Leaning Forward

When we show up---

People often make comments about church that diminish God and makes little of His word! So, when something unique or special happens in a weekly worship service someone usually says "God showed up today..." or "Jesus was there" or some other declaration to explain this unusual twist. Well, this kind of thinking really astounds my simple ideas about God and leaves me wondering what kind of Biblical teaching leads us to these kinds of conclusions.

Each day I am comforted by the promise of His presence. This may be the most enduring of all our Father's promises, that He will be with us forever. Even more, Jesus told his disciples that when two or three of them gathered in his name he would be there with them in a special way. So, when we assemble, the thing is not about Him showing up in or attending our worship. No, the worship happens when we join Him in there.

This isn't some insipient humanism or ego-centrism focusing the heart of worship on a human equation. Truly, God is the heart of worship---the object of our worship, the cause which enables to to go there, the inspiration which guides us from self-absorption to submission. However, if He is always with us, and with us in a special way when even two or three of us come together in his name, can't the hinge of worship actually be the heart that we bring to the enterprise, our authenticity as we stand before Him? The cutting issue in Christian worship is not whether or not He is there. That, He is. The difference is whether we are there or not.

Being there in spirit and truth is one of the modifiers of Christian worship. Most of the time, if we are simply going through the motions of church attendance and worship, we are there under false pretenses and violate the spirit of worship, and certainly the truth. Underneath our Sunday go to meeting best the motives of our worship and reason for our worship and Bible study are the gauge of genuine authenticity. A broken spirit and contrite heart are the perquisites of genuineness, that which meets God in the worship experience. It is truly improper to blame God for not showing up in that which brings Him great pleasure, the worship and adoration of His people. In fact, He abides in this praise. Not the empty motions of meaningless, contrived pretense. But, the reality of worship in spirit and truth.

Last week we prayed Isaiah 64 as our prayer for Solemn Assemby. It is a plea for God to come down in a special way, for God to perform awesome, unexpected things in His people. It is also, above that, the admission of guilt among sinful people who have turned away from Him. In such an unrepentant condition we cannot meet Him in authentic worship. So, there must be confession, repentance, and turning for true renewal to bring us back into right relationship with Him. In the afterglow of our Solemn Assembly, this is what I am praying this week, for Northwood Baptist Church, for the 2,103 congregations in our state convention, and our denomination worldwide. 

Give glory to His name. Maybe this is why Jesus wanted us all to be like children, to possess the simple faith and genuine trust of a child approaching him in worship. It's not so complicated after all. it is the child-like heart of a child that has this capacity. Pray for that kind heart this week.

What to expect

 
When we confess that "...He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...", we are launching into the unknown frontiers of faith. More than the human mind can imagine, or more than self-absorbed people can ask is out there on the expectation meter. With this verse on our lips and in our hearts, we are beyond what we could ever normally expect.

Expectations may be an element one of the more intricate mind games us humans can play. They shape outcomes more than most of us would admit. On one hand, we don't want to set our expectations to high, a protective shield again being disappointed when things don't measure up. Then again, we don't want our expectations to be too low for fear of demonstrating a lack of faith or a negative mind-set. Some of us consistently set the bar up high, over-achievers to the max, aiming at the stars and being content with the sun and the moon when they are achieved. A good number of us scale things back a notch or two, and then lament such minimal outcomes. It is true, expectations often do regulate our effort and the possibilities of what we're going to accomplish.

Jesus taught that faith would determine our outcomes. He said, “According to your faith will it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29). Only the touch of the Great Physician could heal these blind men. Yet, the final outcome occurred hen they believed Jesus could do it. So, there is a dynamic tension in the ways of God that balances our expectation of things and what finally happens.

Today we are joining with hundreds, perhaps thousands of Southern Baptist congregations in Solemn Assembly. Maybe we all have expectations about what can happen when we stand before God in humility and beg for His touch on the church. I know I'm praying that God will humble our arrogant and prideful denomination, al of our leaders, and especially our pastors, starting with me, so we can passionately pursue the Great Commission Jesus entrusted to us. I'm praying today that He will demolish the factions that have thrown us into camps, subdue the protectionism that has us rally around our pet causes and people, and that He will strip away the conceit and self-centeredness that hinders our work.

Every church and congregation is not participating in the Solemn Assembly this weekend. Many will stand before God on another day, at another time. There are some leaders who are afraid to stand before God because he may just change them or stretch them beyond their comfort zones. God is Sovereign and will deal with us as He will, according to His good pleasure. For this reason I am praying for His mercy for all of us.

