It’s Coming

/ The Pastor

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The YouVersion Bible app now has an option to make these cool scripture images. So upon installing the update this verse came immediately to mind after a long and trying day. The only problem with this picture is that the image is not nearly glorious enough. The only appropriate picture would be too blinding to look at, but hopefully you get the point.

May God bless your night and whatever “sufferings” are plaguing you right now, give them to God and wait; your glory through faith in Jesus Christ is coming.

Good night.

The Pastor -|—

Groaning and Sighing ~ A Romans 8 Moment

/ The Pastor

Have you ever had one of those moments when you felt drawn to God and then you start praying…

God….

…and then nothing?

Have you been there before? Am I preaching to the choir? I’ve been there. It’s a strange feeling because I know what I want to pray for but the words won’t come out because something inside of me says,

That’s not it.

And so I sit there with a dumbfounded expression on my face (luckily those moments generally happen when I’m alone so no one can see my dumbfounded look).

So as I sit there searching for words and almost every time my mind and heart goes to Romans 8:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [Romans 8:26-28 ESV]

Weakness? Sounds about right.
Groaning? Yup
Love God? Absolutely

And so this pastor is convicted.

I need to relent and release my selfish desires and mingle my spirit with the Spirit. For I know what I want to pray for but I don’t really know what I ought to pray for now.

Sin
Frustration
Anger
Sadness
Jealousy
Disappointment

Always seem to get in the way of good prayer time with God. So sometimes we just need to shut our mouths and brains off and let the Spirit speak with our spirit.

Would you pray with me…

[groan, sigh, groan, sigh…] Amen

The Pastor -|—

My Little Pulpit Visitor

/ The Pastor

Nothing deep and theological here tonight, just a cute worship story involving this pastor/daddy and his little girl.

This morning I was in the pulpit; in the zone and preaching on Mark 9:14-29. It was a serious text (as they all are) on living in the dark valley of life; being confronted by Satan. I was cruising along, when about half way through the sermon I noticed a disturbance in the force…

… my little girl (23 months old) working her way towards the pulpit.

I knew a problem was developing and my wife was otherwise occupied with our 4 1/2 month old son. So I continued and pretended not to notice; hoping there wouldn’t be a problem, but the force is strong in my little girl.

Mayah proceeded to walk in front of the pulpit before she realized she couldn’t reach daddy going that way. She promptly turned around and quickly solved her problem as she found the steps that lead to daddy. Mayah then crawled up the steps and proceeded to position herself in front of me; holding her arms up and waiting for me to pick her up. It took everything in me not to reach down and pick her up. It was even hard not to smile at all this cuteness.

I continue to preach and tried to stay in the zone as Mayah asserted herself ever so quietly (what a polite little girl). She eventually took a break and sat on the steps before trying again to convince me to chuck my sermon and give her the attention she desperately wanted.

Finally she relented and worked her way back down the couple steps and back to mommy. I continued preaching all the while keeping one eye on my little girl; and feeling a little guilty that I didn’t pick her up (and hoping no one noticed my mental distraction).

But I am not surprised by this. I knew this day would come eventually and I know there will be more. I guess this is just part of the joy of being a pastor and a daddy, and you know something, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The Pastor -|—

The Word of God ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

This is a prayer I wrote to be prayed before the sermon today. I am intentional with these prayers because to preach God’s word is such an awesome task and opportunity. To listen to God’s word is also an awesome thing. Its something you don’t want to take for granted. So I invite you to receive this prayer and really think about this gift that we have in the Bible:

THE…WORD…OF…GOD.

Wow! Amazing, isn’t it?

So let’s pray…

Oh Father God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; to listen to Your word is such an awesome thing as Your words are life and salvation. Your words provide comfort and peace in a dark world. Your words are hope and strength as Satan seeks to bring us down. And so it is with all humility that we seek Your Holy Spirit to break through the walls of our hardened hearts, that we may receive Your word. For it is only through your grace that we can hear this Good News and be transformed to Your will. So bless our hearing this morning that Your words may take up residence in our hearts. Bless our lives that we may serve others and therefore glorify You for You are an awesome God. All praise and worship and honor and glory be to You, oh God, our Rock and Redeemer; in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

May God bless your hearing of His holy Word today and always.

