishes made of purest gold—the very best in the house—so that Christ Himself can use you for His highest purposes.” (2 Timothy 2:20-21)

Matthias was gold in a refining process for three years. Each of us is in a refining process so that we too can come out as pure gold for His purposes.

Always In Pursuit!

This is my son...........

A few days ago, our son David wrote an article and put it out on facebook. I read it and was so blessed and challenged by it that I asked him if I could put it on my blog. He agreed to let me do that.

We really didn't edit it. We fixed a couple of words that his spelling teacher would appreciate but it's pretty much the way he wrote it.

I hope it blesses you but I also hope it challenges you. Here we go:

God is still God.
This kept me up last night. I was in bed for almost an hour thinking about those 4 words.
I read my Bible (almost) every day.....when I do I get really inspired and think really deeply about the love and everlasting-ness (not a word, but live with it) of God.
The first words of the Bible might be the most powerful words I have read in my life.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"
Can we really fathom that verse? Everything we see around us...from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean to the African deserts to the lush, green pastures where leprechauns roam....God created ALL of that in ONE breath. I just breathed.....Didn't seem like a big deal....the only thing I dispensed of was my germs or my onion breath.....God, in ONE breath dispensed of all the heavens and the earth. 99.9999999% of which is STILL unknown to all humanity.
What an awesome God.
2009 will and already has brought its challenges. From death, to lost houses, jobs, friends/family. God is STILL God. He was God in Genesis 1:1 and he is still God in 2009.
The same God that sent his Son to die for us worthless human beings is still God in 2009.
The same God that BREATHED fire and power upon the Upper Room attendees in Acts is still God in 2009.
The same God that made a freaking DONKEY talk in the Old Testament is still God in 2009.

So what next....obviously God is still God....we have proved that....the next step involves you and me.
He hasn't changed; we have.
I feel like our worship is watered down to lifting our hands and spending 5 minutes (if that) in the Word of God. Is this really what the God that created the heavens and the earth deserves....He doesn't need our praise....he DESIRES it.....he craves it.
It's like Patricio and chocoloate....he doesn't need it; It will make him bloated and fat. But he CRAVES it. Can't get enough.
It's the same thing with God (without the bloated and fat part....although that would be HILARIOUS) he craves our praise and adoration.

Worshipping is the single greatest action we can take as human beings.
I hear all the time about people putting money into charities that will help with diseases or starving kids in Africa. Those are deemed as the "greatest action." Now, God calls us to give...giving is very important to seeing God's Kingdom established on the earth.
But what is greater than seeing the Name of Jesus high and exalted. THAT, my friends is the single greatest thing you can do as a human being.

Here's the challenge......
I heard a worship leader a few weeks ago challenge his church attendess....he said, "do something in your worship that you've never done before."
I want to echo that but from a slightly different angle.
Go one step further in your adoration to the Father. take one step towards God and he will LEAP at you.
Imagine if we take 1 1/2.......

From Dad: Thanks David for the reminder. May God help us!

Always in Pursuit!

I lead a Sunday school class each week at our church. The class is referred to as my class but I learned a long time ago, it wasn’t mine. It belongs to God. I do what He wants and allow His Spirit to guide us week after week. I really wish I could simply call it, “God’s class”, but I know that would be misinterpreted.

This past week in our Sunday school class I talked about the brothers, James & John, the sons of Zebedee. They were disciples of Jesus who lived their lives full blast for Him. So much so that Jesus referred to them as Boanerges.

Traditionally this nickname has been translated “Sons of Thunder” and most of us have taught that it was indicative of their tempers when they ask Jesus if He wanted them to call fire out of heaven upon a village that had rejected Him.

It is also possible that this was a phrase used to describe someone who was ambitious, which you can be without being sinful, and perhaps someone who was a bit more aggressive. In other words, it would refer to someone who lived life pretty much at warp speed.

