Pastor Goforth

I Made You … Listen to Me

December 9th, 2015

Two great deceptions we often fall for 1) God doesn’t speak to me, so I don’t need to listen and 2) There isn’t anything for me to do

I have said for years that God doesn’t make “knick-knacks”. You know those things that you picked up somewhere, someone gave you, they have no purpose other than to sit on your shelf, gather dust, and perhaps facilitate a memory. God doesn’t make “knick-knacks”, and he doesn’t buy “knick-knacks”> Yet you were created with intention and love. You were purchased with great price, the precious blood of Jesus.
So, Isaiah calls out to those near Israel and those far away Islands and distant nations, and he uses himself as an example to say “God made me, God made you, so we need to LISTEN to him.” To say “do not imagine for a minute that your position or posture means that you do not have a purpose, so pay attention.”

Isaiah 49:1–7 (NIV84)
1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. 3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” 4 But I said, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” 5 And now the LORD says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength— 6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” 7 This is what the LORD says— the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

v1 – Listen to me – this is the testimony of a witness and the call of a creator … “Listen … open your ear, open your heart, engage your mind, turn away from other chatter, and listen to me.”
Hear this … this is important
You Islands and you distant nations – this message is for two groups 1) those who are God’s people and have been scattered by invaders and 2) Those within those lands who do not acknowledge yet the Lord
Before I was born, the Lord called me … From my birth, he has made mention
Do you believe that God has always had plans for you and it is for those plans that you were created? Or, do you believe that when you acknowledged and believed THEN he decided “well I have to find something to do with them?” If you have yet to receive him, he still has a plan for you.
v2 For Isaiah he made your mouth, a sharpened sword
Perhaps you have a child with a quick tongue and it drives you crazy … that is from God it just has to be sharpened correctly and taught to be used.
He Hid me polished me, and concealed me
He has not forgotten you, he has hidden you and is preparing you. Sometimes we tend to cry out and say “Lord what are you doing? Why am I in this bag. Look, I’m straight and shiny, sharp, and yet stagnant. Load me up and fire me Lord.” But our Master Archer, says “not yet child, not yet, I have a purpose. Let’s polish a little more, let’s sharpen a little more.”

v3 But your day will come, but better yet, we should say HIS day will come. “you are my servant … in whom i will display my splendor” He is the vine, WE are the branches … we reach out FROM him, we reach out FOR him, we find our fullness in our connection to him.
v4 Here comes an honest statement that shows we don’t understand … i have worked for nothing … spent my strength for nothing … yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand. I am his to use as he desires. He is my portion and reward. He can pay me as and when he desires. Remember our Labor is not in vain in the Lord 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Stand firm let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of hte Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
You will never spend one day, one dollar, one devotion that is for nothing if it is to the Lord and from his direction. Oh it will wear us out at times, but he renews our strength and we will not faint.
v5 Remember the Lord FORMED us … we are ergodynamic. That is our form is designed for our purpose. “Lord, why am I different than they are, than that one?” “My child it is because you are made for a different purpose.” “So Lord, how come I don’t get any honor or credit.”
“Oh child, I see … you ARE honored in my eyes and will be honored in my presence.”
Luke 18:28, Peter says “we have left all we had to follow” vv29-30 “The truth … no one who has left … for the sake of the kingdom … will fail to receive many times as much …”
v5b He is our reward … and our strength … I am your strength
Psalm 73:26 God is my strength and my portion forever
SO
v6 – Since he is my reward, my portion, my strength … It is not a LITTLE thing for me to use you that is a huge thing. But see it as it is written It is a small thiing to serve him … to follow him … to be hid … to be used … to be sharpened … to be polished … to be fired … it is ALL his doing, his purpose
I will make you a light … that was his purpose in different ways but still for all to display his splendor
v7 WHY? He Created, he knows, he redeems, he is the unique one of a kind Holy One. People will see and get up, will see and bow down.
He is faithful, He is Choosing, He has chosen me …
Near or Far
Known or Unknown
Ready or Being Readied

You are His
He has Chosen You
My Kingdom Is From Another Place

October 26th, 2015

John 18:36 My Kingdom is not of this world … my kingdom is from another place

Where is your territory? What do you fight to protect? Do we sometimes fight for things that are of THIS world?

Things of this world

are about me

will not last

may not glorify God

will give temporary returns on investment

So often we are involved in “turf wars” and we want to set up fences and fight. In the southwest, there were cattle herders and sheep herders. Cattle were managed by cowboys on horseback and they grazed. Sheep though would strip a place bald and were fenced in and so territory wars broke out over the sheep and cattle and fences or no fences. The question for us is what are we fighting for? Are we battling for territory or treasures, souls or surface things? Are we fighting for things WE own or things we manage?

Jesus said “My Kingdom is NOT OF this world.”
I think the great challenge for us in ministry is to keep our battles in the right realm and keep our attacks focused on the right enemy. What does Ephesians 6:12 say? We struggle NOT against FLESH and blood … So if we are fighting an enemy with a human face, we are missing the real enemy. Why was Jesus able to face Caiaphus, Herod, and Pilate and remain calm, at peace? It was because his enemy didn’t have a human face. His enemy was not flesh and blood. Our enemy is our own selfish desires, and satan’s desires. My kingdom is not of this world, my battle is not in this realm. If we have our heels dug in, fighting for earthly territory, we are fighting in the wrong plain.

