Harnessing God’s Power

Amazing things happen when ordinary men and women are led and filled by the Spirit of God. What does that statement mean to you? Do you believe that’s possible?

Maybe not, because you don’t really know enough about the Holy Spirit to appreciate how “He” works in the life of a believer. Many Christians today have never contemplated the Power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Or for that matter, even have a clear understanding of “who” the Holy Spirit is. Some believers even doubt the existence of the Holy Spirit.

Too many hearts and lives remain unchanged because of this deficit in knowledge and understanding. We need more than sound doctrine - we need the Power of God working at full capacity in our lives. Change is what He is all about... changing you into a “worthy vessel for His use”... transforming you into a Christ-like believer with an all consuming passion for doing the will of God.

Most of us are aware of the excesses attributed to the Holy Spirit, from emotional fanaticism to outright charlatans teaching untruths about His work in the world and in you. But in spite of the counterfeits and misinformation, the Holy Spirit remains real and available to Christians willing to yield totally to “His” leading and influence.

The Holy Spirit longs to reveal the mind of God to each one of us and to release heavens limitless resources to meet the desperate needs in the world today. He... the Holy Spirit is a "divine person" of the Triune God, who works through committed Christians to accomplish the divine plan of the ages... to rescue fallen man from sin and lay the foundation for the “return" of Christ Jesus.

I cannot help but believe that there are many Christians who want to be more effective and efficient in the Lord’s service, in sharing the Gospel with family, friends, anyone encountered. It's from the Holy Spirit that we may expect to grow in our effectiveness in serving Kingdom matters.

The work of God is not accomplished by the might of men or by the powers of men, but it is by God... in the person of the Holy Spirit. It is by Him that truth convicts, converts, sanctifies and saves. He can’t be manipulated by any person or defined by any movement or ideas of man. Vows and promises alone, no matter how sincere, can never overcome the power of the world, the flesh, and the works of the devil. It takes a power beyond our strength... the Holy Spirit.

Christians have a mission to accomplish, given by Jesus himself. Only by the outpouring of the Spirit’s Power can we [individually and collectively] expect to make a difference. The promise of this divine ability recorded in Acts 1:8 was in fact the last thing Jesus said before his ascension [return] to heaven. You will receive power.......You will be my witnesses....... to the ends of the earth. Jesus promised then and that promise has not changed - we are supernaturally equipped to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Without the Holy Spirit there is no deep understanding of Scripture. Wisdom and maturity are but hollow words and our worship is shallow and self-serving. Preaching is mechanical, rarely or maybe never truly piercing the heart. Conviction of sin is almost nonexistent. Faith is more mental than heartfelt. Prayer time... in groups and individually fades away. Church meetings become routine and boring. The result is tragic....Christian people live in a “lukewarm limbo,” never discovering or embracing the power God promised in the person of the Holy Spirit. Your commitment, your baptism in obedience to the gospel, gets you a promise of unparalleled magnitude... the indwelling Holy Spirit... God in YOU... working to make you all God knows you can be.

Consider what the apostle Paul says about the proper balance of human effort and dependence upon the Spirit’s Power: “To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me...” Colossians 1:29

Peter’s sermon at Pentecost...was the first sermon ever preached in Church history under the anointing and empowering Holy Spirit. Peter himself was a metamorphosis of the Spirit's power... transformed from a fair-weather friend of Jesus [denied Him three times] into a passionately committed, Spirit-led apostle.

Whatever God calls us to do, He will also be faithful in equipping us to do it successfully. We must never forget that we are “co-laborers” with Christ through the Holy Spirit’s work in us and through us.

Acts 6: 3... “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom”. Clearly, it was evident to the Apostles that there was a visible noticeable distinction between those who displayed the Power of Holy Spirit and those who did not display it at all. The Holy Spirit is either working at full force or not at all. The Spirit’s work of transformation and change shows up in one’s attitudes, choices and decisions, enthusiasm, passion for seeking the lost, and demonstrated by personal actions in harmony with the mentoring and leading of the Holy Spirit.

God did not come in the person of the Holy Spirit to give us thrills and chills. He came in this manner because it is the best form for Him to work with us through the travails of a fallen world... to equip us and help us workout our salvation. Jesus gave the command of the Great Commission as recorded at Matthew 28:19-20... the Holy Spirit works to empower and equip us to win lost people to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is a living, speaking, divine person - the third personage of the Divine Trinity. He gives divine guidance and leading on what needs to be done in order to advance the Church...the body of Christ. He does it exclusively thru committed and totally submitted Christians.

Phillipians 2:13 says....”It is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose”. Notice that we need God’s help no just in the "doing" part, but also in the "willing" part to walk in His ways. It is God’s work from beginning to end. Just as forgiveness can only come through Christ’s work on the Cross, successful daily living for the Lord can only be achieved through the Power of the Holy Spirit working fully in our lives.

The power to be different comes from the Holy Spirit, not from any source known or devised by man, and certainly not from our own strength. Every other system you may have heard about no matter how religious sounding is a fraud and leads to defeat due to the fleshly impulses and schemes of our sinful nature.

If you are a Christian, then you are saying to God... change me. Transform me into a person who can do what YOU... the Holy Spirit, needs me to do... needs me to be. I am clay in your hands, mold me into a useful and productive tool for your use. All that may sound complicated, and maybe even a bit scary... but it really is not a frightful experience. All you have to be is totally submissive, honest of mind and heart and “God in the person of the Holy Spirit” will work amazing miracles in your life.

