I HAVE NEVER BEEN FRIENDLESS

Today I am thinking about Godly friendship and I want to ask you a few questions. "Are you a good friend? Is there at least one person in your life that you would call a good friend? Is there at least one person who would call YOU a good friend? Are you lacking genuine friendships?

What is the basis for all friendship? Well, I don't want to sound trite, but I grew up singing the old hymn, "What a friend we have in Jesus" and that is my starting point in this post. I have something very practical to say to you concerning friendship in this life, but I start with this: we have friendship with God through Christ.

Abraham was called the friend of God. Jesus said, "Greater love has no man that this...that He lay down his life for his friends." Now admittedly our relationship with God, even as a friend, is different from all other friendships. In John 15:13-15 Jesus said, "You are my friends if you do what I command you..." So we are not equals in our friendship with Christ. Nevertheless, I want you to see that this is the pinnacle of all friendship...this relationship that we have with Him.

When you fall in love with Jesus Christ you are never friendless again. I learned this at a very young age. My personal testimony is this: throughout my childhood, teenage years, young adult and adult years, through times of earthly friendship as well as times of isolation...He has always been my friend. And because of this, I have never been friendless.

I do have something to say to you today about earthly friendships, but I want you to see first, that our friendship with Christ is not something less, not something inadequate. It is the source out of which all other relationships are grown. Never being friendless, because of Jesus, makes an incredible difference in how you approach human friendships!

Because if you have ONE good friend (Jesus) then your earthly friendships will be based on an overflow of love rather than a NEEDY craving for approval.  In other words, without this kind of security in Christ, I will approach friendship as something to crave and grasp at in order to try and fill some void in my own life.  But if I already have that void filled with my ONE good friend, then the way I approach friendship is by being a friend.

Proverbs 18:24 says "He who would have friends, must show himself friendly." I have met people through the years, who bemoaned the fact that they were alone...and that no one cared about them...that they had no friends. Yet the word of God says that in order to have friends, you must first show yourself to be a friend.

Without the security of having my FIRST FRIEND, Jesus, all of my other friendships are likely to be seedbeds of jealousy and offense and my friendships typically won't last long. You see, a lot of people approach friendship this way: They see people that they think have a certain quality which attracts them and that they hope to have as friends, rather than looking at the people around them and BEING a friend to those where God has placed you.

C.S. Lewis made an interesting observation...He speaks of 'pathetic people who want friends but can never make friends'. Then he says, 'The very condition of having friends comes from the fact that we want something else besides friends." What does that mean? It means that if you and I sit together and there's nothing we agree on...we don't see truth the same...there will be no basis for friendship. Friendship happens when people are pursuing something deeply important to them, and they discover others who share that same thing.

That's what makes the church the ideal place for building friendships, because we all have the same ONE good friend, and if we are pursuing HIM, we will be in agreement with one another and can lean on one another. And in the church, we should all be friends and there should be no cliques where some are excluded.

This is not to say that everyone is your friend in the same way. In fact, apart from your friendship with Christ, you are a truly blessed person if, in this life, you have ONE truly loyal friend that you can count on through the years. A true friend does not change with changing circumstances. A true friendship rises above offenses. A true friend can receive honest, loving correction (Proverbs 27:6). A true friend is not looking for someone to use. A true friend is not jealous of your strengths, your accomplishments, or even other friends that you have have.

Perhaps friendship is eluding you. Perhaps you have been trying to make it happen. Stop trying. Look around you and find people who can offer you nothing. Be like Jesus, and you become a friend to them....a real friend. You may be surprised at what develops. Some people won't respond to you. That's OK. Amos says, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" So don't try to make something happen. But as you serve Christ, you will find friends.

Everyone needs one good friend, - Jesus. And everyone needs at least one good friend on earth. So why don't you go and be that one good friend that someone needs?

BLACK LOCUST CHRISTIANS

One of the sorrows of a pastor is the great discrepancy between various Christians when it comes to the area of endurance...the apparent strength of some and the ongoing weakness of others. I think of the heroes of the faith I have studied, the martyrs burning in Nero's garden and the great missionaries who endured so much for the sake of the gospel. And I think of others who deny the faith daily by their crippled testimonies and their wobbly walk.

Jesus gave us this troubling statement. "He who endures to the end will be saved."
How is it that some endure, while others cave in to the pressures of circumstance?

Luke 14:25-28 says: "Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,  “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?"

Do you count the cost? Do you ever stop to think, "What if this life of the believer ceases to stir my emotions?" "What if I tithe and believe God for increase, but for some reason I experience great financial difficulty?" "What if God allows me to be placed in hurtful, painful situations...even in the midst of persecution?"

"What if...I have to give everything that I am and everything that I have...to follow Him?" "What if the days get long and dreary and I work until I feel that I'm going to drop?"

"What if He doesn't allow me to fulfill personal dreams?"

Some begin well...but they do not finish well...or at all. Others seem to get off to a slow start, and they stumble and fall along the way, but all the while God keeps changing them and transforming them, and they finish with a blaze of glory!"

It is not how you start, or even how you have run that counts....but how you finish.

On one occasion Jesus spoke of those who have no root. No root downward means no fruit upward.

In Georgia we had a common tree known as the Black Locust Tree. It was a fast growing shade tree which had some unusual characteristics. It's roots, though not as deep as some trees, were exceedingly tenacious. You could chop down a Black Locust tree and new growth would come up from the trunk and from the roots running outward under the surface of the ground. At one time we cut down a huge Black Locust tree in the backyard and months later little saplings were coming up out near the highway in the front yard...because the tree sends out 'runner' type roots that go long distances underground and then send up new growth. You can chop it, burn it and even let it suffer drought...even uproot it, and new growth keeps coming up to replace the old.

Black Locust Christians are like that. They can get chopped at, burned, and suffer drought in the spiritual lives, and yet they still have a root that goes down in the right soil and there is new growth that comes back. "Struck down", the Apostle Paul says, "But not destroyed". That's the Black Locust Christian.

Psalm 1 says, "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season; His leaf shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper."

There are a number of things that we endure as believers. Sometimes it is hardship. There is the hardship of persecution, of physical difficulties, of leadership, of various attacks from satan.
The Word says, "Endure hardship as a good soldier".

Sometimes it is chastisement. The Word tells us that God chastens us in order to correct us and bring us back into alignment with His will.

Whatever the difficulty, we need endurance.

How do we endure? We endure through Revelation. By that, I mean that we need constant revelation of Christ to our hearts. We need a revelation of His greatness in the midst of our storm...We need a revelation of His love, when our hearts are growing cold. We need a revelation of Heaven where we will be with Christ, when we are tempted to throw in the towel.

And we need to count the cost. If our roots are deep and tenacious in the Word of God and in fellowship with Him, we can endure. Like the Black Locust tree, the assaults that come against us will only force us to send up new life in new places and our testimony will be one of endurance.

May the Lord grant you this great gift. It is so needed in this generation. Black Locust Christians, who can be chopped at, burned, and even seem to be uprooted...yet they still have a testimony of the faithfulness of God in their lives.

DON'T TRADE YOUR EYESIGHT FOR THINGS YOU DESIRE

1 Sam. 11:1-2
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you".
And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, 'On this condition I will make a covenant with you, that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel"
Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, "Hold off for seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel. And then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you."