Strive for Souls … battle the real enemy.

Psalm 42:2-11 NIV84

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and 6 my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

We easily are downcast when we have our heart and focus on earthly things

Put Your hope in God.

David closes out Psalm 17 with the correct perspective. After talking about the fleshly one who seems to always have enough, though God’s child might seem to be left out … David says

But as for me, I will behold your face in righteousness, and be satisfied when I wake with your likeness
As the Father Has Sent Me, I am Sending You

October 26th, 2015

John 20:21 NIV84 Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me. I am sending you

Jesus appears to his disciples while their world is still in a turmoil. Jesus died on Friday. Here it is Sunday evening. He is reported alive, seen by Mary and he appears to his disciples behind locked doors in the upper room. “Peace be with you” Oh he had never really left them, he is always with us. He told them on Thursday “I will never leave you nor forsake you” But now darkness has given way to life. Jesus is standing in front of them and says “Peace be with you” v19 and then v20 he shows them his hands and side, probably as they are just standing there with their mouths wide open. So in v21 again Jesus said “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

I’m sure they had been thinking, since Friday, that the story was over for them. Maybe they were next to die. Thinking “if we survive this, what now, back to fishing, back to tax collecting, back to find something else about which to be zealous.”

But Jesus says “this is not the end of the story, this is the beginning … I am sending you”

But HOW is he sending us?

1. At Peace

Regardless of the struggle around us … At Peace

Peace where it matters. Peace from God. Peace within us

Jesus had said to them Thursday night, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”

Now they see this statement in the flesh. Oh listen “trouble” was just starting for them. The moment we make peace with God, the struggles really begin. The attacks of the evil one, the struggle of the flesh and our new nature, it is only starting. Persecution is coming, but peace be with you. So then we are sent, at peace, as ministers OF peace.

And we are sent

2. AS the Father Sent

How was Jesus sent?

He was sent with a clearly defined purpose. He came humble. He came emptied of glory. He came an intentional servant. He came committted to the plan of the Father. His purpose was to live in perfection, declare God’s glory, die a sacrificial death, redeeming and reconciling all who would believe. Then he came to rise victorious over sin and death.

We then are sent to live in his righteousness. We are to live in humility. Check James 4:7-10. We are submissive to his will, victorious over satan, drawing near him, daily dying, dealing with external sin struggles, humble before him, and he will lift us up in due time. We are sent intentionally to serve. Jesus had said if I your master have come not to be served but to serve, how much more should you serve.

We have a clear mission. As you go, (Matthew 28:19-20)make disciples, that is imitating followers, baptizing them in the name of Father, Son, and Spirit. We go to all (Acts 1:8) nations as witnesses telling them what we have seen and heard.

And so we are

3. Sent

I don’t men to be redundant, but he is sending us, SENT.

Again it is about living with purpose. He doesn’t say “get out of here.” he doesn’t say “just go, have fun, do as you please.”

No, we are SENT. We belong to him, so we must go as HIS children, his Ambassadors. We are SENT. We are commanded so we can’t just live and minister aimlessly, when we feel like it. No we are SENT.

Pray: Lord you are always at work. You have sent me. So, what are you doing and how can I join you?”

The Greatest Peace we can know is NOT in the ABSENCE of Trouble or Conflict, but in the Presence of Christ, and Our presence in the world, sent by Him.
Men of Faith – Taking the Lead

October 6th, 2015

Men of Faith Breakfast
Taking the Lead
Ephesians 4:31-32

I asked Troy what God was saying to him for today and if there was a theme or focal scripture for today. So, he wrote me back and pointed me to Ephesians 4:31-32
Ephesians 4:31–32 (NIV84)
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
And then Troy said his reason is that if a man is head of the household, then he must Lead with Faith.

So you see there two lists: Don’ts and Dos … but Paul in these verses puts them in two categories “get rid of” and “be”.
The phrase “get rid of” means “to take away, to withdraw from the bank”. So we are saying here … Where will you spend or deposit your resources? Where will you deposit your wealth and what will you have when you come back for a withdrawal. So, bad accounts to deposit your wealth are in the first list
Get Rid of
– Bitterness – that is a frame of mind that is resentful, thinking we deserve better than we get
– Rage – is excessive anger that becomes a flashpoint
– Anger – not definitive anger, but distorted by uncontrolled passions
– Brawling – anger acting out physically
– Slander – it isn’t always lying but it is evil speaking about someone in order to hurt them or their reputation
– Malice – Wuerst says this is the root of the rest, a hateful feeling
Those are the bad accounts … where we deposit our resources, passions, actions

Be – ginomai – Become = Abandon one thought for another. Change Banks for your Deposit
– Kind – good, kind, easy
– Compassionate – displaying felt affection, tenderhearted
– Forgiving – this is not forgiving in the sense of bearing the sin in atonement but charizomai – comes from the same word charis … Grace. To do a favor … not deserved, but pleasant, benevolent …
So … simple list of dos and don’ts … we know what we are supposed to do …
But Troy said he was interested in these verses because WE are supposed to LEAD
So, what is this about taking the lead? What is Paul teaching us? We don’t learn it from just two verses. Hopefully today I’m going to make you think. Hopefully I’m going to make you go back and read the entire section.