Whatever God is doing today in our world, He is doing it in the "person of the Holy Spirit." He has no other presence on this planet. CHRISTIANS are the outward visible manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the world today. Just as there is no salvation without Jesus, there can be no satisfying Christian living and witness without the Power of the Holy Spirit working fully in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is the appropriate manifestation of all that God is... from his holiness, his righteousness, his love and mercy... to the compelling desire to preach the gospel to the lost. The Holy Spirit is the best way for God to work out the salvation of His followers in a fallen world dominated by His adversary Satan.

The Holy Spirit’s blessing and power is the key to everything. Here’s the really great news: It’s all FREE! Salvation is free. Forgiveness of sin is free. Your name written in the book of life in heaven is free. And the Power of the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life is free. EVERYTHING we need is FREE... from the hand of a gracious and loving God.

It is not through human talent or any earthly resources no matter how powerful they may seem, that the true Christian Church is sustained; but rather it is through men and women saturated with God’s Holy Spirit and full of His Word.

God will act the same way today towards us, as he did nearly 2000 years ago to the first believers in the infancy of the Christian Church. He will transform our lives, invade and bless our Church, and equip us to do things beyond “all we (could) ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...” Ephesians 3:20.

He is waiting for you to take Him seriously. He is waiting for you to invite Him in, let go of the steering wheel of your life and let Him do the driving. We have the most powerful resource for living and "growing in Christ" the world will ever know... God Himself... interacting with willing and obedient believers, in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

Wrap your brain cells around that for awhile. Pray about your intimate connection and relationship with the Holy Spirit and watch what happens.

For all Christians everywhere... yield yourselves totally to the Spirit of the Living God.

Being truly thankful... is it possible?

This week, we'll reflect on our times of ungratefulness, along with encouragements to be more thankful. Some pleas and prayers on Thanksgiving Day will be given with a large dose of sentimental emotions and even patriotism.

There are some questions that nag... is thankfulness something we can “conjure up” when a thanksgiving family feast rolls around, just once a year? Or is it something like happiness, which we can never manufacture but which is always the product of something else, the effect, not the cause? Can genuine thankfulness be manufactured... in a world where feeling thankful is hard to do?

Yes, to a certain level. For example, we've come up with verbal formulas to snap us out of ungrateful funks: "Look for the silver lining in the dark cloud"; or "Look at the glass as half full, not half empty"; or that universally used cliché, "Count your blessings." Then you have the espousers of positive thinking, giving admonitions about possibility thinking and thinking only positive thoughts. Such advice on positive thinking is so infectious... it sells tons of books, and yes, some of the ideas do in fact work to a level.

Such band-aids can help for a time. But here's the truth of the matter... We can't keep it up. There are days when we just don't have the energy to count our blessings. And sometimes those days turn into weeks, months and even years. There are long stretches when we'd like to be thankful, but frankly, we just don't give a rip.

The Lord Jesus encountered an interesting situation that speaks to the truest understanding of thanklessness while traversing the frontier-country between Samaria and Galilee. The story is found in Luke 17.

"Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

Jesus is called aside by the plaintive shouts of men afflicted with a serious illness... leprosy. Surely, they must have thought, if Jesus could cure the blind, heal the lame, and raise the dead, he had the power to help them too. They were already outcasts and had nothing to lose, so they raised their voices in desperate hope.

When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."

Jesus simply tells them to go to the priests, who were the first-century referees as to whether a healing had taken place. Any cure, according to the Book of Leviticus, would need the equivalent of a "Good Housekeeping seal of approval" so that the formerly unclean could be ritually restored to the community.

Will they go? How can they, since Jesus has done nothing outwardly to assure them of a cure? Was this a trial of their obedience? How would they respond to the Lord's ambiguous command? Something in the reputation of Jesus, or perhaps in the way he looked them in the eye, encouraged them that they had met not divine indifference, but God's mercy, on that day on that lonely road.

And as they went, they were cleansed.

The progression, the unfolding of the events is important... "as they went, they were cleansed." Their obedience precedes their healing. What happens now?

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Until this point, the 10 lepers had acted as one. They had lived together, they had cried out together, they suffered together, they had gone off to find Jesus together, and they had been cleansed together. Now, however, one of them turns back towards Jesus. Whatever has happened, the man knows he has been blessed, and the blessing requires a personal response. First he sees, then he turns, then he praises.

While the healed Samaritan was still humbly at Jesus' feet... come three pointed, rapid-fire questions, which cast a shadow over the celebration and the encounter with the ten men.

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?"

Here, in this encounter with the lepers we learn a deep thing of God... of His holiness... of His unfathomable love for humanity. Praise and recognition are being sought from these ten by Jesus. Why did Jesus need to be thanked in such a way?

He already had rewarded their obedience, but it seems Jesus wants something more. What is he hoping for? He wants their gratitude. Gratitude or gratefulness is a knowing awareness that we are the recipients of a level of goodness that we can not hope to produce from within ourselves. Didn't the “other nine men” know what Jesus [God] had done for them? Didn’t they care?

The nine who did not return to give thanks were rude, ignorant and misaligned with a fundamental truth of the universe. It’s hard to escape such truth, because humanity is hard-wired by God to be thankful. We are wired by Him to be thankful beyond just the acknowledgements of acts of kindness... we are naturally wired to dig into the depths of our souls and express genuine gratitude for things undeserved.