Some will start this day like every other Lord's Day, with few expectations. I'm praying from Isaiah 64, that God will come down and do awesome things we did not expect. This is because "...He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...".

Can you say "WOW!".

Praying Isaiah 64

Last Sunday we read Isaiah 64 in unison as our corporate prayer for God to come down. It is a plea for God to do something we could not expect. It is an IMMEASURABLY MORE prayer.

People who are going through the motions of faith can certainly speak prayers they do not mean or even understand. It happens every day. Church people say the Lord's Prayer by rote day in and day out, or fumble through a set of beads without grasping the depth of their words or the commitments that attends saying them. 

The call to Solemn Assembly is motivated in part by the acknowledgement that the church in America is on auto-pilot most of the time. Especially in Southern Baptist churches, our mission and work are predictable, most often accomplished through our devices, and today producing results that are merely human in scope and calculation. Isaiah 64 is a prayer that begs God to come down and do something new, something God sized, something to disrupt our little pursuits and inject us with Kingdom newness and vitality.

My basic prayer this week have been Isaiah 64 with a little more specificity. First, I have asked God to do something awesome in the hearts and lives of spiritual leaders and pastors. Over the last two months, I have come to believe that our denomination is lethargic and impotent mostly because so many of our pastors and leaders are spiritually misdirected. Personal loyalties and terrtitorialism have formed so many alliances and  sub- categories that our Kingdom pursuits are disjointed and splintered. What is more, gossip and rumors and mis-information fuel a good bit of dis-content in the ranks. Our across the fence murmuring and talk is undermining much of our Kingdom work. I am praying that God will touch His shepherds in a mighty way.

Secondly, I am praying that we will know what to do when God does something awesome. We've become so accustomed to rocking along at our own pace, doing our own thing, settling for our own measly results, I fear we will not know how to respond when God does something marvelous in us. Even more, what if God came down and we are so pre-occupied with our little games and stuff we don't even recognize it. You say, this isn't possible. Well, read Isaiah 43:19. God is doing a new thing. It is rising up. He asks, can you not perceive it? Makes me think God can work and we be so busy we can miss Him.

Pray Isaiah 64 today, earnestly. Draw a circle in the floor, kneel in it, and ask God to start in that circle. it may be the beginning of something you've never imagined, you know, IMMEASURABLY MORE.

Daily prayer guide Day 5: The Sin Thing, again

One additional comment about the sin thing! The base line for national or corporate renewal is the individual, a personal recognition of sin in my own dark heart. The failure to admit and confess individual, personal sin may actually be the most grievous transgression to influence a corporate body. For this reason accountability was written into the Old Testament legal code and church discipline into the New Testament. That our faith exists in a larger dimension---the family, church, and society in general---is an often forgotten aspect of the covenant that draws us together. Or, perhaps, ignored and not forgotten.

What is the deal here? Is it pride that keeps us from being transparent in our relationship with others? Of course, this is among the seven deadly sins, the one with the "i" right smack in the middle, and a central motivation behind much of our practice. We really don't want other people to know our business.  This "warning: private property" kind of faith resulted from the questioning neo-orthodoxy in the years following WWII, when faith become a more private and personal deal. How could people comprehend the horrors of the Holocaust or the way National Socialism gripped Germany, the fanaticism of Japanese emperor worship, much less explain them to others. So, faith introverted, the personal musings of huge question marks hanging over the world.

Yet, culture doesn't define truth and today we are growing outward again, the missional cause of the Kingdom propelling us to an endangered world. Now, personal faith and individual sin are topics again, the we are understanding the dynamics of the spiritual body anew. The incredible analogy of the church and the human body vividly illustrates the sin thing, a reminder that when one part of the body suffers, the entire body suffers. This truth is usually applied to the inter-connectedness of the body parts and the need for all of them to function for the sake of the entire body. True, how true. If it is true, however, it connects the parts of the body at a deeper, spiritual level. One sinful part influences the others parts as well. Individual sin becomes a body problem.

So, this is another angle on the sin thing, and why we must understand the corporateness of our personal sin. Approaching a worship experience like the Solemn Assembly this coming Sunday, brings our personal sin into sharp focus. Praying for a movement of God upon the house of God, the people of God, and then the greater influence of salt and light in the world, really shines down on every individual seat, on every person in the building. It must happen in one heart at a time if it is to happen in the greater body.