What are we learning about leading our families?

1. Leading Comes From an Understanding of Position

4:1 says “As a prisoner of the Lord … live a life worthy of the calling … be humble, gentle, patient bearing with each other.”
Why? Because I am a Prisoner of God’s Grace
Every other instruction is based on this understanding.
Jesus is Sovereign Lord of All, Creator, Redeemer, the One who gave his life to purchase yours … if you have never surrendered to him, you will be a frustrated Leader at best or a cruel dictator at worst.
Our position is that we serve under authority. We can’t lead without understanding that
The worst leaders are those who want no accountability
The worst leaders are those who think they world revolves around, rises and falls with them.
Great leaders understand their position, those over them, those under their responsibility.
I have heard recently retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey saying “my job is not to create policy, but to recommend and implement the plan to carry out the policies and objectives we are given.”

So, I belong to Christ. I am under authority, so I cannot just do whatever I want.

So as we continue to Read this Chapter and Understand

2. Leaders Understand More is Caught Than Taught

Paul says that God has given us church leaders to help us become mature so we aren’t tossed about by the waves. You don’t get there alone. Submitting to and welcoming instruction and mentoring
Paul talks about Actions, Attitudes, and Accountability in this chapter. If our kids are rebellious, angry, selfish, … where did they get that?
I’m not saying we can’t lead unless we are perfect men, but we have to be transparent with our family. When we ignore the rules that we don’t think are important, our family is watching. If your kids obey YOU, but not your wife, maybe they are catching it from you. Do you follow? Do you speak respectfully? Do you process and control your anger or do you rage? They are watching. Do you always act like everyone owes you something? Actions, Attitudes and Accountability. I can’t just do what I want.
Ephesians 4:22–23 (NIV84)
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

I must get rid of the one list and become the other because I am accountable to our God and Savior and because I am leading others. V30 says “do not grieve the Holy Spirit” … We are accountable to the Spirit who lives in us. What does that mean?
1 Thessalonians 5:19 calls it “putting out the Spirit’s Fire”. It hinders the fire of transformation in our lives as well as for those we lead, beginning with our family.
I won’t develop it, but if you want to Fan the Flame instead of quenching the Spirit … it is found there in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 … Read it later, but here are the cliff notes
• Rejoice Always
• Pray Always (without ceasing)
• Give Thanks Always (in everything)
• Test Everything
• Always abstain from every kind of evil

So … as we understand it is Caught more than Taught …

The Last thing on Taking the Lead then is

3. Leadership Has a Clear Vision

Be, Live, Say …

If you continue chapter 5:1 it says “Be Imitators of God as Dearly Loved Children”
– Be Imitators of God as dearly loved children
Lift your eyes. Lift your target. Your family is going to follow YOU first, so don’t compare yourself to someone else, aim higher, imitate God
How?
As Dearly Loved Children
Stop saying I will do this as soon as I’m good enough, mature enough, it fits your schedule or personality.
No, as Loved Children – don’t you love it when your children try and imitate you? How do children imitate? The word is to mimic.
Imitate God like Loved Children
• What God does, You just do it because you are imitating God
• You don’t care how it looks, you just do it, imitating God
• You don’t care if it fits or looks cool, just do what God does
• You don’t care if you are good at it, you just imitate God
Like a child loving Daddy, knowing Daddy loves them

Be … Live …

– Live a Life of Love
Live a LIFE … not occasionally, weekly, monthly the word peripateo means walk, behave, conduct, in a manner of living
Make your life … LOVE – agape … This is not sensual love that makes me feel. This is not conditional love that asks what have you done for me? This is DEVOTION. We do it because we choose TO. How do we live this manner of life love.
• As Christ loved you … don’t miss that what he has done for you is a past action, a present reality, and a future expectation. Love like Christ, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
• He gave himself up … It is not enough to bring your children here to be taught God’s Word. And Send them to school to learn, and to a coach to be trained … You give them YOURSELF … it is the best you will give them, particularly if you are seeking God
• As a sacrifice … God loves it because he loves you … do it as an act of worship

Be … Live … Say …
– Say … back to 4:29 … we have to watch what comes out … Only let out what is beneficial. Only allow what is:
• Helpful
• For Building Up
• According to their needs

Men your wives, your children, need to hear your voice. But is what they hear helpful (good, fair, generous) Helpful to building up? Is there a positive future for those words? Is there a useful structure? According to their Needs?
Understand me men. I’m not saying you have to go around saying sweet nothings …
Sometimes correction is needed
Sometimes discipline
Sometimes Grace or Mercy
Sometimes it is an Apology that is needed from US
But Always it is with Love and an Expressed Vision of the Desired Future
That is Taking the Lead
So
Ephesians 4:31–32 (NIV84)
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

You know where do you get rid of it and where do you get what you need? His name is Jesus
The Real Struggle