None of us sets out to make a covenant with the devil and deny the Lord. Yet how many Christians start out strong, with a blast of passion, and end up compromising with the world and eventually turning away from the truths of the faith.

This passage reminds me of something I encountered years ago in the denominational church world. During my early childhood, the church world was divided sharply along doctrinal lines. Denominations were splitting and forming new ones faster than you could blink. Because of how this looked to the outside world, Christians began to wail and lament over the fractured Body of Christ...that Christ's prayer "that they all be one" was not answered.

So pastors and church heirarchy began to come together in the name of unity, laying down doctrinal differences. In some cases it was justified...there was a laying down of nonessential distinctions in order to come together on the things that mattered. But the more they covenanted with one another in the name of unity, the more they despised the defense of sound doctrine.

In time, Unity became a giant golden calf and the people dancing around it found themselves, like the world, glorifying diversity rather than glorifying Christ.

In reality, what was drawing these men and women, was a deep desire to be accepted by the world system. They wanted their pastors to be more and more educated in the world's eyes. The denomination I was in had the most phd's per capita of any denomination in the world, and took great pride in this fact. They wanted their counselors to be accepted by the world, and they wanted their organizations to be accepted by the government, and by The United Nations, ... and they wanted influence in political circles.

The result was a watering down of the Gospel. They wanted love without confrontation; forgiveness without repentance; grace without God's law; and unity without Christ's headship.
And so today we have churches, pastors and denominations who do not even believe the Bible is the Word of God...who get their theology from popular books and movies.

Half of all born again Christians believe that satan is not a real being, just a symbol of evil. 28 percent of born again Christians believe that "while He lived on earth, Jesus committed sins, just like other people".

In this passage of scripture, Israel was actually considering a covenant which would bring them a measure of peace with their enemies...a covenant which would allow them to exist side by side. And yet it was a covenant which would cost them their right eyes! Notice that Nahash, whose name means "serpent", did not tell them they could not longer worship Jehovah God
.
Israel was saying, "we are Israelites...we worship the God of Heaven. But we need something that the world has to offer. We're tired of war and we're tired of everyone being against us. We want acceptance with you...and we're willing to compromise in order to have peace."

The right eye is the military eye...it is necessary for shooting, for strength of vision. To put out one eye means loss of depth perception, loss of discernment. So what the enemy was offering would render Israel incapable of battle, unable to fight any more. This story would have truly ended in disaster had not Saul risen up and taken soldiers to fight against the Ammonites and defeat them. It was one of the few times that Saul showed himself to be a man of God.

Many Christians aren't aware of satan's traps and do not understand the cost until they've lost their ability to see...and then it's impossible without supernatural aid, to renew them.

Beloved, beware when you begin to excuse ungodliness around you because you do not want to lose acceptance with friends and family. Beware of falling into immorality because of 'your needs' and believing that there is no cost involved. Beware of intellectualism taking the place of simple trust in God's Word, and beware of the lure of enticing philosophies and religions which deny Christ. Beware of the need to be accepted by those in the world or of being embarassed that you may sound too simple and too radical. Keep your eyesight! It's far more important than these things.

A GODLY WOMAN WHO WALKED BY FAITH

Daniel 11:32: "But those who know their God will be strong and do great exploits."

The people of Faith Harvest Church have heard of this lady on more than one occasion. I have used her life in teaching and preaching and have talked about her profound influence on my walk with God. Her name was Lillian Hillis, my grandmother on my father's side, and she was the epitome of a true Southern lady.
Life around my grandparents' house was the embodiment of the Deep South of years ago. My grandfather was a farmer, and the home and farm ran on a tight schedule. Breakfast at 7 a.m., Lunch at 12 noon, and supper at 6 p.m. There was 'help' both on the farm and in the home, and everything had to be done according to proper etiquette.

On holidays, when we would gather around the dining table at their home, it was a lavish affair, with crystal and china and mouth watering biscuits and, of course, sweet tea. At each person's place setting would be tiny individual salt and pepper shakers, and a dish of lemons and freshly picked spearmint leaves to drop into your tea glass...oh, the fragrance and the flavors!

Bear with me, as I am setting the stage for you. She was prim. She was proper. Her house was proper. Her behavior was proper. She was stoic and even a bit aristocratic. My grandfather had been a sort of rowdy one, from what I understand, but during the years of my growing up she kept him in proper form as well.
All that is to say that she was not given to drama; not given to emotional display. I never knew her to be untruthful or unkind. She was not charismatic nor was she pentecostal. She belonged to a denomination that was very firm in its teaching that the signs and wonders of the New Testament church were due to the ministry of the Apostles, and that those days were now gone. But she was a woman of very deep faith, who apparently did not believe everything taught by the denomination.

Often I would see her with her Bible open in her lap, or with a book on faith, or prayer, next to her chair. She was a praying woman, and a woman who believed very deeply in the power of prayer.
As I became a young man, I learned of her exploits of faith. They were very private and until that time I had never even heard them spoken of.  These occasions occurred before I was born, but I heard them firsthand from her, with no sensationalism or self-seeking.

One event concerned my uncle, who for some reason was hospitalized and whatever his illness was had also left him blind. The doctors said there was no hope of a cure and that he would be blind for the rest of his life.
But my grandmother stayed with him in the hospital, and stayed on her knees praying for him all night long. And in her words, "Just before dawn, I saw the Lord...I saw Jesus there in the room. He walked over to Ralph, laid His hands on his eyes, and then He was gone."

Tears streamed down her face as she relayed the story to me. (It was the only time I remember ever seeing her cry, other than when my grandfather died). In the morning, when the doctors came in, my uncle had his full sight and the doctors had no explanation.

The other occasion was when my own father was being drafted to serve in the army and he was to be sent directly to Korea, right into the face of the conflict. The orders had already been given.  Now, it happened that back in those days my grandmother was a smoker, as were so many. But she felt the Lord dealing with her to quit. She was horrified at the thought of my father heading into battle and possibly never returning. So once again, she went to prayer. And this time she bargained with God. "Lord, if you will keep Roy from battle, I promise I'll never smoke again". A few days later, the word came. My father's unit was shipped out for Korea, but a 'clerical error' resulted in him remaining in the states and never having to go to Korea. And because of that I never saw a cigarette in my grandmother's hand, because she kept her promises!

These stories touched me deeply and caused my to search the Word of God for the truth concerning His power and provision for today.

My friends, He's still the God of miracles. And the Bible says that faith is what pleases Him.
Perhaps you are in a terrible situation. You feel backed into a corner. You see no light at the end of the tunnel. He is a God of intervention, of provision, and of great Victory. Place all of your trust in Him today. He will not fail you.

A LIGHTHOUSE IN THE DESERT

Well, I'm a little late in blogging lately. I am recording this entry from Mexico, as Maggie and I are away for rest, time with the Lord, and with each other.

Ministry has a tendency to draw you into a place of 'performance'...a place of busyness and thinking that you must constantly be 'doing' in order to fulfill God's call. This is a trap of the enemy. God is reminding me once again in that in His eyes,  'doing' is trumped by 'being'. It is only when we learn to to abide in Him and and draw strength from His Grace, that we are able to do the works of God. He is far more concerned with who we are than what we do. Doing is important, but not at the expense of being.
The ocean here in Mexico is a place where I can remove myself from all distractions and rest from worry and strain. The sound of the waves reminds me of God's voice, described in Revelation as 'the sound of many waters'.  He restores my soul.