Today, read 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. These are pivotal chapters in understanding the inner dynamics of Christ's body, the relational connections of faith. Pray that God will show you your place in the body, and how your life influences the functioning of the body. Is there sin is your life that may inhibit the growth of the body, physically and spiritually? Are you ready for God to deal with you in a substantive way?

Remember: it's wrong to say that there is no sin is us. There is. And, we must confess and turn from it.

Prayer Guide Day 4: The sin thing

Ouch. Talk to me about sin. That's a dirty word I think, something we don't like to talk about all that much. Yet, it is real, and may be one of the big hair balls in living the Immeasurably More life. It is also one of those hard topics to understand, and one of the disconnects that turns so many people against the institutional church and organized religion. There are many misunderstandings about the sin thing.

Like, Christians are perfect and everyone else is a rotten sinner. "Self-righteousness" might be one of the more misapplied labels unbelievers tack on to the believing community. This may be because Christians can be judgmental and critical and so anti-everything. On the other hand, unbelievers just may not be able to grasp the deeper spiritual implications of sin and make judgments themselves. At any rate, the sin thing is important.

So, let's get it right. We are all sinners by nature and choice. If we say there is no sin in us, we are liars. This is Biblical truth. Undeniable Biblical truth. Christians are sinners gloriously redeemed by grace. Yet, though sin no longer rules us, we continue to battle our fallen nature, and yes, we continue to sin. But, He is faithful and just to forgive when we confess and turn. These are just the basics of the human condition and the realities that define life, no matter how good we are.

Confession of sin, and repentance, that is, turning from that sin, are significant elements of our daily devotional experience. Unconfessed sin is perhaps the greatest impediment to our own personal spiritual development and growth. That is why preparation for Solemn Assembly or spiritual renewal must involve spiritual inventory and recognition of personal sin. For this reason, the prayer guides for today and tomorrow concentrate on the two most obvious categories of personal sin: sins of commission, that is, being involved in actions, thoughts, relationships, or words that are forbidden by God; or, sins of omission, meaning, not doing things or being what God desires of us.

Today, read Psalm 51:3 and 2 Corinthians 7:1. Do the precepts and commands of God instruct and inform your life, and do you diligently seek to honor Him in obedience? Can you identify habits or routines that constantly place you at odds with His commandments? Are you willfully obstinate and disobedient? It is always important to recognize those areas of life that each of us has staked out as our own territory, the protected zone not influenced by the articles of our faith.

Scripture reminds us that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them (1 John 1:9). This forgiveness also gives the promise of cleansing from all unrighteousness. Central to the idea of Solemn Assembly is the thought of this kind of cleansing and a return to personal and corporate righteousness. So, the sin thing, that one little word that prideful, arrogant people don't like to admit or talk about, is integral to the pursuit of an IMMEASURABLY MORE life.

Read Isaiah 64 today. Let his be your prayer as you deal with the realities of this day. Let's join in praying that He will come down and do awesome things that we did not expect.

They say evangelist Gypsy Smith drew a circle on the floor of the church, down near the prayer rail. He then knelt in that circle and prayed for God to touch that church, and begin right in that circle where he was kneeling. This is how I am praying today. Start right here.

Prayer Guide Day 3: Keeping the circle connected

Staying cool with the people in our personal circle may be the greatest test of our Christian faith. No matter the particulars of our setting, the people in what the late Oscar Thompson called our "concentric circles of concern" are the most significant personal connections we have in life. Learning the graces of relational blessing, that is, keeping the circle connected is an important aspect of our Christian witness.

Much is made of the relational nature of New Testament teaching. There must have been many inter-personal problems in the early church because most of the Epistles were written to address them. Someone has said if the church in the New Testament era had not experienced a good bit of inter-personal tension we would not have most of the New Testament. This is true. Maintaining peace in the spiritual family is certainly an element of our witness to an unbelieving world.

Even more, Scripture teaches a relational equation that joins heaven and earth. Central to our Biblical faith is the confession that we cannot live in right relationship with the Father if something separates us from other people. This is a broad and compelling ethical element of our Christian faith. The language of these relational verses is equally strong, emphasizing their role in defining the horizontal extension of our vertical relationship to Him. When Jesus was asked to define the law of God, he said to love God with all of our heart, mind, and strength, and love other people as we love ourselves. 

