The Sad State of America!
Just wanted to relay some facts on the church from John Piper’s sermon this past Sunday at Bethlehem. The church there in Minnesota is planting a church about a mile and a half from their downtown campus and in the context of that church plant he shared some startling facts:
- There are 200 million un-churched Americans in the U.S.
- The United States has the 4th largest un-churched population in the world!
- 3,500 churches close their doors every year in America
It seems that America is heading down the same path as the Europeans. God help us to share Christ with the multitudes of our own country and may the Holy Spirit deliver from the bondage of unbelief. It means we have much work to do in Pickens County!
Prayer!
Someone once said, “prayer to the Christian is like breathing to a human.” In other words, prayer should be a natural function in the life of every believer. While that is true, I know that singers and athletes learn and train to control their breathing so they can perform at a higher level. If it is important to performance for singers and athletes to control their breathing, it would be more important for believers to control our prayers.
Now I understand that there are many who would argue that prayer is the language of the heart to God and it should be spontaneous. But when the disciples heard Jesus Christ pray, they were so captured by his prayer and perhaps by the poverty of their own prayers, they asked, “Teach us to pray.” Why would they need to be taught to pray if prayer was to be spontaneous? The Bible tells us “we know not how we should pray as we ought.” It also tells us “we have not because we ask not.” And it adds our prayers are unanswered because “we ask amiss.” The bottom line is that we are not very good at prayer.
In John 17 we have the longest recorded prayer of Jesus Christ. It is one of the greatest prayers ever uttered because the greatest man who was ever born offered it. It is a perfect prayer because it was prayed by a perfect being. There is much for us to learn from this prayer. It is recorded for our learning and we would do well to give it immediate and close attention.
So for the next few posts I want to examine this prayer and offer some practical thoughts to help guide us in deepening our prayer life so that it is pleasing to the Lord. I echo the voice of the apostles, “Lord, teach me to pray like that!”
Coming……John 17:1-5—Jesus prays for Himself!
The President and Church!
I recently read an article dealing with the faith of President Barrack Obama. According to the article the President has only attended church three times in the last year. In fact, church attendance for the president has been rare since he left Trinity United Church of Christ months before taking office in 2008. And since he heard none of the racist and un-American comments from the pastor Jeremiah Wright, one has to wonder how often he attended that church.
The article further adds that the President IS a Christian and IS a FAITHFUL Christian. Now don’t misunderstand me. I am aware of the logistics that are involved in the President of the United States going anywhere including attending church. I understand how much planning and security is involved. I also get the uproar that simply his presence would bring. BUT…….I just saw that him and the Vice-President attended the Georgetown-Duke game this past Saturday and that had to involve a great deal of planning and security. He certainly did not worry about the uproar that his presence would bring at the basketball game.
I just don’t think that the Bible promotes an individualistic Christian life. It seems to stress life lived in a community of other believers. There are certainly times when this is impossible and the inability to assemble together would not threaten a persons salvation—that is by grace through faith in the work of Jesus Christ alone. But certainly anyone who is not able to gather with other Christians or simply chooses not to will be without a leading source of growth, edification and encouragement in the faith.
It is also true that those who are unable to assemble for whatever reason will surely desire to do so and will do so as soon as they are able. If you can go to a basketball game with thousands in attendance surely you can go to church more than three times a year. I pray the grace of Jesus Christ has regenerated his heart and he is not a “Christian” simply for political reasons but his lack of desire for hearing the word preached and taught in a local assembly has to make you wonder.
There are Christians who are risking their lives to assemble together because God has quickened their souls for Him. But a man who has been to church only three times in the last year or so is regarded as faithful. Sadly, this type of attitude is among many in our churches today. They have no desire for God’s church or God’s people yet they feel good about their degree of Christianity. As the leader of the free world and a self-proclaimed Christian, faithfulness to the church Christ died for should be a priority in his life. And in ours as well.
The article can be read here:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obamas-year-keeping-faith-white-house/story?id=9689272
Darkness!
Psalm 139 says something very interesting about God. In verse 12 he says, “…even darkness is not dark to you.” What an amazing, encouraging and helpful statement to make about God. I marvel at the statement because darkness is certainly darkness to ME! When I think about darkness, it is not physical darkness that is in view but spiritual darkness. It is the darkness that is brought on by the trials and troubles we encounter in this life. It is the times that we feel the darkness that engulfs us has hidden us from God and has extinguished all hope and has eliminated all help. It is a period of discouragement and it is an awful place to be. And I am there far too often.
But even darkness is not dark to God. What I perceive as darkness is not dark to Him. What I see as trouble and problems is far different from His view. When all I can see is darkness there is nothing but light to Him. When I am confused and don’t understand, it is all perfectly in arrangement with Him. When my heart is full of fear there is perfect control with Him. Darkness has no effect on God because even the dark is not dark to Him.
Find someone today, who you know is experiencing some kind of darkness and remind them that even the darkness is not dark to God! Praise His Holy Name!
Merry Christmas!