We are the recipients, not the creators, of goodness. Goodness is in fact an attribute of God’s love that humanity benefits from. In acknowledging this simple truth we elevate ourselves by reflecting the qualities God created within us. God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking his own praise is the ultimate loving act. Jesus was well justified and entitled to receive praise for what he had done for the 10 lepers.

We are designed to “give” to God praise from the depths of our hearts... from the core of our very souls. The capacity to draw upon our created essence requires that we recognize our inability to do anything in thanksgiving without God. The Apostle Paul's words in Ephesians 5:20 sum it up nicely... "giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father.”

Those words reveal the utter inadequacy of all our human attempts to manufacture genuine thanksgiving without involving God. It is that essence within us that prompts our “worship” of the Living God. Thankful... always and in everything? Think about “always and for everything” very carefully... because there’s no wiggle room in those words. Paul means for us to be genuinely thankful for all the circumstances of our lives.

Given that fact, thankfulness, praise and gratitude are really not options when you call yourself a Christian. They’re a joyful inevitability in a world designed and upheld by God. The only question is whether we will live our “lot in life” with thankful gratitude?

Then he [Jesus] said to him [the healed leper], "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

I wonder how the nine felt when the man, returning from his worship, finally caught up with them, telling of his grateful exchange with Jesus. They had missed the opportunity to deepen their elation by giving thanks. The grateful man received more than the other nine because he had his cure confirmed by Jesus, the Christ... “your faith has made you well.” What this one healed leper now knows is priceless and sustaining of his faith. He knows the true depths and magnitude of God’s mercies... discovered beyond thankfulness, in “grateful gratitude”... sweetened by his worship, his prayers and praises of faith.

To give thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ means to recognize that Christian gratefulness begins with an affirmation of a great negative: we simply can't thank God in a manner that matches His great love for us.

To paraphrase the Apostle Paul... "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungrateful. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still self-centered and ungrateful, Christ died for us … And so we rejoice in God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ …" (Rom. 5:6-11). Sobering thoughts to say the least.

Our calling to live and breathe thanksgiving is high, so high as to be humanly impossible. So we will fall far short of it in this life, and fall short time and time again. We will have moments when a pure and complete thanksgiving floods forth from our souls, but most days we'll live somewhere far south of that superlative moment of genuine gratitude.

Gratitude brings benefits in this world and in the world to come. The nine had their cure and went off to live out their lives restored to family and community... the one who showed his gratefulness, his gratitude had his cure, plus an eternal relationship with Jesus.

This Thanksgiving, let's remember that we are all the recipients of God's goodness. Be thankful from the depths of your heart, be grateful for all that God does for you even when it seems like there’s nothing to be thankful for.

Today and everyday of your life... you have His grace and mercy... His boundless love. Be deeply thankful from the depths of your heart for all you have and for all God has done for you.

Superman or Weakling... which are you?

In a recent syndicated newspaper article on the Holy Spirit, a charismatic preacher had this to say about the Holy Spirit’s role in a Christian’s life:  “We are Clark Kent, but with the Holy Ghost, we become Superman.”  Immediately the images of Superman come to mind... superhuman strength, death-defying capabilities, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound... it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Spirit-filled Christian? 

Fostering the idea of turning into Superman via the power of the Holy Spirit may be very appealing to a culture obsessed with “Extreme Makeovers,” but it certainly has no foundation in Scripture. 

In fact, it’s just the opposite. The Apostle Paul’s self-assessment of his own role in ministry stands in stark contrast to any Superman mentality or capabilities. He said... “What after all, is Apollos? And what after all, is Paul?  Only servants” (I Cor. 3: 5). 

Paul’s humble approach to the Corinthian church is far less than one with Superman-like powers when he said... “I came to you in weakness, and in fear, and with much trembling” (I Cor. 2:3).  Superman couldn’t handle his inherent vulnerability and weakness to kryptonite, yet Paul is willing to boast, even delight, about his...  “Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, and in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9).

Paul hardly sounds like a man of steel in 2 Corinthians 12, yet no honest reader of the New Testament would diminish the fact that Paul’s ministry was empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Paul himself confesses that his ministry had little to do with his own abilities...  “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom (not even Superman’s!), but on God’s power.”  (1 Cor. 2:4).

The Holy Spirit is not an “it” or some inanimate energy force directed by the will of God to perform His bidding. The Holy Spirit is Divine... He has personhood and is part of the Triune God... revealed and engaged with humanity in a very special way. So what does the Holy Spirit’s power look like when active in a Christian’s life? 

Study of the Holy Spirit is known as the doctrine of Pneumatology. Over my years of teaching the Bible and writing about various theological topics, I’ve been amazed at how little Christians know about the person of the Holy Spirit. The misunderstandings and published misinformation about “who He is” fills bookshelves in libraries. A lot of attention is given to avoiding the charismatic excesses, than rightfully acknowledging the sovereign Spirit as he presents Himself in the pages of His own inspired Scriptures.  Consequently, the majority of teachings on Pneumatology are devoted to establishing what the Spirit does not do, rather than what He does do. For most Christians, we are left wondering what a genuine movement of the Holy Spirit actually looks like in the life of a Christian. 