Yesterday morning we went to church at Family of God fellowship, the ministry with whom we partner in missions and outreach here. The service was great, with praise and worship in both
Spanish and English.

During the service we heard the report of a man and his wife whom the church has recently helped. They were discovered living at the very end of the 'the shacks' which run alongside the railroad near the church. It is one of the poorest areas of Puerto Penasco, and relief is frequently carried to the locals living in these shanties. But somehow this couple had gone unnoticed, living in an 8 foot square box at the end of this strip of dwellings. They were sleeping on a concrete floor with nothing to cover themselves but a sheet and were in desparate condition. In addition they were both deaf and mute and needed medical attention. And of course, they had no food.

Within practically no time, this couple has been rescued. They now have a 13 X 20 foot new shelter, bedding and clothing and food. And there will be follow up, both spiritual and physical.

Somehow the image of "lighthouse" and "desert" do not go together in our minds. Of course the first time I ever came to Penasco, I was amazed to see desert and ocean together. It is a place of unique beauty. But far more beautiful than the desert and the ocean is the work of the Lord that is taking place here. The ministry of Family of God fellowship, and those who partner with them, is truly a lighthouse here in the desert, turning hearts toward the Lord.

This is the work of redemption. Our lives were destitute of anything good until we were touched by the Spirit of God. We may have been living in the relative luxury of America, but the Lord saw us as impoverished, spiritually bankrupt and dead in trespasses and sins. But Praise the Lord for His free gift of grace. His Word is a lighthouse in a dry desert land, and the work of Redemption draws us from darkness into the light of His love.

Through many years of following the Lord, sometimes we think we've developed some worthiness of our own. Since we are 'cleaned up' and living a good life, and serving God, without realizing it we begin to walk in our own strength and reasoning and forget that the life of faith demands that we always remember that we are impoverished and spiritually bankrupt. Only in recognizing our own spiritual poverty are we able to receive the power and provision that God has for us so that we may live an abundant life.

We are the couple living at the end of the shanty houses. And as long as we recognize our own poverty, the Lord takes note of us and brings us daily the provisions we need. But if we ever think that somehow we have done something to deserve our improved life, we forfeit the abundance He has for us. He will always let us provide what we think we can do in our own strength, but in so doing He allows us to forfeit what He has desired for us.

May the Lord bring us to the place where all we want is what He has and what He can provide.
Therein lies the perfect will of God.

SINGING ABOVE THE HOWLING WIND



A Moravian church singing songs on Christmas Eve.

 I remember the first time I ever heard of the Moravians. I grew up in Georgia, but my father was a civil engineer who had worked for a while in Winston-Salem, North Carolina before returning to the family farm. After returning, he and my mother established a general merchandise store and as a kid I remember them describing the Moravians in North Carolina, and their beautiful music.

They would tell about the Easter Sunrise services performed by the Moravians, describing how they stationed choirs on small adjacent hills and these choirs would sing responsively, echoing back and forth across the hills.

As an adult, I learned a lot more about the Moravians when I read the biography of Count Ludwig Zinzendorf and the great missionary movement that began with this group in Hernhutt, Germany more than 500 years ago. I developed a great appreciation for the mission work begun by the Moravians. Their meetings were known far and wide for their great zeal and fervor in singing. On Sundays, their love feast was a day long event, with hymn singing that continued all afternoon and into the evening. Everyone sang, and they sang from the heart. The entire church was the choir.

The first Moravian missionaries that were sent out were commissioned and prayed for on the day before their departure, and the church service included the singing of 100 hymns! And what's more, it was with great joy and not out of a sense of duty. Out of this revival, was birthed a 24 hour prayer meeting at the church in Hernhutt that lasted non-stop (different individuals taking turns) for 100 years!

Did you know that God the Father sings? Did you know that Jesus sings? Did you know that the Holy Spirit sings? He is the God who sings.

Did you know that heartfelt faith produces a love for singing, regardless of natural ability?

According to Zephaniah 3:17 God the Father sings. "The Lord your God, in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing".

According to Matthew 26:30, God the Son sings. "After He and his disciples had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives".

But how, you may ask, does the Holy Spirit sing? He sings through His church! Ephesians 5:18 says "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody..."

So when we come together to sing, we are singing with the Godhead. I know, it's kind of hard to fathom. But nevertheless, how tragic that we come and do not even realize that we are truly coming into His presence and also into His ensemble! And this singing is not diminished by the storms of life we encounter. In fact it causes us to rise up and sing even more.

I would say to you that fervent, heartfelt singing not only glorifies the Lord, but draws others to Him in order that the Gospel message might find a place in their heart.  In 1735 aboard a windjammer crossing the Atlantic, John Wesley was terrified. The storm was so fierce that the mainsail split and the mast broke in two. The seas pounded the deck. Passengers ran, screaming, all except for a group of twenty-six German Christians. You guessed it...Moravians. They were singing above the howling wind and despite the fierceness of the storm they did not miss a note. Wesley, who wasn't a Christian at the time, later asked one of them, "Weren't you afraid?" "Thank God, no," came the reply.

The faith and confidence of these Christians - their song in the storm - so impressed Wesley that later, at a Moravian meeting house in London, he too gave himself fully to Jesus Christ.

When the wind is howling and the storm is high, my friend that is the time to sing...to sing above the storm and fully trust in the one who is able. To sing with the Godhead.

How is your song?

DID YOU RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT WHEN YOU BELIEVED?



Detail from "Pentecost", by El Greco

The story is told of the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and first to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the "top of the world", he opened the bird's cage and set it free. The pigeon began instinctively heading toward home.

It is said that his wife, back in Norway, looked up in delight from the doorway of her home, as she saw the pigeon circling overhead. While it is conjecture, I can imagine that she shouted "He's alive! He's alive! The pigeon was the sign that her beloved had reached his destination.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended, this time not as a dove, but as flames of fire over the heads of the 120 gathered in the upper room. And when He came, there was power to live, to serve, and to be witnesses of the resurrection. It was because He was still alive and had reached His destination, the throne of God. It is clear that something profound changed inside of these men. Peter, who had denied the Lord and had gone out weeping, stood up in power and proclaimed the gospel to the multitude.

Some 30 years later, we find the Apostle Paul at Ephesus. There he finds a group of 'disciples' who have only a basic understanding of who Jesus was. We don't know for sure if they were disciples of John and had not even truly received the gospel, or if they were disciples of the Lord, who had an inadequate understanding of the Holy Spirit. However, elsewhere in the book of Acts, the word 'disciple' always refers to a born again believer.

Regardless, Paul's question to this little band of men is a question to be asked of believers everywhere. "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"  Now in this passage the greek text, in using the word "receive", implies something forceful, produced by a demanding faith. It means "to lay hold of", to "grasp". In other words, one may 'receive', or "lay hold of" salvation through faith in Christ and never hear of the need for the Holy Spirit...never "lay hold of" the Holy Spirit as One who is needed just as we need Jesus. If one is truly born again, it is certainly by the Spirit of God, for one cannot be born again without the Holy Spirit doing a work on the inside. But if we look at the disciples before and after Pentecost, we see the difference between the Spirit's presence for salvation and the Spirit's power for service.