October 6th, 2015

Romans 5:12 (NIV84)
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—

When Adam surrendered to Eve’s suggestion of the forbidden fruit, after Eve surrendered to the suggestion of the serpent … the struggle with sin began.
But what was the “Real Struggle”? I once had a man, well meaning, come into my office in St. Louis and say “Pastor, you don’t preach about ‘sin’ enough.” I looked at him in disbelief and asked what he meant. He repeated his desire again for me to speak more about ‘sin’. Well, I manuscript all of my messages and I was preaching through the book of Romans. So, I pulled out my previous few messages and referred to some things about sin and pointed to a section and said “that’s sin”, and another section and said “that’s sin”. But he said, “no, ‘sin’, like lying and immorality, and murder, and abortion …” and he just had a long list. I redirected and said “Oh, I thought you were talking about sin.” (He looked confused) And I continued, “you are talking about sins”, and he said “yeah, ‘sin’”.
And there is often the problem. We don’t focus on the Real Struggle. When Adam and Eve sinned, they opened the door to sin. The world wasn’t full of all the evil ‘sins’ we know today, nor even the ‘less than evil’ sins. I don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in the world before that fateful day, but there was NO sin, and so no sins. So that day when they sinned, the issue was and remains, who will be ‘god’? Oswald Chambers in my utmost for his highest says “the disposition is not immorality and wrong-doing, but the dispostion of self-realization – I am my own god.”
You see before that act, there was only The Lord as God. The very thought that we could even do differently than he had instructed had not entered into our consciousness. But the Serpent planted a seed of doubt and possibility that we could be god. satan always called into question the goodness of God and the Word of God. He said to Eve “Did God say that you couldn’t eat from any tree.” “No just this one tree, if we eat IT we will die” … But satan countered “you won’t die, you will become like god.” And there it was. The ONLY act at his point that was possible to be called sin, was the act of taking up the role of determining right and wrong, taking up the role of lord, and deciding for myself what I will do.
So, both Adam and Eve, instead of putting to death that thought, they gave it life and found “yes, I CAN become my own lord, i can be my own god.” But Oh the consequences when we take that road.
So it is for us the daily struggle, the Real Struggle is not with actions that we call sins, but it is an attitude of rebellion or an attitude that acquiesces, that is accepts, even reluctantly, the rule of Jehovah God as Lord.
It is as I am crucified with Christ that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me … then and only then, I find that the life I live is lived by faith in the goodness of the Song of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
It is in coming after him (Luke 9:23) in denial to self,to the way that I want to go, that I take up the cross and follow him. Taking up the cross is not about suffering and sacrifice, though that often comes with it. No, taking up the cross is about surrendering to HIS will, HIS way, HIS plan, HIS purpose.
The Real Struggle is in putting my hand to the plow and not looking back (Luke 9:62)
Eve and then Adam followed their own desire instead of the will of God and so the Real Struggle allowed every other sinful action to enter the real of possibility in life. Praise Go that He didn’t leave us to the consequence of that one sin though.
Romans 5:18–21 (NIV84)
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

the Real Struggle, moment by moment is about Lordship, who will be God?
It is about surrender
It is about the salute to the higher rank and authority
It is doing an “about face” to follow the plan of God

When once that decision is made, when that conflict is settled, obedience leads to life and peace with God.
Peace with God over lordship, leads to victory over the sins that so easily entangle us
You Lack One Thing

September 15th, 2015

You still lack ONE Thing. sell Everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come and follow me. Luke 18:22

God doesn’t keep score like we do. We have been so bound by the idea of fairness and “good enough” that we miss the expectations of Christ.

Jesus’ call in Matthew 4 was “repent, the Kingdom is near”. That means turn around, go this way. But we ask “is this good enough?” Anything less than everything is not enough. This young man in Luke 18 comes to Jesus and says “what must I do?” Jesus says, “do? Well do what you have been told” Being doesn’t come from doing, but doing is a result of being. I follow and that causes me to Do what he desires. I don’t try to do, to be a follower, but I do because I am a follower.

This young man doesn’t get it. He says “I’ve done all of this my whole life.” i.e. I’m still not feeling it, so what is missing? Jesus says “one thing you lack.” Most of us start keeping score here. We say, “well good, I am almost making 100. I just lack ONE thing, that’s pretty good, right?” If we think this is about the 10 commandments, and he only lacks one thing, he’s making a 90, that’s a pretty good grade. “Thanks Jesus, see ya later, I’ll keep at it”

No, wait … you LACK (leipo – to be in need, fall short, be incomplete, to forsake, to be wanting, to be defeated)

There is a war going on and you lost one of the battles, you are incomplete, you fall short. When we fall short, what does Romans 3:23 call that? SIN .. missing the mark.

Jesus says the only way to remedy this problem is to “sell everything … give away” Reevaluate what you treasure and lift your eyes to treasure in heaven. What do you own? What do you treasure? This young man most likely struggled with materialism. His identity was wrapped up in possessions. I believe it is why Jesus used the word “treasure”. The word means “storeroom, repository”. Jesus elsewhere says not to “lay up our treasures in places where they can corrode, or be criminalized. If your treasure is in eternal things, then if someone takes something of earthly value, you can move on because you don’t find your worth, value, or identity in those things.