We are scared of anything perceived as supernatural, especially when we don’t understand it. We know God the Father, all His superlative attributes and His holiness. We can relate to the descriptions of God the Father and the imagery used in Scripture to describe Him. We can connect with Jesus the Christ, because he lived among humanity. He’s our savior, redeemer, our intercessor with God the Father. And in Him, by His sacrifice on the cross and by our obedience to the Biblical plan of Salvation we can be saved. We get all that.

However, the Holy Spirit is not as explicitly described in the Bible as God the Father and Jesus our Savior. At least that’s what we think. So, we fear being labeled charismatic, pentecostal, experiential, or even mystical and don’t talk about the Holy Spirit’s dynamic involvement in the everyday living of being a Christian.

Perhaps this is understandable, given the fact that many of us have been faithfully engaged in a battle defending the trustworthiness and accuracy of the Bible.    But in so doing we may have unintentionally neglected coming to know and understand the working of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is more clearly portrayed throughout Scripture than we realize. The Word and the Spirit are one... synchronized to illuminate a path for Christian living.   We will never understand the unseen yet critical aspects of the Spirit’s power in our lives until we open ourselves up and overcome what might be called our “Holy Spirit-shyness."

The Holy Spirit is the “supreme insider” in our lives. The spiritual manifestations of Christian living is a “demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (I Cor. 2:4).  A careful reading of I Corinthians 2 reveals Paul’s inner condition (weakness, fear, and trembling) precedes the Spirit’s power in his life.  Paul’s inner spiritual condition was the soil out of which his Spirit-empowered living grew.  In other words, the Spirit’s dynamics were the heat and passion added to the routines of life.

A SPIRIT FILLED-SPIRIT-DRIVEN LIFE is what we want. The Holy Spirit is the explicit driving force behind living in Harmony with Christ... Godly Christian living. The Spirit brings illumination to our lives.

A Spirit-driven life reflects the powerful dynamic of the Word and the Spirit integrated together and evident in how a person lives. 

The living truth of some portion of Holy Scripture, becomes a living reality to the hearer as he or she is confronted by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit in matters of judgment, redemption, forgiveness, personal choices and decisions.

The Spirit works in our devotional time, applying the Word like a salve to the hearts of those who hear, read, discuss and do what the Bible says. 

Since our minds are being renewed day by day (Romans 12:2), we need the help and illumination of the Holy Spirit so we can see and feel the heat, passion and power of God’s Word and the urgency with which we must apply it to our lives.

Biblically, Jesus foretells the Spirit’s illuminating ministry in John 16:13-14: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”  Paul speaks of the need for “spiritual discernment” for understanding the “things that come from the Spirit of God” in I Corinthians 2:14.  Perhaps the best illustration of illumination is when Jesus opens the eyes and hearts of the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24.  Notice... the opening of the Scriptures synchronized with the opening of their hearts!  Their illumination results in hearts set ablaze and burning within them! 

As Christians, if we hope to experience “hearts burning”, we must “open the Scriptures” and be absorbed by its messages (Luke 24:32).  Think of it this way:  What the Spirit illuminates in personal study, He will empower in daily living. 

If you’re not in the Word constantly, then the Spirit is not working in you the way He could be! The Word, The Spirit and Prayer are the cornerstones of a Spirit-led life. 

The Word of God must be integrated with the Spirit of God, and, conversely, an understanding of the Spirit of God is inseparable from the concept of God’s Word.  The Word is the source of what the Holy Spirit implements, and the Spirit is the breath by which God speaks to us. It is not possible to believe in the Holy Spirit's work without believing in the Bible's inspiration, for all Biblical revelation is the Holy Spirit's written witness... God to man. Nor is it possible to understand the full truth of Scripture and to receive what God wants us to receive unless the Holy Spirit, who by inspiration guided the Word's authorship, also leads us in our understanding of it. The Word and the Spirit must be experienced together, if they are not, our retention of Biblical concepts will be jeopardized. The Spirit leads us down the path of His inspired Word, and the written Word leads us to the Living Word, Christ Jesus. 

You should be acutely aware and hopefully convinced that no Christian can rightly anticipate the Holy Spirit’s power unless they are resolutely synchronized to the Holy Spirit’s purpose.  What is His purpose?  To glorify Jesus Christ through the instrumentality of the Old and New Testament scriptures, both of which point to Him.

In Luke 24, Jesus himself proved that he was at the heart of the Old Testament and the fulfillment of the promise and God’s redemptive plan.  Furthermore, Jesus says in John 5: 39-40, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” The combination of Biblical testimony (“Scriptures that testify about me [Christ]”) with the Spirit’s witness (“He [The Holy Spirit] will testify about me [Christ]” (John 15:26) lifts up Christ and changes lives. 

No Supermen or Superwomen needed. God wants Spirit-filled and Spirit-dependent “followers” to open the Spirit-inspired Word of God and then live, just live, according to its power!  The weaker you are the better!

In order for your life to be a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, you need to seek the Spirit’s empowerment along with the Scripture’s intent (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We must yield to the living divine person of the Holy Spirit as we align our lives with the inspired by Him... living Word! 

Hearing, Reading, Seeing, Discussing, Doing... Growing to Maturity

Ever wonder why some people never seem to grow up in Christ? Why they never mature spiritually? They come to church faithfully every Sunday for one-hour and hear great sermons. In fact, the sermons they hear teach the Word powerfully. And let’s assume that folks who attend church faithfully every Sunday, live good moral lives and help others, but they are still babes in Christ. How is that possible?