When Jesus was about to be crucified, he told His disciples that He was going away. However He told them, "I will not leave you orphans...I will come to you". But what did He mean? How would He come to them?

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." In addition to this, He instructed them not to go out and do anything in their own power, "But to wait for the promise of the Father". "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." This is how He would come to them.

So in spite of denominational differences concerning the terms "Baptism in the Holy Spirit", and "being filled with the Holy Spirit", and the "Anointing", etc., the question still rings true: "Did you recieve (lay hold of by faith) the Holy Spirit when you believed (in Christ)? Do you have what they had?

I am experiencing a new desire to walk in stronger faith...to expect the miraculous in our meetings, and to have the confidence that when we go out to do the work of the Kingdom, we will be supplied all of the power needed that we might be effective witnesses for Him. I have walked in a measure of that kind of faith in years past, and I'm not saying that I want to return to that...I want to go beyond that. I don't want to be satisfied with where I am right now, nor with where I once was. I want a growing, dynamic, maturing faith that continues to expand and grow until the Lord takes me home.

Our church is to be this kind of place, a place of power, a place of fire. Please join me in prayer and expectation of a fresh wind of God.

Storm Winds and Shipwrecked Faith

 "This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,  having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme."  1 Timothy 1:18-20

Some years back, with camera in hand,  I roamed around the docks in Puerto Penasco, Mexico where a large fleet of shrimping boats head out each morning into the shimmering Sea of Cortez. I was gathering material for painting and also practicing my spanish on the gruff, weathered fishermen who call that place home.  It is one of my favorite places to visit during our frequent trips down to this wonderful Mexican town.

Later, drawing from those photos, I did a small painting of the Carranza II, a strong-looking, steel ship with light dancing across its yellow sides, jostling against the dock and the other boats, all waiting their turn to exit the Marina.

Fastforward about two years: Once again in Mexico, I picked up a local newspaper and read the headlines: THE SINKING OF THE CARRANZA II PASSES FIRST YEAR.

As I read the story, I discovered that the Carranza II had disappeared October 27th, 2009 in the Sea of Cortez, during especially strong storm winds. Of the six men on board, all were lost but one, who was rescued forty hours after the tragedy occurred, floating at sea. The search for the remaining crew was finally suspended one month later, leaving family members stricken with grief.

I was saddened by the tragedy, yet amazed when I saw it and realized that I had painted that very ship and had the painting hanging on our wall.

The Apostle Paul wrote of a different sort of shipwreck, addressing young Timothy, a pastor at the church in Ephesus. It is a warning against shipwrecked faith. In this passage, Paul admonishes Timothy to "wage the good warfare", acknowledging that the race we are running is not one that we will automatically win. In fact it is more than a race - it is warfare. And as good soldiers we must war against the plans of the enemy in order to stay in the race and in order to win the war.

Paul gives Timothy the example of two of his contemporaries, Hymenaeus and Alexander, who suffered the shipwreck of their faith. I have likewise seen a number of men and women whose faith was shipwrecked as they entered into storms and battles and had not prepared themselves to fight.

Understand this, that when the Carranza II set sail they had a goal in mind. They had a designated shrimping area, they had a harvest of shrimp they expected, and they fully planned on returning to shore. No one expects to be lost at sea. No one expects their own end to be a total shipwreck. Likewise, these men and women I have known, set out on a journey of service to the Lord. They had no intentions of ending in shipwreck.

What causes faith to be shipwrecked? What causes one who starts out well to end up in destruction? Paul gives two hints in this passage, though I believe we could add other things as well. He says that these two had rejected "faith",  and rejected "a good conscience". I believe that means they had replaced faith with something counterfeit, and they had dulled their conscience to the work of the Holy Spirit and allowed worldly, fleshly desires to take root and control their lives. Rather than walk in faith they had begun walking in their own emotions or even in fear...perhaps the fear of not being accepted by those around them. And rather than maintain a pure and holy conscience before the Lord, they had allowed their consciences to become seared...accepting lustful ideas, thoughts or actions into their life.  When this continues for long, one becomes spiritually blind, not even knowing that the enemy's storm has knocked them off course and they are headed for disaster.

I have seen the result of this shipwrecked faith. People who once burned with passion for the Lord and His work, soon drift so far that they end up in cults or in churches filled with compromise. Their end is that they find acceptance in places that will nurture their self-deception. I have seen people who preached with zeal for the Lord become almost deranged, seeking to form their own cult; I have seen others drawn to emergent or seeker-sensitive churches, where they hear no convicting message which would draw them back to the place they had with God. And they don't even know what has happened. They believe that they are following the Spirit of God. I have seen others totally destroyed by ungodly and self-destructive behaviors, totally outside of the Kingdom.

A shipwrecked faith is a compromised faith. And it ends with a ship shattered upon the rocks and helpless sailors drifting aimlessly in a sea of self-absorbed 'spirituality'.

My friends, wage the good warfare. Keep the faith. Do not be enamored by new fads and new spirituality. Do not be lured off course by the charms of this world and the sensuous leadings of the flesh. Keep your eyes upon Christ and finish the course.

Sons and Daughters of God, Or One-World Automatons?

After seeing the movie Hugo I was fascinated with the subject of automatons, so I did a little search and discovered this delightful demonstration video. It is an amazing demonstration of a 200 year old automaton which was re-discovered and repaired and now resides at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia.

Watch the video here and keep in mind that this thing was created before the days of computer parts, chips, electronics or any of the technology we have today...other than mechanical parts like you would find in an old watch.  It's hard to believe how effortlessly it moves and how it can produce seven different drawings.



This creation is amazing and beautiful, but it can only do what it is programmed to do. It has no will, no choice, nor intellect. I was thinking about how this world seeks to mold and shape us into its own image. To make us automatons of satan, with everyone speaking the same lingo, the same catch-phrases, and ultimately the same theology...a one-world philosophy that in the end times stands in opposition to God.  Young people are bombarded with the philosophy of this world and the more they claim to want to 'do their own thing' and be unique, the more like each other they become...all traveling along in the same hoard of robotic regurgitation of this world's values. I watch the news and hear people repeating ideas that are so ludicrous as to be nonsensical. And yet they believe they are promoting things profound and noble.

These are strange times indeed, with children being formed into the state's mold. There are strong forces, currents of thought, which are sweeping away a generation and were it not for the intervention of the Lord the result would be an entire planet of automotons...think of Hitler's minions marching in formation, carrying out his bidding. Some of those powerful currents include: extreme environmentalism, "peaceful" Islam, tolerant spirituality, global dependence across the board, and an ever-increasing general hostility against Bible-believing Christians.

May I encourage you with the words of the apostle John. "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1) Do not become an automaton no matter how attractive and reasonable their philosophies and values sound...no matter how noble and compassionate they seem.

