God IsFaithful

My God is so faithful, even when I am not. If you read my blog you read about some of the spiritual warfare in my life; specifically an older congregant that I had managed to offend. Well today Jesus answered the many prayers that have been lifted up this person's behalf.

At 1:00 this afternoon I received a call from this person. They apologized and asked for my forgiveness. I was so shocked. I don't know why I was amazed; after all I preach and teach that God answers prayer. But when they asked for forgiveness my mouth dropped and I couldn't speak for a few seconds. God had gone to battle on my behalf.

I just wanted to share this experience today. I am so blessed and so amazed by my Savior. I can't wait to see what He will continue to do in Byromville.

Cancer and Ribs

I got an email yesterday form a person that just found out they have cancer. The doctors found something the size of a golf-ball and they discovered that the cancer has spread to the lymph nods. Needless to say this does not sound good. Now you would imagine that this person would be down-and-out or upset. But this was not the case. They found time in their email to tell me about the amazing ribs they ate for lunch in between all their tests.

They were not upset or mad. As a matter of fact their attitude was better than mine yesterday and they just got diagnosed with cancer. This individual is truly trusting God for healing on this side of heaven or the other. They know that worrying will not add one day to their life. I am amazed by their faith and I look forward to what God is going to do through this.

As you read this please pray. This person has a long road ahead of them.

A Great Funeral

Yesterday I went a funeral. Two of my church members lost a sister this past Thursday night. She was sick with cancer and this death was expected. When I walked in the church, about 20 minutes before the service was to start, there was standing room only. The place was absolutely packed! I couldn't help but marvel at the amazing testimony of this woman and her family has people where packing into a sanctuary that probably sat 300 people comfortably. As amazing as this was the thing that really blessed me was the service. The hymns being played on the piano where great; I found myself humming along and an older gentlemen standing next to me asked me if I sang in the choir. Two younger pastors lead the service; they read scripture, prayed and shared poems and stories on behalf of the family. The uplifting part about the whole thing was that this service felt more like a worship service than it did a funeral. I've never experienced anything like it.

But shouldn't a funeral for a believer be that way? It should be a time of rejoicing and worship of God because a believer has gone home. I praise God for allowing me the opportunity to be at that funeral service. It has been an encouragement to me ever since I left. I pray my funeral can be something like that to people.

More From The Battle Front

I didn't sleep much last night. I kept thinking about this person that I have offended. I have decided to visit Thursday mornings and Friday afternoon. I went got started this morning and made a few visits before lunch. It was encouraging! I praise God because He used the people Ivisited to be more of an encouragment to this pastor that I was to the people.

Spiritual warfare is difficult to say the least. But as I worked on my message for Sunday a thought accured to me. Jesus never taught us it would be easy only worth it. Running from the battle and refusing to fight would not grow my faith. I must face this thing and let Christ have His perfect work in me.

A Heavy Heart

I have had the worst night! Tonight at church I was informed that a particular congregant was a little upset that I have not been out to see them this week. When I got home I called that person as quick as I could to see how they were. It turns out they were more than a little upset they were mad. They had a good reason to be upset. I told them last week that I would come by on Monday but I never showed up. The reason for this is my horrible memory. I simply forgot; I didn't write it down on my calendar. I apologized and informed the individual that I had made a huge mistake. All I could do was ask for their forgiveness. They couldn't give it and my heart was crushed.

It's funny how the devil kicks you when your down. I was accused of "being a preacher but not a pastor." I was accused of "catering to the younger crowd but not the older." There where a few other comments then a "click" as the phone hung up. Only three months in and this is what I get.

Now for clarity I am not upset with this person at all. I feel horrible; like I have failed them as a pastor. I could blame it on inexperience or the flaw of forgetfulness or on the reality that many people need my attention. But none of those things make me feel any better about the whole thing. I just feel like a failure and if you know me at all you know that I have the tendency to blow things out of proportion and make things worse than they are. To be honest I probably wont sleep much tonight.

In the middle of this whole ordeal I find myself asking one question. What are the things that really matter? How am I; a pastor; supposed to break up my time to do the best I can for this church? If all I do is visit then the sermons are going to be lacking. But if I never visit or forget to visit then I become an offense to those I'm here to serve. Oh God where is the balance? I struggle to know what to do. Pray for me. My heart is heavy. The spiritual battle isn't going well today!

Spiritual Warfare

Since last Friday the reality of spiritual warfare has become more and more obvious to me. When I walked into the Rylander Theater there was no doubt that Satan was there. When I saw a good friend, who was heading up the rally, I knew war was being waged. After I spent some time with the band I realized they had a completely different views than those of the evangelist who would be speaking. It was a most difficult day to say the least. After our evangelist was done there was silence. People where in shock and awe...they had never heard preaching like that before.

After the bombs were dropped and the smoke cleared my friend realized this was only the beginning. As the leader of the event he has gotten calls, and emails and face-to-face encounters where people took the opportunity to bash the event, especially the preacher.

Without going into every detail I only wish to make a proclamation: We are in the last days. People want to have their ears tickled by sermons instead of being brought to conviction. People don't want the worldliness of their life and their church to be exposed publicly. It can be very discouraging. My friend is feeling the weight of it all at this very moment.

My prayer is that I would be counted as a worthy soldier for the Cross. I want to be a soldier who participates in warfare as opposed to the typical Southern Baptist who refuses to acknowledge that it even exist.

Absence of Fear

Sometimes I think we are a little too bold. Let me explain. One of the many flaws within the body of Christ is the overemphasis of the things about God we like; the things we can deal with. We love to give all of our attention to the reality that "God is love" but we never seem to focus on the truth that He hates sin and that His wrath will be poured out on those who die apart from Christ. Preachers love to say things like, "God is passionate about you" or "God is madly in love with you and He deeply cares about your happiness". Its like John Piper says, "we are fine with being God-centered as long and God is man-centered."

However, when I read scripture I don't see a God that is ultimately obsessed with man but a God that is passionate about himself...and He should be. There is no greater thing or being than God. No way higher than His way or power than matches His own. He is Holy and absolutely perfect. These are truths that should drive us to our knees as opposed to coming to God with pride and arrogance; like He owes us something. We need to be a people of fear (reverence, wonder and awe) for the God we claim to know.

The Church seems to have an absence of fear and this is the cause of much of the turmoil and strife with in the body today. We are stirred up by vanity and we try to sustain our spiritual growth and life with worldliness. This was not the case for the church of Acts. In chapter 2 verse 43 we see a people of Godly fear. Throughout the entire book we see a people who where motivated and sustained by their fear of God; not worldly methods and vain things.

I'm not sure exactly what I'm trying to get across here. I am just so heavy-hearted for the Church. Many try to run away and start new churches to escape the baggage of one that has been around for a while. I don't want to be that guy. I think the modern-day, local churches just need to be awakened from their deep sleep. They need to compare themselves to church history, especially the book of Acts and realize how desperate we are to get back to our roots. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is what we learn in Proverbs 1:7 but all I see are a bunch of dumb churches. We have a fear problem!!!!!