It’s not enough... one-hour on Sunday. Not even close. Hearing the Word is only part of what a Christian must do to be firmly grounded in Scripture and know what it really means to have an active and vibrant faith.

A few years ago, the Pentagon commissioned a study to determine the impact of hearing information, the rate of memory imprinting and rate of failure to recall. It showed that the average person forgets 90 to 95 percent of everything we hear unless we write it down—we forget everything we hear in less than 72 hours unless we write it down. Those statistics will depress any preacher. It simply means that great hard hitting teaching sermons packed with spiritual gems, are all but forgotten by the middle of the week... unless the audience is in the habit of taking notes... writing something down.

It's no surprise to any Bible teacher, especially a pulpit preacher, that we now have a generation that knows absolutely nothing about Scripture. Our parents' generation, mostly a bygone age, knew a significant amount of Scripture. Baby Boomers know a little bit less, but still a significant amount about Biblical teaching because they were raised by people who were passionate about the Word. The next generation, the Baby Busters, knew even less; and the Millennial Generation knows nothing. They know more about Lady GaGa, current fashion trends and stuff on the Internet; but they don't know who the apostles are; they don't know the books of the Bible or even how many there are!

They don't know basic Bible stories. If you mention the Book of Job, the story of Job or the story of Noah, there are a lot of people in America who don't know who Noah is and wouldn’t know how to pronounce the name “Job” properly. They certainly don't know Scripture. Many churches have gotten away from the habit of Scripture memorization, which is the most important spiritual discipline for a Christian. Want to see the power of God working in your life? Memorize hundreds of verses over time and watch God bring them to mind when you need them— in witnessing, when faced with temptation and carnal thoughts, in the challenges of everyday life. If you don’t consistently and repeatedly feed your mind with Bible verses, you can’t recall them... because it takes more than occasional hearing to get them firmly rooted in your memory.

So this should come as no surprise... you can consistently attend Sunday worship services your entire life and still be carnal, cranky and judgmental. You don't witness, you don't live a godly life and you are not at all Christ-like. For “one-hour” you “hear” the Word preached but forget most all you heard by the middle of the week. That means you could sit in church for 20, 30 or 40 years, hear good preaching and teaching, and it doesn't change the cornerstones of your personality.

Preaching is not enough to make disciples of Christ. Preaching the Word of God is critically important, but insufficient because it only goes through the “ear gate” and people learn in different ways and at different paces. Some people learn through the “eye gate”—they like to read; some through the “mouth gate”—they like to discuss; some people learn through the “hand gate”—they're kinetic [doing, working] learners. To truly ingest the Word of God, rooting it deep into the mind and heart, it takes a total collaboration of our entire physical being to engage the learning styles that will ensure we absorb and retain what we hear, read, see, discuss and do.

Growing in Christ requires hard work. It’s a life long process... a 24/7 total commitment of mind and body to get beyond ourselves and become what God wants us to be. If all you think you need is to attend Sunday worship services for one-hour each week, you will never know how to feed yourself. You have to be fed by others. Hebrews 5:12 says, "...by now you ought to be teachers and yet you have to be taught again...." (1 Corinthians 3:2; 14:20; Hebrews 6:1; 1Peter 2:2)

So now you know that going to church one-hour a week is pretty much worthless, if you think that level of commitment will change you. You much commit to developing the habits of spiritual discipline—the spiritual discipline of prayer, the spiritual discipline of memorizing Bible verses, the spiritual discipline of witnessing and sharing the gospel.

The Bible says at James 1:22... "Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, so deceiving yourselves...." (Luke 6:46-47; James 2:14)

In review... let’s be honest, many Christians are guilty of being hearers of the Word only. We “hear” great messages that are quite interesting and we hear a lot of Bible background. We hear a lot of theology. We hear a lot of Scripture. We hear a lot of word terminology... but the key to “all we hear” is recorded at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:24-26 when Jesus said... "Now if you put this into practice, if you do it, now you build your house upon the rock. But if you just listen [hear] to it, you've built your house on sand."

Decision Making... Easier with God as your Partner

Do you struggle with decision making? For some of us, making any serious decisions brings high anxiety. If only our decisions were risk-free, guaranteeing us the best desired outcome. Decision making forces us to accept responsibility for the success or failure of our choices, and we get to experience first-hand how our decisions help or harm others.

God created us with the unique ability to choose our course, our path. He loved us so much that we are allowed to make our own choices. Of course our choices can either be good or bad decisions. Yikes! Is that a heavy responsibility or what?

Two great examples of wise decision makers were Noah and Abraham. They were confronted with making decisions that would ultimately impact all of humanity. At the time of their decisions, they didn’t know the magnitude of their choices or the impact they would have. Noah had to decide if he was going to build the Ark, and Abraham had to decide if he was going to leave his home to travel to a far off land not knowing what the future would hold. Each made their choices without a lot of detailed information, no guarantees were given. They made their decisions based on their trust and faith in God and their willingness to obey His direction, and as a result they received blessings from God.