God created you and gifted you with your most precious possession apart from your salvation: the gift of choice. You may choose, as Lucifer did, to follow the Lord, or to follow this world. Some would say, "Well if you follow the Lord, isn't that restrictive, and aren't you then an 'automaton'? No my friend, some of the greatest innovations in art, science and technology have been implemented by Christians, who knew that to be made in the image of God is to be creative, unique and productive. To know the Lord places you within a certain set of values, which have been given for your protection, but it also releases you from being bound by the world's philosophies and limitations...into the freedom of the Sons and Daughters of God.

If you follow this world's system, you think that you are being a free-thinking, liberated individual; in reality you become an automaton of this present age. If you follow Christ, you follow the way of liberty...with the right to be Sons and Daughters...and the challenge to become everything God designed you to be.  So don't be an automaton.

KILL OFF THE RATS AND PUT OUT THE FIRES

"Worry is a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained" - anonymous

Are you a worrier? I used to pride myself in thinking that I was not...but life has a way of revealing the truths that we don't want to face about ourselves. In recent years I have had to face things which put my soul in turmoil and I also became extremely well acquainted with that old unsavory character, "the knot in the stomach".

The Lord reminded me of something recently which helps. But first a few things to consider:

J.C. Penney, founder of the famous department store chain, was a very deeply committed Christian whose primary focus was the glory of God. In 1929, when the Great Depression hit, he found himself in extreme financial crisis. He began to worry and was unable to sleep. Before long he had developed a painful case of the shingles and was hospitalized. His state only grew worse, and worry was crushing him. His health so failed that at one point he expected to die the next day and wrote a note to family members. But the next morning he awoke to the sound of singing in the hospital chapel. The words of the old hymn came drifting to his worry-sick soul:

"Be not dismayed, whate'er betide...God will take care of you
Beneath His wings of love abide...God will take care of you.

In what he described for the rest of his life as a miraculous occurrence, he was flooded with fresh revelation of how much the Lord loved and cared for him. And instantly all fear and worry was lifted from him and he was never plagued with worry again.

Robert Morgan describes the root meaning of the word "fret'. "Psalm 37 admonishes us "Do not fret...it only causes harm". The English word 'fret' comes from the Old English Fretan, which means 'to devour, to eat, to gnaw something'. The Hebrew word David actually used is Charah, which carries the thought of  'growing warm and blazing up'. Put these two pictures together. Think of worry as a rat inside your soul, gnawing away. Think of satan as an arsonist, setting little blazes of distress inside your heart."


Truly, fretting causes harm. In my own life, I have suffered health problems and my doctor has declared most of them to be the rotten fruit of internalized stress. John Calvin was prone to anxiety. "Those who are extremely anxious", he said, "wear themselves out and become their own executioners".

Recently I was running errands around town and as I drove, my mind rushed ahead, fretting over a possible emotionally painful development. But my worries were not about the present day, but what the results could be in a few weeks, or a month. I was reminded of Jesus' words, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own".

Now you may think this sounds childlike and simplistic, but I was struck by the fact that, at least in this scripture, the Lord was not dealing with the issue of worrying about today's trouble. He was just admonishing us not to worry about tomorrow's troubles.  I'm not saying that the Lord approves of worrying about today, but somehow that simple little revelation helped me tremendously. Because in my life, many, many of the things I worry about (concerning tomorrow) never come to pass. But I worry and fret about them today. They are phantoms. They are phantoms sent by satan to wear me out and hinder my work for Jesus. The Lord has shown me this on numerous occasions. So I thought to myself, "What a relief...for right now I don't need to beat up on myself about today's worries...I just need to stop worrying about tomorrow....and with the Lord's help, I can defer my worries about tomorrow until they materialize (or don't)  and just deal with today's worries.

Soon after, we received a bad report about something which at first caused us to believe that a new, unexpected, and extremely hard situation was arising, and would soon put us in a new and very painful conflict.
But somehow, everytime I thought about it, I sensed the Lord saying, "only a phantom". And I considered the Lord's words, "Do not worry about tomorrow". So far that monster has never materialized. I could have spent hours with my old buddy 'the knot in the stomach' and wreaked havoc upon my physical body. But the Lord wants me to learn His ways.

Are you a victim of satan's darts? Do you fret and worry to the detriment of your own soul and body? Jesus came 'that we might have life and have it more abundantly'. Is there a rat gnawing away in your heart? Is there a fire burning out of control, devouring your peace? Jesus says "do not fret...it only causes harm". Kill off the rats and put out the fires. Your life and ministry for the Lord may depend upon it.

"Colorful Language", or "Sign of the Times"?

The Word of God tells us that in the end times they will call evil good and good evil.  We find it so in many areas of life today. What a turnaround of attitudes we find in the area of profanity and crude language. It used to be that when a scoundrel got saved the Holy Spirit began to work immediately on that man's language, cleaning up swear words and blasphemies against God. No one had to make this happen. It was just part of the conversion process. And when a person encounters God today the same thing happens unless the person is taught otherwise.

Today we have ministers, like the famous "cussing pastor" Mark Driscoll,  sounding just like the world in their speech. Likewise Christians across the nation soak in the language of movies and popular music and spew it back out like sailors. Some call it 'colorful language', but the only color is black.

Our street ministry team encountered two young men one night recenty who at first seemed to be pretty well grounded Christians but soon their smoking and cursing became evident. Their reasoning was that "this is how we reach the lost...by being like them".

It was not so in years past. Colonel Sanders, the famous founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, said that his conversion to Christ cost him half of his vocabulary. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress, said that his mouth was so foul that even the unsaved commented on his filthy language, but when Christ got hold of him, He changed him from the inside out...including his tongue.

John Newton, author of the hymn "Amazing Grace" went from being a gutter-mouthed sailor who profaned the name of God, to being a writer of hymns that extol the name of the Lord.

Even the rise of the "Sunday School" ministry was itself a reaction to the foul language of young people on the streets. Robert Rakes, a publisher in Gloucester, England many years ago, was on his way to interview a man in the slums of the city and as he walked thru the poverty-stricken area, he was surrounded by children. Suddenly, he was horrified as he listened to the language they used. Even in their playing, these children swore and cussed and profaned the Lord's name. He was so disturbed by what he saw and heard on that day that he determined to do something about it. And he did. The Sunday School, a new kind of ministry, was born.

It has been said that the kid who once got spanked for writing the obscenities in restrooms is now cleaning up as a writer in Hollywood.

I believe that the world can see thru the sham of a man of God using profanity "in order to relate to people"...or any Christian for that matter. The reality is that we want to be just like the world and are not willing to be separate, as the Word of God requires.

And the world spots hypocrisy and pounces on it with a vengeance. When the famous Watergate tapes were released, the public was shocked to hear the vile language of President Richard Nixon and his associates. Every sentence seemed to be filled with obscenities and blasphemies of the worst kind. What was especially ironic was how Nixon, in a public interview during his campaign for President, had criticized the foul language of President Harry Truman, and praised President Eisenhower for having "restored decency, dignity, and even good language" to the office of President! He campaigned that he would be the kind of man in the White House to whom children could look up.

The world isn't fooled by Christians who compromise. And the Lord has told us that in these days good will be called evil and evil will be called good. It's time to raise the standard again. When a man is saved, the Holy Spirit does not make that man like the world. He makes him radically unlike it.  That's just what He does.

What testimony does your vocabulary communicate?

Bread and Wine by the Sea...of Tranquility, that Is.