The word is Priority

In 1 Kings 19:19-21 … Elijah goes to Elisha to call him to follow him in serving God as a prophet. Elisha is running a big family farming business. he is overseeing 12 sets of oxen. That’s 24 plowing oxen. That’s 11 men working them plus he is working the 12th. That means a large number of fields. Elijah calls him out by laying his prophet’s mantel on him. God had commanded this. Elisha knows that this means. The call to come was a call to leave all you had. There is an immediacy of the call. He says, “let me kiss my father and mother … then I will come with you.” Cultural historians tell us that this phrase really meant “after my parents die and are buried, then I will go with you. Similarly in Luke 9:59, Jesus told a man to follow him and the man said “let me bury my Father”. Jesus said “let the dead bury the dead” Another said “let me say goodbye to my family.” And Jesus told him that if he looks back he isn’t FIT for the Kingdom. Again, both of these are talking about the idea of following him later, just not today. After my father is dead and gone, after my kinds are grown, after I retire … and Jesus says “sell it all, and follow me. What you lack is a Spirit to follow me”

So, Elisha says it … and Elijah just basically replies “fine then, go on back, what have I done but invite you into God’s plan?”

Elisha realized the call was a call for NOW and the past is gone, all things are new, no turning back. So Elisha did the right thing. He slaughtered his 24 oxen. He burned the plows. He cooked the mean and served to his men to eat … 1 Kings 19:21 says “then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant”

Jesus said in Luke 9 that when we set out with him there is no turning back.

Lord, what is the one thing I lack? Because where I lack, I am falling short and I want to be what you have called me. Jesus called those fishermen to be disciples. They pulled their boats up on shore, left their nets, and followed him. But sadly, we are like the man in Luke 9:57, “Lord I will follow wherever you go” but what we mean is “Lord where ARE you going, exactly?” “You have a place right?” Jesus told him “foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head.”

Following is about FOLLOWING, not about the destination. Following is about the ONE we follow not WHERE he is taking us. So, Jesus told this young rich, religious seeker, “sell everything, and then you will lack nothing because I will be your source and substance. I will be your treasure and your treasure house.”

But when he heard, he was sad because he was wealthy. He was sad about what he was losing not joyful about what he was gaining. Oh Lord, may we not be sad and satisfied with trash and temporary satisfaction when you offer us treasure eternal. May we forsake all, sell all, empty ourselves, that we might lack nothing in our. As we leave all to gain all in Christ, Fill us with Joy!
When Do You See the Lord?

September 15th, 2015

When do you see the Lord? We see the Lord when we look up. Not that god is bound to a time or space location, as we think of it, but we see him when we look “up”.
Looking up happens intentionally or experientially. Either we make it our plan to look or circumstances force us to look up. Isaiah saw the Lord because his hero died in Isaiah 6:1. “in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up …”
Uzziah was the King. He was a good king, a godly king. Additionally he was related to Isaiah, perhaps as an uncle or cousin. So, he was a big hero to Isaiah. On top of that, he had a personal failure. He had become impatient with God and had offered incense in the Temple, a task for the priests, and God had stricken him with leprosy. So, he had been “dead” to the world for some time. Now, he died for real. The result of his sin was his physical death. Isaiah’s hero had failed him and now he was gone and Isaiah “saw the Lord”

Oswald Chambers says “” our soul’s history is frequently the history of the ‘passing of the hero’ … God has to remove our friends in order to bring himself in their place.”
So when the “hero” is gone, we either look down, look around, look back, or we LOOK UP.
Isaiah looked up and saw the Lord. We must decide to look to God and see his glory. Sometimes we are flat on our back from a fall, sickness, or humility and it is the only way we see him.
We also have to ask God to open our eyes to see him right in front of us. Jesus said in John 6, “my Father is always a work around us.” Most times, we just don’t notice.
Jacob had a dream and saw God’s angels doing his work. he woke up and said “surely the Lord is here, it is awesome in this place, and I didn’t even know”

Elisha’s servant was afraid but God opened his eyes and he could see angels surrounding their enemies. They were afraid, but the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire to protect them. (2 Kings 6:17) Lord open my eyes that I can see you at work, exalted, high and lifted up, powerful, holy, and awesome. Then i will see myself, receive his cleansing, hear his heart, ask to join him, and go for him.
Remember 1 Corinthians 2:14 says that the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit for they are foolishness to him, he cannot know cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned.

I have to have my spiritual eyes opened. My heart must be tuned like a Radio into God’s Spirit. Oswald Chambers again says “it must be God first, God second, and God third, until life is faced steadily with God and no one else is of any account whatsoever.”

Lord let all my heroes fall save you.
I’ve Got Your Back

August 15th, 2015

Men’s Breakfast August 15, 2015

Meaningless … My Dad likes the word “Pitiful”. “That’s pitiful” … my Dad likes that phrase … The book of Ecclesiastes is written by an old man, who happens to be the King of Israel and the son of David. So, this is Solomon. Solomon is looking back on his life, successes and failures, highs and lows, and giving an honest assessment of what he has learned, in hopes of someone learning from his life. It is about the meaning of life, the important things in life. Over and Over he says “meaningless” maybe he would say like my Dad “that’s pitiful”. I think 35 times Solomon says “meaningless”. The word, hebel = vapor, vanity, breath, nothingness, perishable, void
The word means it goes, it’s gone, and you have NOTHING to show for it. We are going to consider this word today in one area. I was asked to give consideration to the phrase “I’ve got your back”.