It is early Christmas morning. It is still dark outside and everyone in the house is still asleep. The plans were to sleep late today but my plans for sleep were interrupted. So it is just me and God this morning. And my thoughts center on Christ. No distractions, just Jesus this morning. He woke me up early and my thoughts were immediately on Him. I still can’t believe He came. God came to earth, how awesome is that. That He would leave the splender of heaven to come here……..for me! Because of my sinfulness, He came! Because of my total lostness, He came! Because I could not to come to Him, He came to me! I sit here knowing that over 2,000 years ago He came, but still not able to fully take it in. I marvel that He came.
And I think about the implications of His coming. I have peace with God because of Him. I have everything I have because He came. Every promise of God is “Yes” in Christ. Every blessing I have ever received is through Jesus. The friendships I have are all tied to Him.
There are no distractions this morning. Nothing here to grab my attention. Just me and Him. And He is good to be with. I love Him with all my being because He first loved me and came for me and to me. And He is coming again! There is yet another visit from Jesus planned. Even so, Jesus, come quickly!
Thankful!
In the 23rd Psalm David observed that goodness and mercy followed him all the days of his life. And as I reflect on my life and as Thanksgiving 2009 arrives, I must echo his words. Wherever I have gone, the goodness and the mercy of God has followed me. He has sought to do me good and he has been faithful in his work. In the midst of the most difficult year of my life, God has strengthened me everyday and he has sustained the church, the school and my family. I am so thankful to him and for him! No matter what paths this life leads, I know that His goodness and mercy follows me. I don’t know what difficulty awaits me in the days ahead but i do know what is close behind–following me all the way. All glory to Him!
His!
We often boast in the fact that “we are His.” We find encouragement and comfort in the fact that through the work of Jesus Christ we are redeemed and reconciled back to God. We quote verses such as “We have been bought with a price….we are not our own.” Yes, if we have trusted in Christ we are His. But there are implications to that doctrine. There are implications to being the property of someone else or the possession of another. If I am His, I surrender to His will. If God owns me then He can do with me as he pleases. He can use me or He can put me on a shelf. He can leave me here or He can take me home. He can show Himself to me or He can hide His face from me. He can bring blessings to me or He can bring difficulty. And while that may make some uneasy, I find a quiet peace in this truth. I find a stress free environment in which to live. I am His and He is in control. Do what you will with me Lord, for your glory…..for your glory!
The Difficulty of Forgiveness!
I have been caught up the last couple of days with the hoopla surrounding the signing of Michael Vick by the Philadelphia Eagles. Of course, you know that Vick horribly killed dogs and financed a dog-fighting operation, spent a year and half in jail and is bankrupt. Now that he is conditionally reinstated, signed by the Eagles, the public outcry is remarkable. From what I can gather from sports radio stations in Philadelphia negative support is by far the sentiment of the most fans.
What has resonated in my mind and heart is how HARD true forgiveness is. Although Vick completed his appointed sentence in jail and paid a tremendous price for his crimes, there are many who will never and can never forgive him. To many he could never do enough to find forgiveness in their hearts. Second chances for this type of person are not available for many who are voicing their opinions. As many look in their hearts, they find it impossible to find any speck of forgiveness for Vick. And I understand that!
If forgiveness is so hard for us toward a person who has tortured and killed animals, how much more difficult is it for God to forgive humanity who has done far worse, not to animals, but to HIM! How grateful we should be that we can find forgiveness with God. How we should praise Him, who is not like us, but is a God who desires to forgive and fellowship with sinners who have horribly committed crimes against HIM. How amazing it is that our forgiveness is grounded not on that we have paid a certain price to earn forgiveness but that Christ was sent to pay it all for us and in our place.
Forgiveness should never be taken for granted because it is very hard to give or obtain in the sphere in humanity. If Vick does not deserve forgiveness with his fellow man, and he doesn’t, I don’t deserve forgiveness with God. But while man has problems with extending grace, God has a storehouse of grace that he gives liberally.
Many today are appalled that Vick has gained some degree of forgiveness and found a degree of acceptance in the NFL and they should be appalled that God would forgive me and accept me into His fellowship and His family. But I am thankful and grateful that what I have in Christ is not deserved but is by grace by a God who looks into His heart and finds plenty of forgiveness through Christ.
The Masquerade of Sin!
From Paul Tripps book, “Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy”
“Sin lives in a costume; that’s why it’s so hard to recognize. The fact that sin looks so good is one of the things that make it so bad. In order for it to do its evil work, it must present itself as something that is anything but evil. Life in a fallen world is like attending the ultimate masquerade party. Impatient yelling wears the costume of a zeal for truth. Lust can masquerade as a love for beauty. Gossip does its evil work by living in the costume of concern and prayer. Craving for power and control wears the mask of biblical leadership. Fear of man gets dressed up as a servant heart. The pride of always being right masquerades as a love for biblical wisdom. Evil simply doesn’t present itself as evil, which is part of its draw. You’ll never understand sin’s sleight of hand until you acknowledge that the DNA of sin is deception. Now, what this means personally is that as sinners we are all very committed and gifted self-swindlers. … We’re all too skilled at looking at our own wrong and seeing good.”