It was July 10, 1969. I was 12 years old and I can distinctly remember that the old movie "Joan of Arc" was playing on television that night. But there is another memory. During a commercial I stepped outside and looked up into the night sky at the moon. It was an event to remember, for at that very moment there were men standing on the surface of the moon and broadcasting their reports earthward.

I remember marvelling that mankind had made such an achievement. During the course of that event, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface and spoke these words, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind".

However, astronaut Buzz Aldrin gives us details which are generally unknown to the average person. He describes one of the first acts after stepping onto the surface of the moon, that is, the sharing of the Lord's Supper. He wrote, “I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given us.

In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.” I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but in the last minute Deke Slayton had requested that I do not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madylyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon on Christmas. I agreed reluctantly."

Aldrin goes on to say that he ate the bread and drank the wine and gave thanks for the intelligence and Spirit that had brought two young pilots across the Sea of Tranquility. "It was interesting for me to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first eaten there were the communion elements".

It is certainly a sign of the times when general opinion holds that great scientific minds and thinks of the day must also be antagonistic towards faith, and especially the Christian faith. Carl Sagan, the well known host of numerous scientific programs on PBS, and considered by most to be a brilliant scientists of our day, was extremely vocal about his views that science and faith have nothing in common. But it has not always been so.

Sir Isaac Newton was one of the most brilliant minds of his day. He was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived.
In this work, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries.

But our children are not taught in school that Newton, though unorthodox in many of his views, still spent more of his life studying scripture and writing on religion than he ever did on scientific themes. Whether we agree with all of his views or not, nevertheless there was no disconnect between his theological works and his brilliant scientific genius.

Today, creationists are mocked in the public forum, and faith is divorced from science, as if the two can never be compatible. However, true science will in the end come into perfect harmony with the Word of God. The Bible says that it is the fool who has said in his heart, 'There is no God'.

The next time you look up at the moon, think about this fact. That one of the leaders of our day in the scientific community, a pioneer in space travel, thought that commemorating the Lord's Supper on the moon was the  most important and noteworthy thing that he could do, making it a priority immediately following 'mankind's great step'. When you come to the Lord's Supper on Sunday mornings, what is your attitude? Is it just a token of the day, to be checked off of the list of religious duties? Or is it a monumental thing...a memorial to the most important event in human history.

Imagine standing on the surface of the moon, holding the bread and the cup, and looking up at the earth suspended in space above you, and being able to see the African and Asian continents and to identify that one little spot, Israel, where that greatest event took place. Imagine looking up at Israel, while putting the cup to your lips.

If 'The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork"...imagine viewing that from out there...looking back upon earth and all the glory with which God has clothed it.

One day that will not be beyond our reach.

Starry Nights and Black Crows

In 1978 I stood before Vincent Van Gogh's famous masterpiece, The Starry Night, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Painted by Van Gogh in 1889, it has been displayed at the Metropolitan since 1941. Reproductions of the work cannot compare with seeing it in person and I remember standing there as a young artist and revelling in the beauty and wondering at the tragedy which was the life of Vincent Van Gogh. Even though this renowned work was painted in an asylum during one of Vincent's lowest times, if you compare it with his final painting, you will see the height and depth of the mind of a man who wanted to serve God, but was desperately tormented and experienced what the Apostle Paul called "a shipwrecked faith".

Van Gogh, who was the son of a Dutch Reformed minister, had wanted the same "Spirit that rested upon his father and grandfather" on his own life. He had moved as a missionary to a poverty-stricken mining area in order to serve the poor and teach Bible studies. While the people responded to his care for their plight, his preaching was confusing and he felt that he failed miserably.

I have always been fascinated and saddened by the life of this man. As I have read his story  more than once, it seems that he had, for a season, a great love for God and a desire for eternal realities. He wanted to find his purpose in this world, and after failing as a minister, confided in his brother Theo, "How can I be of any use in this world?"

And so he gave up on ministry and sought fulfillment and purpose in his art. However, the more he progressed in his art, the more he suffered mentally, failing in human relationships and succumbing to addictions in order to numb his inner torment and pain. Don McClean's famous song, 'Starry, Starry Night" captures the torment of his mind and the greatness of his art. (listen and watch video below)

  Vincent's final painting, before taking his own   life, shows a wheat field with black crows, symbols of death. A road leads into the cornfield but ends abruptly.

"The Starry Night" displays Vincent's fascination with the glory of the heavens. I'm sure that as he painted he recalled the words of scripture, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork". It represents the height of His vision of God and his desire to somehow reveal the glory of God's handiwork in his painting, having failed at the communication of the gospel in words. "The Wheat Field" represents his final despair, having lost faith and given up on all human relationships. It represents the shipwreck of faith, the loss of personal relationship with God, and the crushing blow that comes from loss of all hope.

Sometimes I wonder what I would have said if I could have known Vincent. If I could have been there when his faith began to crumble. I sense from his life that He loved the Lord, but knew little of the victory that comes from understanding the life of faith as opposed to the bondage of works. I believe that he was seeking to reach God by striving to do enough works. He was given to self-denial, refusing comforts and insisting on living in a shack like the people he served. His desire was noble, but His understanding of the life of faith was obviously deficient. Like many raised in ritualistic religious traditions, he was void of any understanding of the life of overcoming victory that is the work of the Holy Spirit. As a young man of 37, he shot himself in the chest with a revolver, ending his tragic life.

While perhaps an extreme example, Van Gogh's life represents the life of many who call upon the name of Christ and enter into a life of seeking to be of service to God. They have great ideas of God and eternity in the beginning, in the "Starry Night" period of their life. But when faced with personal failure and dead-end roads in their life, they despair and their faith is shipwrecked and replaced by total despair. It is a life of emotion and works, never undergirded with a living, dynamic faith.

Beloved, when your great endeavors fail, and when you face dead-ends in this life, the heavens still declare the glory of God, and His power is still there to carry us forward. These are the times when we cast our dependence upon Him and trust Him to carry us through times of darkness and even despair. I cannot go back in time and be there for Vincent, though I truly believe that his story could have ended differently. But I can point you to the truth. "We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus". The stars at night reveal His glory, but the fullness of God is revealed in his Son, and that is where victory is found.

The Three Storms of Life plus One

The Christian life is not a life free from woes. It is not a life free from troubles, from storms. When we come to Christ He does not promise us a bed of roses. Yet many Christians, who have walked with Him for years, seem genuinely surprised when difficult circumstances come, as though they believe God is going to keep them in an insulated bubble of blessing for the rest of their lives. And when those storms come, they truly lose their bearings and are tossed upon the waves of doubt and despair.

Some believers have been taught that to have such difficulties is a sign of lack of faith. And so they are even more 'lost' in these storms, believing that somehow they have invited the problems and that they deserve them.

The life of a Christian is a life of battles and as one walks with Christ these battles should make us not only stronger, but wiser as to their origination and the necessity of proper response.

As I see it, there are three storms that come into every life, plus one that is designed only for those who live in the last days. These first three storms are:

1.  The storm of your own making. This storm comes into your life as a result of sins and unwise choices made according to the flesh. When your throw a pebble into the pond, the ripples go out and continue for some time. This isn't to say that you are not forgiven. And sometimes God's grace operates in such as way as to even remove the ripples. But many times God wants us to learn from our own actions and although we are forgiven we must learn to walk through the storm that we have created. And as we walk thru it, if we keep our eyes on the Lord, we are given much, much grace. There is no condemnation upon us, because we are in Christ, yet there are lessons to be learned.