Of the 35 times that Solomon uses the word and for a variety of topics. This related topic is found in Chapter 4:7-11. Tell me if you can hear Solomon say “that’s pitiful”

Ecclesiastes 4:7–8 (NIV84)
7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: 8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless— a miserable business!

Did you hear it? Where was it? V8 “for whom am I toiling” … and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” this too is meaningless – a miserable business!

How does he start out? I saw something meaningless … there was a man alone

Now maybe you LIKE your ALONE time … I think we all do. But being truly alone
Solomon says is “empty, void, life a breath, nothingness … meaningless” … to spend all of your energy, to spend all of your time, to give your life to something, to risk your life, it should be FOR something and someone.

Do you get this image as he begins … There was a man all alone
The ESV says one person who has no other

THIS is nothingness … Gentlemen, when I first said “a man alone”, some of you thought “oh I wish”  but this is truly sadness, emptiness, a life lived with nothing to show for it.

Solomon’s purpose in all of this is to show where meaning can be found.
Meaning is found in finding purpose for everything, and that everything has a purpose. That is the point of this entire book.

Men we tend to be lone wolves. We may like being on a team, but don’t want to be too close, we don’t want to reveal too much. Maybe this conversation itself is a little too close, a little too uncomfortable. We don’t want to reveal too much.

But Solomon says we need people, we need someone to share it with. What point is a victory with no one to give a “high five”? I saw a clip from the Chicago White Sox this week and a rookie got his first major league homerun and he came to the dugout and he walked through the dugout and no one looked at him, no one celebrated, and he just high fived the air … then at the end … they jumped around him and celebrated.

This sad picture … is a man working hard, working with no stopping … yet never content with what he achieved … and looks up from his toil, and says “for whom am I toiling”. Oh you can be sure it isn’t because there wasn’t anyone, but he had LOST them … he looked up and they were gone and I hear my Father say “that is pitiful” … Solomon says “a miserable business” …

Do you know someone like that? I won’t ask if that is you. But what do we do?

What does Solomon say we should do? It is what we have said “I’ve Got Your Back”

Ecclesiastes 4:9–11 (NIV84)
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?

Living, Working, Fighting, Dying … ALONE … that’s Meaningless … But we don’t have to …

Life to LIFE men … Back to Back … Face to Face, Eye to Eye … sometimes nose to nose but doing LIFE …

Got any battles you are facing? If I asked you to make a list of 10 of the biggest challenges you have faced, and then asked you which ones have you handled mostly alone, and which ones you have reached out for help, which list would be greater? ALONE? Probably … or is it just me. Men, I’m talking to myself today.

I’ve never been to war, but is that the way you go to war?
No, but is that the way we do it too often? YES

But SHOULD it?
No, Solomon says “TWO are Better than ONE” Don’t we see that? Adam couldn’t be alone, so God gave him Eve because it wasn’t good for him to be alone. Yes we have spouses if we are blessed, and perhaps children, but we need each other Gentlemen. What do you call them? Battle Buddies, Wingmen … If I’ve got a weapon, if I’m in a plane, why do I need a Battle Buddy?
Blind Spots, Protection, Encouragement, Accountability, Vulnerability
Are those things only for war? Or maybe I should say it this way, is ANYTHING NOT war?
Eph 6 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but rulers and power, authorities, forces of this dark world
Peter says that our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour
Jesus said the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy …

We Are at War … we will always need a Battle Buddy, a Wingman …

In your marriage you need to be back to back with a man who will ask you if you are treating her right, if you are caring for your kids
In your thought life, you need to be back to back with a man who will ask you what you are dwelling on, what you are putting into your mind, in front of your eyes

Two are better than one …
I pictured one of those Big Two Handled Tree Saws … would you rather be ONE Big Burley Lumberjack, or have another on the other side. Sometimes we don’t know any better. Perhaps you have always thought, being a man means getting it done alone. But you don’t have to … Heard about the old guy who got a new fangled chain saw. He was given one told it would cut his work to a fraction. He brought it back to the store and asked for his money because he couldn’t get anything done with it. The guy took it from him and Cranked it up and Scared the guy out of his pants … “wow … what is that, that is loud”. He had power but wasn’t using it.