Personally, I believe and teach that responsibility for personal relationships typically falls on the more mature Christian in that relationship. If the mind of Christ is to be introduced into a circle of family or friends, the stronger Christian must bring that mind to the interactions. There are many Bible passages that instruct how to restore broken relationships, confront improper actions, ignore minor slights, and address major ones. Growing the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:222-23) in you personal life insures the character traits and spiritual graces which permit the continued connection of your most cherished personal circle. Learning to apply this instruction is a central evidence of spiritual maturity. 

Examine your circle of family, friends, acquaintances, and associates in light of these Scriptures: Matthew 5:23-24; Matthew 6:14-15; John 13:34-35; John 17:20-22; Ephesians 5:25-26; Ephesians 6:4; Ephesians 5:22; Ephesians 6:1-2; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13. As you read allow the verses to guide and instruct you regarding your relationship with others, beginning with those closest to you, and extending outward to those more on the periphery of your circle. Ask God to speak to you about each of them.  What actions should you take to address breaks in these circles?

Surprisingly, church is one of the hardest places to maintain strong relationships. Someone said the church is like Noah's Ark: if it weren't for the storm on the outside, we wouldn't be able to stand the stink on the inside. Well, this may be a little extreme. But, there is some truth here. The church is a body of saved by grace sinners. Learning to accommodate human fallibility into our faith is one step of Christian maturity. Being forgiving and maintaining a restoring heart are important too. Do you possess them as well?

In the greater scheme of life, your relationship to Him and to others will matter most. Pray for the grace to keep them in focus. And, remember: if you love Him you'll love others too.

Grace and peace!

Prayer Guide Day 2: what you say---spoken, written, thought

Lawyers used to say, "you can't un-ring a bell", the thought being that a word spoken can't be retracted, even if the judge strikes it from the record. So get a witness to say something out loud and the damage is done. The lesson: be careful about what you say!

That's still true, but it's old school. Today, with all the advances in communication technology, verbalizing something you'd regret is perhaps the least of our communication worries. Now, you can commit relational suicide in a variety of transmissions, from the e-mail oops to the voice mail blow-out or the txt msg blunder. It means you better be on your guard all the time, regardless of your preferred medium.

Of course, Scripture, though written, addresses the many possibilities of verbal sin---profane language, rumors, gossip, lies, arguments, flattery, slander, pettiness, complaints, griping, criticism, bitterness, judgment, backbiting, boasting, perjury, false witness, and ridicule, just to mention a few. Whether spoken, written, or thought, they all derive from the heart. Didn't Jesus teach, " For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34)?  One of the good questions for our fiber-optic world is whether or not this Scriptural lesson also applies to the many layers of our communication grid. It seems on target since the thought originates in the heart/mind, regardless of how each of us decides to send it to the people on the ther end.

Double down with the language abbreviations of the texting world. OK, I'm uneducated here and am learning the art of hieroglyphics and acronyms little by little. It's just LOL and ??? for me most of hte time. Much of this is just innocent word shortening to take advantage of the smaller texting wordpad and limits on characters in this new communication arena. Yet, there is a texting underground to camo signals from parents, even some gang graphitti splashed across smart phone screens, and some pretty lewd signals to disguise some of the more base language and ideas. 

Check out some Scripture as a means of measuring how you relate to other people: Proverbs 18:2; Proverbs 29:11; Matthew 12:36; Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:4; Colossians 3:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; James 1:19. Your witness may be validated or compromised by what you say or write to others, or by the thoughts that are revealed in your actions. Your words, whether spoken or written, are in many ways a reflection of your inner self. So, be on your guard.

My sweet grandmother wasn't an educated woman. Yet, she taught Sunday School for many years and possessed a wisdom that came from regular Bible study and a deep personal relationship with the Lord. On more than one occasion she said to me, "You have two ears and one mouth so you will listen twice as much as you talk." Boy, even at an early age she had me pegged. Of my many sins having many words is perhaps the largest and most grievous.

As I personally pray for revival, God reminds me that, "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise" (Proverbs 10:19). 

What we say is important, whether it is spoken, written, or just thought.  

 

Prayer Guide Day 1: Attitude and thought life

When the New Testament advises "...be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2), it is based on a simple Biblical premise: true renewal happens when we experience a change in our thought life.

So, personal preparation for Solemn Assembly next week begins with a prayerful examination of attitudes and thoughts that may inhibit our relationship with the Father. Surely we can't expect to encounter the Living God in a world changing way without an honest, truly intense review of those inner things that drive our actions and responses to life. Whether it is road rage, an angry spirit at the office, jealously of a neighbor, envy of another person's successes, racial bigotry, spiritual arrogance, or fake humility, the workings of our mind and the thoughts that propel us into the world are significant to our spiritual well-being.