2.  The storm that comes from satan. There are many ferocious storms which come to us directly from the hand of our enemy in order to derail our commitment to Christ.  Sometimes we are opposed on every hand. The opposition may be in the form of circumstances, relationship issues, enemies of Christ who persecute, etc. But Jesus is Lord over all storms. He wants us to remember that the anchor holds and that when the waves are threatening to take us under, He is strong enough to keep us not only afloat, but steady and strong.

3.  The storm that comes from the hand of God. This one is kind of tricky, because it may be a combination of the others. It may be a storm of your own making, or it may be from satan, as in the case of Job. Yet nevertheless, nothing comes to you except by permission of the nail-scarred hands of Christ. But this much is for sure. If God directly or indirectly sends a storm your way it is in order that you may be tried and found to be a faithful servant. He desires to burn off the dross and produce gold in your life. When viewed this way, if we pray and ask God to remove storms from our lives, and He does not remove them, then they come by permission of Him and we need to be asking what He wants to teach us in it. Instead of murmuring against others and crying in despair, God wants to show Himself Almighty and Sufficient in your life in these times of deep distress.

And then there is the "plus one". There is a final storm that comes upon the entire world in the latter days. It comes by the hand of God and it includes many trials and tribulations. I believe that we stand on the very precipice of that storm. How you handle the three storms of life may very well determine how you will handle the great one to come. Jeremiah 12:5 says,

“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,
Then how can you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace,
In which you trusted, they wearied you,
Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?"

Daily we are in the school of the Holy Spirit. Every storm is a classroom. I believe there is divine protection from the final storm, but remember that in Jesus' parable there were wise virgins who had plenty of supply of oil, and there were foolish ones, who let their supply be depleted. Today there are multitudes of believers whose supply is depleted. A little difficulty and they turn from God. They compromise with the world and soon they have no life and no power.

Beloved, I cannot not say to you that I have fully learned to embrace storms as welcome teachers. Nevertheless, I have learned that God wants to teach me something in them. And I have learned to ask Him what it is that He wants to teach. And I have found Him to be faithful so that I can stand.

I will close this time with words to a song I wrote a few years ago. It is about this same theme:

BLUE SKIES AND HURRICANES

Blue skies and hurricanes, Roses and thorns,

Peace in the morning, with afternoon storms.

Always a mystery, I cannot see, when the next dark cloud will come.

Oh, Jesus, there on the waves, I see Your face through the rain,

Hold me, when the hard winds blow, and I will walk on the water once again.

This is my history, "Too late", I say,

"The weathervane's pointing away from the bay".

Caught by adversity, nailed by the wind,

The tide fiercely rising again.

Oh Jesus, there on the waves, I see Your face through the rain,

Hold me, when the hard winds blow, and I will walk on the water once again.

Covenant Rings, Stormy waves, and Dylan

It is amazing how God can use one thing to speak to us on more than one level. A few years ago I had a very vivid and unusual dream. I was underwater in the ocean and the water was greenish gold with light rays dancing across the sandy bottom. The water wasn't very deep, but I was under the surface.

As I looked down I saw a gold wedding band, similar to my own, lying on the ocean floor. As I dove to the bottom to grasp this precious band, I was then aware of two other things. First of all, there were other rings, many perhaps, scattered out across the sandy seabed. Secondly, I was very aware of the surface of the ocean above me. Though there were scattered rays of light filtering down through the water and bouncing off of the gold rings, the surface of the ocean was rough and I knew that above it were storm clouds. I woke up as I clutched the first ring, aware that there were many others in my sight.

I don't always analyze dreams and certainly they are not all messages from God. Sometimes it's the burrito I ate the night before. But sometimes there's a certain quality about a dream that sets it apart from others and seems to demand interpretation.

My first thought concerning the dream was that wedding bands speak of covenant. They speak of relationship. Every lost person represents a potential covenant son or daughter for Christ. Ministry demands that I go down into difficult places in order to bring precious souls to Christ. And as I am seeking to bring this one to the Lord, I am aware of the multitude of others waiting in darkness. I am also aware that I am battling the stormy gales of the enemy and the fierce waves of circumstance in order to keep diving...in order to keep doing the work of the Lord. I recognized that those rings were the ones Christ was bringing into His Church.

I was also aware that first and foremost, for us, these rings speak of marriage and commitment. Maggie and I have a strong and enduring marriage. We are not just marriage partners but best friends. We aren't just 'trying to stay married'. We are bound together in a deeper level of love than any other earthly love, and it is anchored in the bedrock of Calvary.  It is something that comes from the Lord Himself.  I am deeply aware of how blessed I am. In my dream, I was diving deeper in order to clutch this most precious thing: covenant love. Overhead, waves were crashing and storms were gathering, but I would not let go. And the rings in the distance? They were the other marriages all around us. Our marriage can be a light for them or a shipwreck which leads them to destruction.

How often I wish that others could understand this scene. Marriage is not something which can be maintained by skimming along the surface, always enjoying the view of sunshine and palm trees. Marriage goes deep. Wounds go deep. Love is deep. Sacrifice is deep. None of it is above 'sea level' where things are easily seen. You have to go down. You have to deny self. You must go below the surface. Your enemy desires nothing more than to take that covenant promise and cast it into the sludge below. The first year we were married, we went to the beach. I was out in the water and I simply embraced a coming wave, and suddenly I knew that my wedding band had slid off and was gone with that wave. I was distraught. Maggie reassured me and we bought another one immediately. Some people let marriage slide away just that easily and they do not realize that restoration is costly. And it is because they embraced something other than their first love. Restoration is also God's will.

Storms may rage overhead, but if your life is hidden beneath the surface in Christ, you will be able to cling to that precious covenant and be a light for others around you.

Lastly, as with most things, I think of the end times. Storms are raging around this world, and a great one is on the way. Bob Dylan, during his time of professing Christ, wrote the song "Slow Train Comin'. It speaks of end time calamities and the coming judgment of Christ. The chorus simply says, "and there's a slow...there's a slow train comin' up around the bend". Beloved, a raging storm is gathering. God's covenant people, who cherish their relationship with Jesus, will be hidden away. The amazing thing about the ocean is that there can be a storm raging on the surface and yet perfect calm on the ocean floor. Jesus is passionate about His bride. And if you are truly in covenant with Him, He will reach down on that sandy ocean floor, when you are just about to sink, and keep you in the palm of His hands....He cherishes covenant. As for Dylan, I don't know what happened. Perhaps he embraced a different wave.

In the Bible, the oceans often represent the peoples of the earth. The multitudes in darkness and confusion. The Lord is able to look into that murky deep and keep His eye upon every covenant son or daughter and at the perfect time, He will reach down and gather them from all nations of the earth.

How precious to wear His ring and to be His bride. Beloved, swim deep and stay under.

Peanuts and the Pathway to Ministry

The Lord has something today for those who have dreams of a future in ministry. They have vision and they know that God has laid a burden upon their heart, but they are stuck in the here and now.