During the course of the session I mentioned how James had been beheaded by Herod in Acts 12. But brother John lived for another 40-50 years. Not fair? Perhaps. Would James have been jealous of John if he had known what was coming his way? Perhaps. I wonder if James had time to become jealous of his brother John?
I experienced a twinge of jealousy a few hours after I had facilitated this lesson. I was going through my Facebook page and noted the remarks of several of my “facebook friends.” Some of these are folks I’ve never met face to face but have read their books, read their blogs, watched them on DVD’s and admire them from a distance. They were kind enough to become my friend. But sometimes I have to admit that a little jealousy creeps in. These friends are the movers and shakers of the evangelical church world. And they travel in circles of other movers and shakers. They are leading great churches, mentoring others to lead great churches, doing interviews, writing books, magazine articles, etc. Even more so, they get to hang out together from time to time at conferences.My momentary feelings of jealousy reminded me of a comment from my earlier lesson about James and John. James was beheaded at the beginning of his career while John lived to be very old, wrote books, pastored great churches, mentored great pastors and church leaders. Of course he miraculously endured and survived a boiling pot of oil and the prison island of Patmos and who knows what else. (By the way, I didn't feel pangs of jealousy about those things.)But the question to answer is, "Whose life made a bigger impact, James or John?" In the Kingdom, they were equal. They both did what they were supposed to do. They loved God and they obeyed and walked the path that God had provided for them.So, when I note that someone is meeting with this group, or being interviewed by these folks, or writing their next book, or flying across the country to speak at a great conference, I should simply rejoice that they are doing what God called them to do while I do what God called me to do. All of us working together, doing our part, will accomplish the plan that God has for mankind. After all, it's His plan, His Kingdom and we are His servants!

Always in Pursuit

Some Self-help Wisdom?

I don’t see myself as a self-help guru of any sorts but I came across an idea Sunday night as I was reading the book, First Break All the Rules and then thinking about a lesson I had just led about the Apostle Peter.

I read a section, in the book, about the temptation to work on one’s weak points so much to the extent that things that were strengths were neglected and allowed to go by the wayside. The authors insinuated that some folks spend their entire life working on improving weaknesses and because of this they miss out on great opportunities to utilize their strengths.

What does this have to with the Apostle Peter? As with most of us, his weaknesses were glaringly obvious. He was impetuous, as demonstrated by his use of the sword on Malchus’ ear. He was quick to speak when perhaps he should have been listening or even better yet, should have been thinking about what an appropriate response could have been. He was opinionated or perhaps better, bold in his convictions.

His boldness, his ability to speak his mind, his willingness to step out and take a risk were all things that God could use. Did he need some work in other areas? Yes, he did.

He either had a problem with consistency or was fearful of what others thought of him. We know this from the criticism that Paul leveled at him in regards to Peter’s treatment of Gentiles.

So, here’s the thought that crossed my mind. If I focus on how God wants to use my strengths more than I focus on how to turn my weaknesses into strengths, it might just be that through my acts of obedience and success at obeying God, my weakness will either fade away or I will gain enough confidence in God to allow Him to change those things and bring His correction into my life.

The benefit of focusing on how God can use my strengths will not only increase my faith/confidence in Him, but will also help increase my faith/confidence in what I can do with His help. (One reason for believing this is that I personally think Jesus’ “rebuke” of Peter when they were taking a walk on the water was not for a lack of faith in Jesus, but due to a lack of faith in what Peter could do as he stayed focuses on Jesus.)

Too often, with the help of others, my weaknesses become so large that I lose sight of my strengths and the things God has deposited in my life for His purposes.

It was just a thought. I know a weakness is still a weakness. And I know God is more than able to transform our weaknesses. But if we become consumed with our weaknesses, we won’t allow God to use our strengths to bring about His Kingdom.

For despite all the weaknesses Peter had, he was still considered to be one of the pillars of the church, a mentor to Mark, the author of two very important letters of the NT and the subject of many sermons and Bible studies for the past 20 centuries.

Always In Pursuit!