Decision making based only on human instinct or intuition frequently produces serious consequences. When our selfish impulses influence choices, disaster soon follows. In the Bible, Abram (Abraham) offered his nephew, Lot, the choice of the whole land that rightfully belonged to Abram (Genesis 13:8-11). Lot made his decision without concern for Abram. Lot’s selfish desire for the most fertile, well-water plains caused him to settle near the wicked and sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram, on the other hand, trusted in the promise of God (Genesis 12:1-3, 7) regardless of what Lot had decided. Decision making based on God’s promises and commands always provides us with a sense of well being and peace.

When we exclude God from our decision making, we intentionally ignore God’s instructions. “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word. But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed . . . I will send great troubles against them—all the things they feared . . . When I spoke, they did not listen. They deliberately sinned—before my very eyes—and chose to do what they know I despise” (Isaiah 66:2-4).

Our pride and selfishness usually prevails in our decisions... “I’ll take this course of action. If God doesn’t stop me, then it must be okay.” Instead, God’s direction and wisdom must be sought before we make any decision. There are three parts to every decision we make: Your Mind in the matter and the potential for bad results from impetuous choices (1 Corinthians 3:18-19). Almost always there is some form of Peer Pressure, and that always produces confusion and usually failure (Jeremiah 7:24). Then there’s God’s Mind, do you listen to His word or do you try and wiggle around it? God, by His Word gives us a supernatural like wisdom, clarity, focus, a sharpness in our thoughts as we merge our minds with His through His Word as we contemplate our choices. (Proverbs 2:3-8).

Decision Making should always be a humbling experience. One of the most difficult factors in decision making is humbling oneself, admitting that you don’t know it all or that you’ve failed many times before and will likely fail again. King David experienced first hand how his decision resulted in Israel being punished. Following David’s disobedience, God gave him three choices of punishment -- famine, destruction by his enemies, or plague (1 Chronicles 21:7–15). David based his decision on God’s mercy. David understood that submitting to God’s commands was the right choice, even when it was painful.

We all make costly mistakes, decisions that we wish we never made. Moses ignored God’s instructions (Numbers 20:8-12), Samson surrendered his strength (Judges 16:17-21), and Peter repeatedly denied knowing Jesus Christ (John 18:25-27). Each of these mighty men humbled themselves by asking for God’s forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

The journey in any decision making may be a difficult and lengthy one. By trusting in God’s plans for our lives, we experience peace in the storms of life. The choices we make don’t make the path before us in this life any easier or less bumpy, but when we work with God in our decision making, we gain the security and comfort of knowing we’re not going alone... God is with us.

Remember, any decision that draws us closer in our relationship with God is going to be assured success (Jeremiah 29:11-13). When we surrender our will (our pride and selfish motives) to the supremacy of God’s will in our lives, He gives us the desires of our heart (Psalm 27:3-5). You can take that guarantee to the bank!

The Warning Signs of Failing Leadership

Failure is not an unknown aspect of the human experience. We see it all around us, all the time. In comes with being human.

We've witnessed the public downfall of leaders from almost every human endeavor -- business, politics, sports, and religion. One day they're on top of the heap, the next, the heap's on top of them.

The failure of religious or Church leaders is the one I am mostly concerned about. We know the high profile failures get all the headlines, especially those leaders who fail by falling into sin, but what about all those average guys serving the Church who don’t fall into sin, but are failing in leadership?

Of course, it’s normal to think that such failures in leadership could never happen to you. After all, you've worked hard to achieve your well-deserved position of leadership and only a few folks are grumbling about you. The bad news: the distance between a successful leader and a failing leader, [apart from sin], is narrower than you think. Consider the warning signs.

WARNING SIGN #1: A Shift in Focus
This shift can occur in several ways. Often, leaders simply lose sight of what's important. Their laser-like focus on God’s truth and God’s way, that qualified them for leadership fades, and they become distracted by the mechanics of what they think leadership should be.

Many leaders (elders) are distinguished by their ability to influence people and "think big." But when their focus shifts, they suddenly start thinking small or they don’t think at all. They micro manage, or they ignore entirely the needed structure to mange the affairs of the congregation. Some elders get caught up in details better left to others (deacons). They become consumed with trivial things and miss entirely the ways they are impacting the flock. Some leaders will make matters worse, by exhibiting a tendency towards perfectionism.

God established elders and deacons to lead His Church. (Review 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1) Once a man is qualified for leadership according to scripture, God give these men wide latitude in terms of how their personality will affect and influence others. Each man can be who he is in how he leads. The good work of leadership is usually a result of who the leader is. What the leader does then flows naturally from inner vision and character. It is possible for a leader to become too action oriented and, in the process, lose touch with the more important continuous development of himself. You may be a leader, but God is still refining you... molding and shaping you to be more than you are today.

If you are an elder ask yourself this question... What is your primary focus right now? If you can't write it out in a couple of paragraphs, then it's a sure bet that your leadership is suffering from a lack of clarity. Take the time necessary to get your focus back on what's important in serving God and His flock.

Further, would you describe your thinking as expansive or contractive? Of course, you should always be eager to do whatever it takes to care for and protect the flock of God. Important point to consider... try never to take on what others can do as well or better than you. Make sure you promote an environment within the congregation where you shepherd in a way that encourages the people of God to want to step up to serve. Don’t just say the words. If men and women in your congregation are not stepping forward, eager to serve, it might not be them... it might be you. You may be stifling their desire and blunting their visions. In short, make sure that your focus is on leading rather than doing things “your way”.