Two are BETTER than one … they have a good return for their work:
How so?
If one falls down … his friend can help him. Why do we refuse help, or always stay alone, we need some help to get up. Sometimes we don’t even know

Jorge and I were in El Salvador, it had been a long hard day in the hot sun. We were riding back from a remote village and it had slowly gotten dark and we were standing in the back of this pick up and it was nice, we were tired, but a good tired. I was looking around at the night. I said to Jorge “Wow, it is really dark out here away from lights of the city”. I said “I don’t think I have ever seen it so dark.” Jorge looked at me, smiled, and reached up to my face and took off my sunglasses”.  We need someone with us.
If you fall down, if you have FALLEN down, who is going to help you up?
Pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up

We don’t have to be alone … but we have to ask …

What do we have to do for Back to Back to happen?
We have to TRUST,
We have to take position
We have to get close
We have to be willing

But what a return …
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves

I don’t care how good you are, you can’t see your back, you can’t defend both sides, you can’t handle overwhelming force …

But two … back to back … now we have got something
And three … a triple braided cord is NOT quickly broken
Two can defend, Three can stand, Four can advance

And if you and I, if WE, have God in the mix … Joshua 23:9-10 The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 one of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you 11 so be careful to love the Lord your God

The story of scripture is full of men standing together. It is full of men and women in committed marriages relying on God. Moses in Exodus 17 had a command to keep his hands up while God’s people fought a battle. He couldn’t do it alone, his arms got tired. Sometimes we lose, not because we don’t want to obey, we just get tired … but he had Aaron, an older brother, and Hur, a young man, and they held his hands up. They enabled him to obey when he wasn’t physically able … we need each other

… Joshua at the end of his life says … Joshua 24:14–16 (NIV84)
14 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” 16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!
When we first read this we see a man standing alone … but is that really what it is?
No I don’t think so. We look at the world we live in and it seems more and more that we are forced to “stand alone” but are we really? Oh the world may be evil, and Christians may be the cross hairs but so it has always been … but generally you aren’t really standing alone, few times is that completely true. Noah was the only man recorded as faithful to the Lord in his day … but he still had his family, wife, three sons, and their wives.
David had Jonathan, and then his men that stood with him through thick and thin.
Paul had Barnabas, then Silas, but also Timothy and Luke and others alone the way
Barnabas had Paul, then Mark
Jesus had disciples, though the day came when he died alone on a hill, but John was there to the end

So I look again at Joshua at Shechem telling the people to make a choice … As for ME and My House …
Joshua knew what it was to be singled out … Back there after leaving Egypt … Israel came to the promised land … 12 spies were sent in to scout out the land and when they came home 10 of them said “yeah it’s beautiful, yeah it’s flowing with milk and honey … BUT there are Giants in the Land” … They together FORGOT … IGNORED the Word of God. God said it was THEIRS … the question … would they go together … and there stood Joshua alone … saying “we can do this” … wait no he wasn’t … he wasn’t standing alone … he was back to back with Caleb … He silenced the people and said “we should go up and take possession, we certainly can do this” (Num 13:30) … Back to back … men … we need someone with us that says “we SHOULD” and “we CAN”

And so after 40 years in the desert, God’s people went into Canaan, all of that generation had died, but there was Joshua leading the people and there was Caleb still back to back at 85 years of age … why? Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly (Num 14:24) … If you are picking your Battle Buddy, your Wingman, we need a guy like that don’t we? Someone that isn’t your average guy,, someone who follows wholeheartedly …

Oh what was Joshua saying that day in Shechem when he said Fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness, throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the river … and serve the Lord … if serving the Lord seems undesirable … then choose you this day whom you will serve … but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
What was he saying, Yes he was willing to stand alone. And a man of principle, a man of faith, a man of God, must be WILLING to stand alone … but what he is saying is … I am going to Serve God, no matter the no, no matter who else does … but WHO IS WITH ME?
Who has Got My Back?
Who is with me?
We can do this
Have you fallen down?
Holler out … we will help you up
Don’t do this alone
Don’t fight for your marriage alone
Don’t fight addiction alone
Don’t fight satan alone
Don’t fight for answers alone
We ARE with you.

Will you let us?
Will you walk together with someone?
Make a decision Amos 3:3 do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
Take Me Lord

August 4th, 2015

Luke 18:31-34 (NIV84)

Jesus took the Twelve aside … we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles, they will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. 33 on the 3rd Day he will rise again 34 The disciples did not understand any of this …

First, does it ever amaze you that Jesus would take us into the family of God let alone into his plan for the Kingdom? We are talking life and death, blessing and curses stuff here and God brings us into that mission WOW

Jesus didn’t need the disciples. He doesn’t need me. But he takes us. That means he considers all our failures, our strong points, HA and he takes us. That is what he has always done. He made man out of DUST … so I think he can take the dirt I bring and make something beautiful.

Psalm 78 is a picture of God’s History with his people. He took Israel, he used them. V70 says he CHOSE David, he TOOK him from the sheep pens v71 he BROUGHT him to be the shepherd of his people.

So, Jesus went to the disciples and said “follow me”. But Jesus’ message was the same for all. He came in Matthew 4 saying, “Repent … here is the Kingdom” Repent means stop that way, let me help you go this way.”

So here we are, serving the Lord Jesus has taken us aside from the path we were on and brought us into this. Jesus said “we are going up” It is alays GOING with Jesus. Blackaby says you “can’t stay where you are and go with God.” So where is he going? Here he was going to Jerusalem, not Bethlehem, not Galilee, not Cesaerea, but Jerusalem. There they will mock, insult, spit, beat, and Kill him. “Well Lord, let’s go somewhere else” No it is FOR this reason that I have come.

