Christ Following, ministry, prayer
With tears in his eyes and as much attitude that he could muster, my six-year-old son looked at me, flexed his right bicep, and yelled, “I’m as strong as a bear!” He took a pillow smash in the face from his older brother and it hurt. He just didn’t want anyone to know it. I tried to comfort him and intervene but he wasn’t interested. He just wanted everyone to know how strong he was.
He spent all night preparing a sermon he thought would mark a turning point in his church. He preached it with passion, then punctuated it with a well rehearsed song. When the appeal was made, no one responded. It was like God slept in that Sunday. What happened?
2nd Corinthians 12:9-10 says, “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Our weakness is the condition that allows God to work! He works in us and through us when we are weak. Every time I read this passage I’m amazed. “My power works best in weakness.” He didn’t say, “My power works best when your strong.” or “My power works best when you keep your chin up.”
Paul didn’t say that the power of Christ worked through him because of his speaking ability, education, ministry budget, musical talent, new sound system, or Bible software either. I’m not against those things but it floors me how many ministers will spend five hours preparing their message and five minutes preparing their heart.
It’s our weakness that drives us to our knees. It’s our weakness that keeps us centered on Jesus. It’s our frailty that allows Him to comfort us, heal us, and give us wisdom when we’re hurting or afraid.
In ministry, it’s the awareness of how feeble we are that keeps us fully depending on God to move, instead of using our talents to manipulate people to respond to our message. When we realize how truly useless we are without Him and cry out to him for help, then He can move in and do what only He can do.
So be free to be weak. You really aren’t as strong as a bear. Your abilities, talents, and budget are needed and are good things, but they really won’t change the world. When we stop flexing our muscle, God will flex His. And when He flexes… it changes everything.
Christ Following, life, ministry
I was at the doctor’s office recently and we had a conversation about the Swine Flu. I’m not a huge fan of vaccines and my question was, “What’s the worst case scenario if a guy like me decides not to take the shot?” His answer? “You’ll be laid up for a few days until your body builds up the antibodies and fights it off.” Interesting. When we get sick, our bodies build up the strength to overcome it.
I find it extremely interesting that heavier weights (also called resistance) increase muscle strength, unfamiliar subjects fortify our minds, and difficult circumstances cause us to grow in wisdom, patience, and faith.
Pain, resistance, difficulty, adversity. These things toughen us. We’d turn to mush without them. In fact I’m sure I know people who have turned to mush because they go into denial, dodge pain, or give up and wallow in self-pity. After all, it’s far easier to quit, blame, or feel sorry for ourselves than go through the ringer one more time. “Who wants more patience?” “I have enough, thanks.”
I once heard Sam Chand say that our capacity to grow is directly proportional to our capacity to endure pain. How true! Once we decide that we’ve had enough, we stop growing. I love Tylenol’s recent marketing slogan, “Push through the pain.” When we want to give up, when we can’t find the answer, when it all seems too hard, PUSH THROUGH! I’ve found that simply NOT throwing in the towel has tremendous value. Most of the time, breakthrough happens just the other side of wanting to give up.
One of these days I’ll probably tell my story on this site, but let’s just say it’s not a pretty one. I’ve had to endure some pretty great pressure and, even though I wouldn’t want to repeat all the obstacles, I treasure the work God has done in me through them. I’ve gained wisdom, insight, endurance, and compassion for others. Those things have prepared me for the work He has called me to and I thank Him for all of it.
Romans 5:3 & 4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
If you’re feeling pressure, resistance, or stress stay the course! Your muscles are growing, your mind is sharpening, your emotions are getting stronger. Growing is more important than the false peace found in giving up. When it’s all said and done, you’re gonna be a butt kicker. Just wait and see!
culture, Family, life
We decided to visit my parents for Thanksgiving this year. Something we haven’t done for years. It’s fun to have everyone pile into the folks house, raid the cupboards, lay around, and laugh about whatever. For some reason, it’s actually easy to forget about all stress and responsibility of ministry, bills, and business while I’m here.
This morning I woke up to the smell of a very large turkey in the oven and the mere smell of that bird cooking made me feel grateful. We’ve had a tradition of sharing what we’re thankful for around the table for so long that all it takes is the aroma to stir up a sense of gratitude in me. Take that Pavlov!