WARNING SIGN #2: Poor Communication
A lack of focus among leaders and its resulting disorientation and discontinuity in the fellowship body are always a result of poor communication. Followers can't possibly understand a leader's intent when the leader isn't sure what it is they are doing or why they’re doing it. And when leaders are unclear about their own purpose, they often hide their confusion and uncertainty in ambiguous communication.

Sometimes, leaders fall into the clairvoyance trap. In other words, they begin to believe that truly committed followers automatically sense their goals and know what they want without being told. Misunderstanding are the only result from such non-communication. Such leaders then view the members of the congregation as exhibiting a lack of effort or commitment, rather than seeing their own communication negligence as the cause of the disorientation and discontinuity.

"Say what you mean, and mean what you say" is timeless advice, but it must be preceded by knowing what you mean! An underlying clarity of purpose is the starting point for all effective communication with God’s people. It's only when you're absolutely clear about what you want to convey that the hard work of communicating pays dividends, exhibited by the members of a congregation stepping forward in faith [in your leadership] to serve.

WARNING SIGN #3: Risk Aversion
Third, leaders feeling at risk from a variety of conditions and circumstances are often driven by a fear of failure rather than the desire to succeed. Past successes create ungodly pressure for leaders: "Will I be able to sustain my outstanding leadership?" "What will I do for an encore?" In fact, the longer a leader, elder or deacon, feels like they’re service can be measured by elements deemed successful, the higher his aversion to risk.

When driven by the possibility of failure, elders will most certainly be unable to take reasonable risks. Even simple things championed by skilled and experienced men within the congregation become almost insurmountable fears for the risk averse elder[challenges]. They want to do only the tried and proven; attempts at innovation -- maybe even a key to establishing their early leadership success -- diminish and eventually disappear altogether.

Elders... as yourself these questions: Which is more important to you... the attempt or the outcome? Are you still taking reasonable risks? Prudent Godly leadership never takes reckless chances with the “flock in your care” or risks the destruction of what has been achieved, but neither nothing happens if leaders are paralyzed by fear. Often risk averse leadership is two steps forward, one step back, or two or even further back. Go slow if necessary, but go. Move forward to mature the body in Christ, proclaim the gospel in your community and enable your flock to grow and serve.

WARNING SIGN #4: Ethics Slip
A leader's Godly qualifications and ensuing credibility is the result of two aspects: what he does (competency) and who he is (character). A discrepancy between these two aspects creates an integrity problem.

The highest principle of leadership is integrity. When integrity ceases to be a leader's top priority, when a compromise of ethics is rationalized away as necessary for the "greater good," when achieving results becomes more important than the means to their achievement -- that is the moment when a leader steps onto the slippery slop of failure.

Often such leaders see their followers as pawns, a mere means to an end, thus confusing manipulation with leadership. These leaders lose empathy. They cease to be people "perceivers" and become people "pleasers," using popularity to ease the guilt of lapsed integrity. Sometime the flock may be totally unaware of an “integrity” issue, but the comportment of a leader changes... no one knows why but the behavioral changes are damaging to the flock’s trust, confidence and security in the leadership.

If you’re an elder or deacon, it is imperative to your leadership that you constantly subject your life and work to the highest scrutiny. Are there areas of conflict between what you believe and how you behave? Has compromise crept into your operational perspective? One way to find out is to ask the people you are in fellowship with, if they ever feel taken for granted... ignored... marginalized. No one said leading God’s flock would be easy.

WARNING SIGN #5: Poor Self Management
Tragically, if a leader doesn't take care of himself, no one else will. You know what the Bible says you must do to protect yourself spiritually. Do all those things faithfully, so you are a shinning example to the flock in your care. Unless a leader is blessed to be surrounded by more-sensitive-than-normal followers, [probably not the case] nobody will pick up on the signs of fatigue and stress. Leaders are often perceived to be superhuman, running on unlimited energy. When you’re tired and burned-out as the saying implies, plagued by “people fatigue” your behavior changes for the worse and your actions or inaction, will disorient, confuse and alienate the sheep you are shepherding.

While leadership is invigorating, it is absolutely tiring. Leaders who fail to take care of their physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs are headed for disaster. Funny thing is... this this form of disaster feels like normal to most leaders. You don’t even know you’re there! Think of having a gauge for each of these four areas of your life -- and check them often! When a gauge reaches the "empty" point, you must make time for refreshment and replenishment. Clear your schedule and take care of yourself -- it's absolutely vital to your leadership that you continue to grow and develop, a task that can be accomplished only when your tanks are full.

WARNING SIGN #6: Lost Love
The last warning sign of impending disaster that leaders need to heed is a move away from their first love and dream... God, His Church... the Promises to come.

Paradoxically, the hard work of leadership should be fulfilling and even fun. But when leaders lose sight of the dream that compelled them to accept the responsibility of eldership, they can find themselves working for people and causes that may mean little to them. They must stick to what they love, what motivated them at the first, to maintain the fulfillment of leadership. God empowers and sustains you... the flock will inevitably frustrate you. Gotta love God’s people or you are destined to fail.

To make sure that you stay on the track of following your first love, frequently ask yourself these three questions: Why did I initially desire leadership? Have those reasons changed? Do I still want to lead? You must answer 100% on those three questions... if you can’t, step away from leadership and serve with the body.

Heed the Signs
The warning signs in life -- from stop lights to prescription labels -- are there for our good. They protect us from disaster, and we would be foolish to ignore them.