The Pastor -|—

Opening prayer ~ O Majestic and Awesome Lord

/ The Pastor

The opening prayer this morning for worship is basically Psalm 8. This a wonderful Psalm that reflects the fact that God is awesome and we are not, but yet God  cares for and love us. It’s amazing, really,to think about that; that the Creator God would have any regard for us puny humans, but He does.

And therefore ~ Praise be to God!

And so I echo, this morning, the words of the psalmist:

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which YOU, Creator God, have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
[Psalm 8]

And therefore, O Lord, you are worthy of our praise here this morning. So receive our worship and send us Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Prepare your hearts for worship this morning by meditating on the awesomeness of God and the amazing love He shows you through Jesus Christ. God IS worthy so let’s praise and worship His holy name.

May your day be filled with love and grace.

The Pastor -|—

Evening prayer ~ You Are My…

/ The Pastor

I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God,
my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield,
and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
[Psalm 18:1-3]

I praise You, oh Lord.
I worship You, oh Lord.
I place my life in Your hands, oh Lord.

And since You are my:
Lord
Rock
Strength
Fortress
Deliverer
God
Shield
Salvation
Stronghold

I can rest easy tonight knowing that whether I live or whether I die that I belong to You. What a comfort that is, Father God.

So I ask that You would protect my dreams, my family, my soul and my life but all according to Your gracious and holy will and for Your glory.

And if it be Your will that I awaken to another day in Your beautiful creation, may I have the faith to continue to live for You.

All praise, glory and worship be to You, holy God, through Jesus Christ my Lord.
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

God Can Use Someone Like Me (and You)

/ The Pastor

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Yeah!

I am out of the stone age finally. A Star Trek wormhole appeared on Friday afternoon and I was instantly brought to the 21st century with the arrival of my Nexus 9. But unlike the fictional, but hope-to-be-true-soon TV show/movies, this wormhole looked a lot like a UPS truck.

And what a beautiful sight that was.

Now I know that God can use anything at my disposal for preaching His holy word. God can use paper manuscripts, tablets, smoke signals, sign language, interpretive dance (which I would never attempt unless the Holy Spirit took control of my body). God can communicate His holy word despite my sinfulness and shortcomings. And God will be glorified even when I do whine and complain about situations being “tough” (i.e. technology crashing).

The Holy Spirit can take my messed up words and attitude and use them to bring glory to God. The Holy Spirit can take a disastrous situation and use it for good (just ask Joseph as his brothers sold him into slavery but God used that to save millions and millions of people). God, through the Holy Spirit, can use any and all situations and people.

And God can use this whiny pastor as he complains about a piece of technology failing. God can even use this (near idolatrous) pastor as he gets googly…

(pun intended, get it? Google Nexus)…

…eyed over his new toy (I mean work tool). And praise be to God that the success of God’s kingdom advance is not dependent on me and me alone.

This world and everything it contains is fragile and thus are passing away; but not God and not His holy word. God’s word and promises are forever and will never fail or crash. And thank God for that.

Holy God, knock me down a peg or two (or more) when I get too whiny about situations. Humble me and help me see that it is Your Holy Spirit that gives power to Your words that proceed from my mouth. Knock me up across the head so I may not get too full of myself and depend on my so-called abilities. May You be glorified. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Evening Prayer ~ My Son

/ The Pastor

My five month old son…

…is resting peacefully in my arms.

…will gaze into my eyes and smile.

…will sit in his bouncy seat but definitely prefers mommy or daddy’s arms.

…depends on us for food and care.

…can do nothing to cause me to love him less.

…did nothing to earn my love.

…sleeps much better when mommy or daddy is near.

Oh God, if only I would look at you in the same way. If only I would trust you and depend on you like my son trusts and depends on me. If only I could learn a child-like faith like my little boy’s.