Sometimes we are so visionary that we don't know how to live in the reality of the moment and we forfeit ministry right now for a ministry that never materializes. I'll come back to this subject but first let me share with you some interesting facts about a great man who started out with everything against him.

George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Missouri in 1864. This man was destined to be an educator, scientist, farmer, and one of the South's greatest inventors and innovators.

As an infant, his mother was sold and shipped away, and Carver, after being abducted, was ransomed by his master in exchange for a race horse. Given his freedom, Carver worked as a farm hand and still managed to receive a high school education. He went on to attend college, receiving a degree in agricultural science in 1894. More educational achievements followed.

The path to 'success' in what God has for us is determined by a number of things. But two of the most important qualities are determination and faith. The Lord Jesus said, "Be faithful in small things and I will make you ruler over much". This is not a principle to be ignored.

Carver, who had a deep, abiding faith in Christ, asked the Lord, "Lord, teach me the secrets of the Universe". God replied, "George that is too big a subject for you. I want you to take a peanut...that is more your size...and work on it."

Today it is a matter of record that Carver discovered 325 uses for the peanut and more than 100 uses for the sweet potato. He revolutionized farming and technology in the south. He was the innovator of crop rotation, which restores nutrients to the soil. From peanuts he gave us cooking oil, printers ink and of course, peanut butter. And from sweet potatoes he developed synthetic rubber, paving material, flour and starch, just to name a few. He also developed 75 products from pecans and extracted blue, purple and red paint pigments from the Alabama clay soil. Along with Henry Ford he developed synthetic rubber from the goldenrood weed.

Sometimes we think God wants to reveal to us the secrets of the universe, when He really wants us to start with a peanut. Sometimes He wants us to be persistent and filled with faith and simply serve where we are with all our heart, doing the best that we can for His glory in all that we do. If we do, he will open doors and enlarge our territory.

Carver accepted God's plan for him...the lowly peanut. And following that pathway, Carver was led by God into much greater things than he ever dreamed.   Today, why not use the giftings that God has given you and serve in the lowly place where he has you? Give Him all that you are and all that you have and leave the 'secrets of the universe' to Him. He will reveal them in His time.

Be faithful and be persistent and God will reward you greatly.

Here's a little video on George Washington Carver. There are others that are better quality on youtube, but
this is the only one I found that focused on his faith as well as his achievements.



Wolves on the Horizon

Habakkuk 1:6-8

6For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
 7They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
 8Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

"When God releases the evening wolves"... I have heard this phrase in my spirit many times through the years, since the first time I ever heard it used in a sermon. Wolves typically conjure up fearful images in our minds. They are vicious and they appear when day has given way to night. They do not hold back and their destruction is sure and swift.

God was speaking through Habakkuk in this passage and He was announcing the coming of the Chaldeans, whom He would release upon the Israelites because they had mingled pagan worship with the worship of Jehovah. When a nation turns from the Lord, there are repercussions. For Israel, it was a chastisement which would come from a nation whose army was "more fierce than the evening wolves".  We as Americans sometimes think that we are insulated from the judgments of God...that somehow because of our Christian heritage, we are immune to chastisement. Others think that because we are strong militarily we cannot be moved. But if the Lord of Hosts so chooses, He is able to raise up the weakest and smallest of nations and use that nation as His rod of divine judgment.

Each year I wonder, "How long before He releases the evening wolves"? The destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001 was just a foretaste of what can happen when a nation forgets God.

Who will they be? Will they be an army of muslims, determined to implement Sharia law in our land? Will they be Chinese forces? Will they come as an EMP disruption caused by an Iranian nuclear warhead? Even more sobering, will they be our own forces...enforcing martial law on an unprepared American public? Will it be the final muzzling of the Church in America, which has compromised with the world just as Israel did in the time of Habakkuk?  Though I do not know the answer to these questions, I do know that the God of the new Covenant is the same God who spoke through Habakkuk, and He deals with nations today even as He did then.

But when God releases the evening wolves, He always has a remnant. A faithful remnant settled this nation and today there is a faithful remnant as well. I am excited about the remnant that I see responding to God at Faith Harvest. There are those who are seeing the urgency of the hour and answering the call to be used by the Lord...not to build ministries to themselves, but to Glorify Christ and seek to draw others to Him.

God leaves a remnant for a number of reasons.

First of all, to preserve. Evening wolves may bring destruction, but believers are salt and light and as long as God has a remnant there will not be total annihilation.

Secondly, to stand watch. Someone has to watch and proclaim for the sake of the weaker brethren. Someone has to protect the flock of God and speak truth in the midst of falling darkness.

Thirdly, God has a remnant so that there will be a prophetic voice. Even in the worst of the coming Great Tribulation, God has His two witnesses who stand in the streets of the great city and proclaim the everlasting Gospel. We are the witnesses today.

Lastly, God has a remnant who will display His power. In the midst of falling darkness, God will raise up fire-filled men and women who will not compromise with the spirit of the age.

I believe the time is coming when the righteous remnant will stand in power and proclaim the faithfulness and greatness of God. There will be no more room left for compromise or riding the fence. You will be on one side or the other. Now is the time to make preparation. When the wolves are racing towards us, it will be too late to prepare.

Is the sky now red in the evening or red at dawn? Jesus said that we should know and be able to read the signs.

What will you do when God releases the evening wolves?

Work for the Night is Coming

Well, another year has come and I am so excited about what the Lord is going to do in the months ahead. We are looking forward to the start of a new location, which will be our third, and we have some new opportunities for outreach and ministry developing. There is a hunger in our congregations and a desire for personal revival...a desire to see Christ truly glorified and to see His power manifest locally in the redemption of broken lives.

As I think about this, I am reminded of the old hymn of the church, "Work for the night is coming, when man's work is done". We live in such a culture of ease. We don't really know what it means to lay our lives down as do our brothers and sisters in the underground church in China, or those suffering behind prison walls in Vietnam or Indonesia. How hard it is for us to discipline these bodies in order to be more effective in our work for Jesus.

My desire this year is to work harder, to be more ready to minister in faith, and to organize my life so that I am more efficient for Him. I was looking back over my journal from January of 2011 and I found where I had penned this prayer. It's still applicable today:

"Lord, give me the faith of a "Word of faith'er", without the errors in their teaching.
Give me the anointing of a charismatic, without the hype and emotional extremes which carry them away.
Give me the knowledge of a scholar, without dryness of religion or the emptiness of the wordly church.
And give me the passion of the greatest missionaries...right here where you have me planted."

I believe a great portion of the church in the Western nations is 'gone'...'checked out'... and doesn't even realize it. "Poor, blind and naked, yet unaware". Who knows how much further our nation will turn from God in 2012? But I believe there is a remnant that can sing these words from the song by Michael Smith, "All I have in this world is fire from above". And that fire is going to burn more brightly as the world grows more dark.

My prayer for you this year is personal revival. May you grow in hearing the voice of the Shepherd and may you not listen to the voice of another.

To my brothers and sisters at Faith Harvest...I pray provision and supply both spiritual and physical for you in the year ahead...and more than this, I pray that Christ fills your life to overflowing. May you roll up your sleeves with us and work hard this year...for the night is truly coming when man's work is done.

That's all for now. God bless you.