As you consider these warning signs of leadership failure, don't be afraid to take an honest look at yourself. You need to have the courage to do so, because God certainly is! If any of the warnings ring true for you, take action immediately.

The good news is... by paying attention to these signs and heeding their warnings, you can avoid disaster and sustain the kind of leadership of God’s people that is healthy and fulfilling both for you and the “flock in your care.”

October 21, 2011... YOU BETTER WATCH OUT!?

Harold Camping, as you probably know, is an American Christian radio broadcaster with a large following. He owns Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that spans more than 150 markets in the United States. Camping is best known for applying numerology to his interpretations of Bible passages to predict dates for the end of the world.

Five months back he predicted that on May 21, 2011 Jesus Christ would return to Earth, the righteous would be raptured up to heaven, followed by five months of fire, brimstone and plagues on Earth, with millions of people dying each day, culminating on October 21, 2011 with the physical destruction of the world.

Camping claimed then and still does, that around 200 million people, approximately 3% of the world's population, will be raptured when “the end” occurs. When the events didn’t happen as he had predicted... Mr Camping emerged from his home on May 22nd, saying that he was "flabbergasted" that the Rapture did not occur, and that he was "looking for answers," and would say more when he returned to work on May 23rd.

On May 23, 2011 in an appearance before the press, Camping stated he had reinterpreted his prophecy. His revised prediction is now in two-parts: as previously noted... part-one was May 21st when a "spiritual" judgment was rendered by God and part-two would then be the physical Rapture occurring on October 21, 2011, followed immediately with the destruction of the world. So Mr. Camping's latest "revised" prediction is coming three-days from now?

People gave up jobs, sold property, gave away possessions and sent millions to Camping’s organization as they waited for these momentous events to happened. The predicted events did not happen... I WANT MY MONEY BACK! Camping said his ministry enterprise would not return money donated by followers to publicize the failed May 21 prediction, stating... "We’re not at the end. Why would we return it?" That’s just plain wrong Mr. Camping. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Camping suffered a stroke in late May and has been recuperating quietly until the last few days, when he began posting statements on his website and broadcasting on Family Radio’s network that the end is coming this Friday.

Mr. Camping has made a career of such predictions... previously predicting judgment days on May 21, 1988, and September 7, 1994. Of course, we’re all still here. There is however one difference... his 2011 prediction was widely reported, and prompted responses from both atheist and Christian organizations alike. Maybe it was because of the enthusiasm of his followers, who traveled around the world renting billboards and motor homes with large signs emblazoned on the sides proclaiming the end of the world would come on May 21st. Even after that day came and went, the media continued to vigorously cover the story. Even in billboards, one playfully reproving Camping was unveiled on May 22nd, reading, “That was awkward. ‘No one knows the day or the hour …’ .” Never before had his predictions garnered such huge media coverage as this most recent “end in May” debacle. So what’s he thinking now as October 21st approaches?

Mr. Camping isn’t making any big promises and seems to be hedging on the dramatic events that accompany the end... earthquakes, fire, total destruction of earth, by posting this statement recently on his website... “I really am beginning to think as I restudied these matters that there’s going to be no big display of any kind,” “The end is going to come very, very quietly.” But then in another message posted on his website, Camping says this about Friday October 21st... “at this point, looks like it will be the final end of everything.” In yet another statement posted on his website he said... “those who weren’t saved on May 21st, will be annihilated together with the whole physical world on October 21, 2011.”

Contradictions Mr. Camping? What’s it going to be... a catastrophic end with earthquakes, fire, brimstone, plagues, hail, raging tsunamis... or a small, unnoticed, quiet, big... nothing? You seem to be saying both... global catastrophic and an unnoticed whimper. Oh I almost forgot... as Mr. Camping scrambled to explain that the May 21st date was only a “spiritual” End of the World, he went on to explain that the destructive earthquakes he predicted apparently came in the form of “man-quakes,” since mankind shook with fear at the prospect of the Rapture and the book of Genesis describes man as made from dirt. Huh? If you figure that one out please let me know!

In May, I wrote to Renovations readers about the Camping predictions and the “lessons to be learned” from such things. Here’s what I said then and it still holds firm today...

Lessons to be learned... Are you a religious leader? Be careful what you say publicly, because you carry the reputation of your church and the gospel of Christ in everything you say and do. The words of church leaders are powerful and influential. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re right about what you say or if everyone else thinks you’re wrong... when you stray from what the Bible precisely says... your words can have long lasting and damaging impact on the people you influence. Mr. Camping’s failed predictions and the attention they’ve received cast an unfavorable spotlight on the “name and mission of Christ” with the non-believing critics who are always looking for something to hold against Christianity.

THIS is what the BIBLE says regarding knowing dates and predicting the return of Christ... "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36) He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority." (Acts 1:7)

Finally... this whole episode is a reminder that every spiritual leader—whether an elder-pastor or pulpit preacher or someone in other influencing roles — needs to be accountable to others. We all need others to give us wise counsel, to help us see when we are drifting off track into serious error.

Of one thing I am certain... whether today, tomorrow, this Friday, next month or next year, this sort of thing will continue to happen. Maybe not Mr. Camping, but someone else will make predictions, mislead people and leave them adrift without a spiritual anchor. People will continue to believe the misleading nonsense of men who think they know what God is going to do and when He’s going to do it. Men know nothing of God’s time table.