Oh God, draw me close that I may see you as a child sees their mommy and daddy.
Draw me close that I may learn to trust you with my life.
Draw me close that I may see the joy of resting in Your arms and know true love.
Draw me close that I may know and remember true peace.

And so may I rest tonight as a child sleeping on their daddy’s chest and may I awake in the morning with a new lease on life; praising and glorifying You. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Don’t Be Fooled (2 Cor 11:14)

/ The Pastor

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. [2 Corinthians 11:14]

Paul here is defending himself, and his colleagues, against the attacks of those who claim to be “super apostles” but really are leading people astray. Basically he says they are nothing more than wolves in sheep clothing. And this makes sense because even Satan does this so why wouldn’t Satan’s servants do the same.

Satan was active and working hard to stop the church then and he continues to do the same today. And in a lot of ways, Satan is more powerful and crafty today largely due to technology and the speed of how information can be sent around the world. Someone’s message can reach thousands and millions of people very quickly. And with the age of social media; ideas can be spread and go viral very quickly.

It is, therefore, so easy for a worker of evil to disguise oneself as an angel of light. Just consider the prosperity gospel preachers out there; preaching a gospel of peace and health and success in this life and nothing more. They stand in front of millions of people and wave their Bibles around (“dressed” as an angel of light) all the while leading people down the path of destruction. Satan has got to be licking his chops today.

And because there are so many wolves running around in sheep’s clothing; as sheep we need to be on the look out. We need to be testing the spirits as 1 John teaches us. We need to be cunning and discerning; not taking everything you read and hear to heart just because of who says it (and that means testing everything I write).

So how do we test the spirits? There is no one fool proof method but below are three questions to get you started:

(1) Does the messenger accuse you of being a sinner?
YES ~ Great, but this still could be Satan. In either case respond by saying, “I know but I have Jesus“.
NO ~ You have a wolf. The truth of who God is starts with the admission that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.

(2) Does the messenger preach Christ crucified and risen FOR YOU for the forgiveness of your sins?
YES ~ Praise be to God!!!
NO ~ You have a wolf. A servant/messenger of Christ is going to preach this for this is THE Good News, and therefore, this Good News can not be said enough.

(3) Does the messenger promise peace and security in this life?
YES ~ You have a wolf. No where in the Bible does Jesus promise an easy life for his followers. Actually, he says you will have a cross. Be skeptical of messages that promise the easy life now through X-number of easy steps.
NO ~ Then you have a follower of Jesus who is actually following Jesus.

Granted, this is not a full proof testing system here, but it is a start. Basically, know your Bible, pray without ceasing and rely on the Holy Spirit. There will be wolves that will try to circumvent these questions, so beware. The wolves are out there, prowling around waiting for someone to devour. Don’t be their next meal.

Oh holy God, grant us a discerning mind to test the spirits and to be able to see the wolves in sheep clothing. May we be diligent in our study of scripture and may we seek your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Lenten prayer ~ Your Holy Law

/ The Pastor

Tonight I get to lead worship as my brother in Christ from First Presbyterian Church proclaims the word from Exodus 20:1-17. What a joy and privilege it is to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ; not getting caught up in denominational lines, but focusing on the fact that we worship an awesome God in Jesus Christ.

Below is the opening prayer I wrote, for worship tonight, to help us prepare as we confess our sins. We also need to recognize that God’s Law is still God’s Law; and that it is holy and perfect and sweeter than honey from the comb.

So I invite you into prayer and when you get to the part that says PAUSE, then do what it says; pausing to lift your confessions to God. Let us pray…

Holy God, we approach the throne of grace this evening as a community of believers. We also approach as sinners in need of Your grace. Your holy Law is very clear in that it demands obedience without fail. But we have failed. We have fallen short. We have turned away from Your holy Law. So as we prepare to bring our worship this evening and hear Your word proclaimed, receive now our confessions…[PAUSE]…It awes me to think that You just received the prayers of sinners. And it humbles and scares me to think that you know the sins that we didn’t confess. And so in the name of Jesus we throw ourselves at Your feet and appeal to Your boundless mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Forgive us, heal us and restore us. And through our restored souls may we bring glory to Your holy name. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—