Scripture exposes personal flaws to the marrow of our bones. We are reminded that our attitudes ought to the same as that of Jesus (Philippians 2:5).  We are supposed to set our thoughts on the things above, the things of heaven, and not the things of earth (Colossians 3:2).  The Psalmist prayed for God to examine his heart and mind (Psalm 26:2). Jesus scolded Simon Peter for having his mind focused on the things of man rather than the things of God (Matthew 16:23). On many occasions the Epistle writers concluded that the spiritual wars that cause struggles in us are most often the little mind games that the adversary uses to distract and tempt us.

So, search out the word in the following passages today and allow God to speak to you about your attitude and thought life: Psalm 139:23-24; Proverbs 23:7a; Matthew 23:37; Matthew 6:33; Matthew 5:28; Psalm 19:14; 2 Corinthians 10:5; 1 Peter 5:5b.

Does your mind reflect the fruit of the spirit? (see Galatians 5:22-23) Are you thinking on the right things throughout the day? (see Philippians 4:8). What does it mean to you to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and how does that influence your thought life? What feeds and fills your mind---what publications do you read? What music or radio do you listen to? What people do you allow on your bus? Who do you talk to each day? Are you relatively self-aware? Not egotistical are you? 

A mentor once told me the evil one wants an outpost in my head. So, he advised putting on the helmet of salvation each an every day to protect my mind from this daily invasion. At the conclusion of the entire segment on the whole armor of God the Apostle Paul wrote---"With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18). Note, "...with this is mind...". You see, this great man of God, church planter, missionary, author, wanted us to pack this away in our mind. It is the precursor to genuine spiritual renewal.

I'm praying for something dramatic to happen around the nation this weekend as a result of hundreds of congregations gathering in Solemn Assembly on Sunday. This prayer is that God will touch us in such a way that we can love him with all our hearts, minds, and strength.

Start today, and let Him direct your mind.

 

Immeasurably More Starts Here

Is it even possible for finite humans to comprehend the majesty and glory of God? Maybe not. Perhaps we can only draw as close to this idea as our words can express. Not the boundaries or limits of God, but the utter uselessness of our attempts to fathom Him. Job and his erstwhile friends tried to formulate human responses to Jobs encounter with God, some rational explanation for the horrors of Jobs life. In Job 23 the man himself sought to question the Almighty, to demand answers about the course of his life and the reasons for his misfortune.

Finally, God thundered at Job. In Job 38-41 God answered Job's queries. Sort of. God demanded to know why mortal Job would question the Awesome God. With sixty-four questions God made it abundantly clear that man is nothing compared to God, and should not presume to question Him about anything. It is an amazing few chapters of Scripture, the questioning of Job. Of course, the questions are just a rhetorical device with known answers. They are there to remind us how partial is our knowledge compared to God's, and how puny are we up against the Creator of all things.

Living the IMMEASURABLY MORE life starts with the acknowledgement of the majestic claims of God and the understanding that we know very little about anything and must trust and obey God because he is God. Our worship and praise recognize who He is. Thanksgiving focuses on what He has done. Today, we'll concentrate on His awesomeness. Our God is an awesome God!

Glory.

The sadness of a believing heart

Today our family is sad. Our Aunt Eleanor has died and is now with the Lord. Our other aunts and uncles and cousins and extended family are gathered in Easley, South Carolina, for her funeral and burial. My cousins have given me the honor of speaking at her service.

That will not be hard, for Aunt Eleanor has been significant in our family epoch and has left an indelible print on all of our lives. Most of us can hardly imagine life without Eleanor Owens Roper, wife of Cleo Roper, mother of Jimmy, Johnny, Charlie, and Sarah Jane. Now there are multiple layers, with spouses and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and a good many once-removed and second cousins.

Of all the things that can be said abpout Aunt Eleanor, and there are a few, the most comforting at this hour is the assurance of her faith and eternal life through Christ our Lord. This is why we will not grieve as unbelievers who have no hope. We are, of course, sad. But, the powerful words of the Apostle Paul give us promise and hope. Listen up---

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

They are the verses I read to my own mother as ALS progressively attacked her body. They brought her comfort and they will give us peace as we celebrate Aunt Eleanor's life today. We're sad, yes. But, it is the sadness of the believing heart, the joy that we will be joined with them all again in eternity.

And, for that we give thanks.