The thing about thankfulness is that it’s so good for you! When we’re really grateful, it’s hard to stay proud because it acknowledges that someone else has met your need. It’s hard to be bitter when we’re thanking Christ for His forgiveness. Thanksgiving really does refocus our perspective! It helps us to think positively and there are a lot of families out there that could benefit from less negativity in their homes! The more I think about it, the more I just love this holiday!
2nd Corinthians 4:15 tells us that thanksgiving brings glory to God. What more motivation do we need? My prayer for you and me is for a thankful heart EVERY DAY.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” – 2nd Corinthians 9:15
Christ Following, life
Ever feel like God is far away? You know, you pray but don’t feel his presence, ask for direction but don’t hear a thing, read and nothing jumps out at you. It feels like your life is a long walk down a desert road with no life on the horizon. I know, I know that sounds terribly depressing but we all go through it from time to time. I know I have! My prayer journal is filled with pages of complaints to God about his alleged silence.
One thing I’ve learned about these times is that they are always growth experiences. It’s difficult to say that because it feels so trite. “Growth experience” is such an overused expression and not every difficult circumstance is brought our way to help us grow. Sometime stuff just stinks. The thing is, I’ve never gone through a “dry time” and not been able to look back and see how God stretched me and caused me to mature.
I was reading in scripture today about a great king who experienced such a time. 2nd Chronicles 32:31 says, “However, when ambassadors arrived from Babylon to ask about the remarkable events that had taken place in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his heart.” It was a test. God was withdrawing from Hezekiah to see how he would testify about his circumstances when the feelings of God’s presence and blessing weren’t there. As my old friend used to say, “You can’t have a testimony without a test.”
One thing is for sure. Dry times, seemingly unfruitful times, even times of crisis will reveal what is truly in our hearts. Will we stay committed to pray when we don’t feel his presence? Will we continue to read His Word when we’re not getting revelation? Will we stay faithful to His calling when it seems like we’re not producing fruit? Will we obey and stay steady when we don’t know which direction He wants us to go? Will we praise Him and confess His goodness when He seems distant an indifferent? Will we humbly give Him the glory when we experience success?
The truth is God’s greatness, His love, and His goodness have absolutely nothing to do with how we feel. Whether we feel like he’s near or far, He has promised not to leave or forsake us. We can pass the test when we know beyond our emotions how truly, deeply in love He is with us. We can praise Him in good times and bad simply because He loves us and He is good, always, even when our perception of goodness clashes with His. When we hold that tightly, in the core of who we are, then we can say as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15)
Christ Following, culture, life
“He Drove a Corvette”. I don’t recall ever seeing those words on someone’s headstone. I’ve also never seen “He Wore Abercrombe”, “She Always Looked Nice”, or “HALO Champion”. While I’m at it, I’ve never seen “Rotary Club Member”, “Rock Star”, or “Pastor’s Favorite” either. In fact I’ve seldom, if ever, heard about a person’s possessions or positions when their life is being remembered.
I got to thinking about the people I know who have had the greatest impact on my life. I mean people who helped to shape who I am today. For the life of me I can’t remember what kind of car they own. I couldn’t tell you whether they use a Blackberry or an iPhone. I have no idea where they shop for their clothes or what kind of cologne they wear. I honestly don’t know how popular they were in college or if they were any good in sports.
The thing I do know about them is their character. They’re caring people, compassionate people. They have a way of making you feel important even though many people would like their attention. They have great attitudes and seem to see the positive in just about every circumstance. They have integrity and follow through with their commitments. What you see s what you get with them and there’s no room for doubt about their love for God and people. It’s their character that leaves a legacy, not their ability to preach, run a program, make money, or look good.
So why do we spend so much time and resources on things that fade? I don’t know, but I do know that, when it’s all said and done, no one’s going to care if I owned a Mac or a PC. At my funeral the kind of car I drove probably won’t be discussed. The only one who will remember where I got my hair cut will be the woman who cuts my hair. The memories I leave will be of my character, my attitude, how I treated others.
The Invisible Church member knows this and is aware of how their character and attitude speak to those around them. To quote St. Francis of Assisi, “It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.“