God has called us in and brought us into his work and his work is HERE. And you know if we go WITH we get WHAT … so if we come with and it rains, we get rain. If sun, we get Sun … Mock … Insult … Spitting … Flogging … wait stop right there … no that is not our right … we aren’t planning the trip, we are going WITH … so if it means all of that AND KILL … well do not be surprised if the world hates you Jesus says because they hated me first (John 15:18)

So we Go …. why, because what must be accomplished for this season can’t be accomplished anywhere else. They couldn’t go anywhere but Jerusalem because it was time for sacrifice and sacrifice happened in Jerusalem.

Lord, am I where you want me? If no, then I need to follow him into his purpose. If yes, then Lord what is our purpose here? v34 says the disciples did not understand. Lord help me understand. Help me endure. Help me embrace mocking, insults, spitting, beatings, even death.

The life of the Christian, Bonheoffer says, is a call to come and die. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ in me. I live this life strictly by Faith in the one who loved me and gave himself for me. Does Jesus Love you? Look at the Cross. You can see there HOW MUCH. Do you trust, have faith, in the one who loves you that much. Then live in that faith, follow with that faith.

Go aside even when you don’t understand say “yes Lord” But I’ve left everything for Jesus … God … do you trust him? Peter said v 28 “we have left everything.” and Jesus, the one who truly left everything, laid aside his glory to serve us to life through death (phil 2) says in vv29-30 I tell you the truth … no one who has left home, wife, brothers, parents, children, for the Kingdom 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Take me Lord, aside from my plans, aside from personal glory, aside from rights, aside from desires

Take me to fulfill your purposes

Though mocking, take me Lord

Though insults, take me Lord

Though spitting, take me Lord

Though beatings, take me Lord

Though death, take me Lord

Because the Resurrection is Coming

Life is now, Life is Eternal, Take me Lord
Since We Have Confidence

June 30th, 2015

The law wasn’t done away with but fulfilled through the gracious working of Jesus Christ.
There is no longer sacrifices because of the last sacrifice in Christ and so Hebrews 4:16 NIV84 says Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” and Hebrews 10:19-22 NIV84 says “Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith …
Since we have CONFIDENCE to ENTER …
There is discussion that seems to be ever running around the church about The Law in the daily practice of Christians who are in the state or age of grace. There is really, in my opinion, a lack of understanding of what The Law is and what Grace is. Living in communion with God has always been an act of God’s grace. From the moment sin entered the world, it is only God’s mercy and grace that allows us to have a relationships with Him. The wages of sin has always been death. But God, in his grace made provision for us to remain in relationship with him. This initial provision was through the death of a substitute sacrifice in the blood of oxen and lambs, it was always a sacrifice. Those sacrifices also pointed toward the coming of one sacrifice that would end the need for sacrifices.
The “anti-law” folks today miss this fact that grace has always existed. The law didn’t make men perfect, it was a standard of living that we were called to even though we would fail, yet the sacrifice atoned for our failure. But a promised one was coming.
Jeremiah 31:31 the time is coming when i will make a new covenant
v32 it will not be like the covenant made with their fathers
v33 this is the covenant I will make … after that time … I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people
v34 … for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sin no more

When we want to understand the inspired word of God, the best teacher is The Holy Spirit. So the same Spirit inspired one verse speaks of it in another verse, that is the easiest way to understand. It is the best commentary. So in Hebrews 10:16-17 the writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit who inspired Jeremiah, quotes Jeremiah 31 and then explains it. In verse 18 he says “where these have been forgiven (sin and lawlessness) there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.”

You see, the law has not been eliminated as a standard for living except where God specifies like with Peter being told he could change the eating requirements in Acts 10. But Jesus himself enlarged the expectations in the sermon on the mount.

When they approached God under the law, they had to be certain they had followed the regulations for fear of being struck down dead.
But we have confidence (parresia) = courage, boldness, candor, plainly
Since we have confidence – What takes away the fear of approaching God? What removes the need for sacrifice? It is the certainty of the Grace of God in Christ.
WE individually can enter the Most Holy Place by the Blood of Jesus. Only One, the High Priest, could enter the Most Holy Place. Only One Time, on the Day of Atonement, could he enter. Only One way, could he enter, with a perfect sacrifice.
But WE have, CONFIDENCE, courage, boldness, candor, to speak freely, openly plainly, to come, EVERY DAY directly to God … Because of the Sacrifice of Christ which settled the issue.
So
v22 Let us draw near … with full assurance
v23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope
v24 Let us encourage each other
Since we have CONFIDENCE
The Confidence doesn’t mean there isn’t an expectation for what RIGHT Living is. It means that I don’t need any other sacrifices to cover my sin and lawless acts
It means that the Right Living and the Desire has been placed in my heart in the person of The Spirit. The Holy Spirit, living in me doesn’t free me from living a holy life, but places in me the desires as well as the ability to say “yes” and then removes the need and fear of a sacrifice
Since we have Confidence
Stand Firm
Since we have Confidence
I … the pot … can approach the potter with confidence and say “Dear Potter, my pot has some things that don’t fit your vision. Will you place your hands on me and continue to form me?”
Since we have Confidence
We know He will shape us and not shatter us. He will receive us and not reject us.
Since we have Confidence
Be Encouraged and Encourage Others

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