Did God Answer?

Greetings All,

Today's "thought" comes from a book entitled "The One Year Book of Christian History." It contains 365 separate devotionals or what the authors E. Michael Rusten and Sharon Rusten call "daily glimpse's into God's powerful work."

As one who loves history, I have gone through it and returned to it time and again. Each devotion or historical glimpse references something that happened on that particular day in history. Today's thought is from January 18 and references the death of Amy Carmichael, the well known missionary to India who ministered there without ever once returning home to her native Ireland or teenage home, England, from 1895 until the day she died -- Jan. 18, 1951.

If you would like to read more about this amazing woman, Elisabeth Elliot's biography of her life, entitled "A Chance to Die -- The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael," is superb reading. The title of this entry is "You Never Know How God Will Answer (Prayer)." Hopefully it will give you food for thought! Enjoy.

"Amy Carmichael was born in 1867 in Millisle, County Down, Northern Ireland. At the tender age of twelve, she was sent to a Wesleyan Methodist boarding school in Yorkshire, England. There at age fifteen, during a children's service, she heard the song "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." In the quiet moments following the song, Amy realized that in spite of her mother's teaching that Jesus loved her, she had never invited him into her life. 'In His great mercy the Good Shepherd answered the prayers of my mother and my father and many other loving ones, and drew me, even me, into his fold'...

Amy became interested in missions, and in 1893 she sailed for Japan as the first Keswick missionary with the Church Missionary Society. After spending less than two years in Japan and Ceylon, she was forced to return to England because of poor health.

In November 1895 Amy again left England to work with the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society in South India. Traveling on evangelistic trips throughout India, she became aware that many young Indian girls were offered by their parents or guardians as temple prostitutes -- a practice later outlawed. Touched by their plight, Amy began rescuing young girls from this fate.

By 1901 she, along with the Indian colleagues and converts from her many trips, settled in Dohnavur. In 1926 she founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, a home and school for rescued children. Here the Indian children were educated and trained to serve God as Christian nurses, teachers, and evangelists... So committed was Amy Carmichael to India that from the time she arrived in November 1895, she never returned to England.

On October 24, 1931, Amy visited a Dohnavur dispensary and was concerned about the Fellowship's financial support. Seeking guidance* regarding money, she fell silent for a long time and then prayed: 'Do anything, Lord, that will fit me to serve Thee and to help my beloveds.'

Later that same day she was driven to a house she had rented for another dispensary. There in the darkness she fell into a newly dug pit, breaking her leg, dislocating her ankle, and twisting her spine. As a result of her fall, she was bedridden the last twenty years of her life. Yet from her bed she remained in charge of Dohnavur and also wrote prose and poetry through which the work of Dohnavur became known around the world.

In 1938 Carmichael believed God gave her a promise that she would die in her sleep. This she did on January 18, 1951."

The implictions drawn from this story are too stark to overlook: The same day she prayed, she was injured, and the books she now had the time to write helped make the work "known around the world" and brought in the financial support she had gone before God praying for.

Dare we ask, then, the question that can't help but arise: "If the injury led to the answer of her prayer, could it be that her fall was the way God answered?" Do you think Mr. Rusten is right when he implies in the title of this entry that it was God's answer? ("You Never Know How God Will Answer.")

Your own answers will likely vary from God's sovereignty, to fate, to chance, to coincidence. Some might throw in bad luck. What about you? What do you say? The answer you choose will likely depend on your view of God, how he works in providence, his love and wisdom, and your understanding of biblical truth in general. Yet it is worth contemplating. Are things random, or is there a sovereign God who oversees them? And if he does oversee them, then to what extent does he do so, and in what ways?

In the Bonds of Christian Fellowship, Pastor Jeff

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* One last insight to be gained from Amy Carmichael is her well known steps for discerning God's will or guidance in her life. They are as follows:

1.) The Word of the Lord in the Bible.

2.) The Word of the Spirit in our heart.

3.) The circumsatnces of our lives, which have been arranged by God.

All three must point one way. It is never enough for any two of them to agree, in order for it to be taken as showing God's will. If the voice is God's, all three will agree."

Breathing

Greetings All,

Today's 'thoughts' have to do with prayer. They are by Henri J. M. Nouwen and come from his book, "Bring Prayer into Your Life--With Open Hands." To understand his first thought you must know that in the Old Testament the Hebrew term for the Spirit of God is "Ruah Elohim" - the wind or breath of God. Likewise, in the New Testament the word for Spirit "pneuma," which like the Hebrew "ruah" is also translated wind or breath (as in John 3:5-8 where "pneuma" is translated "spirit" in verses 5,6, and 7 and then rightly (because of the context) translated "wind" in verse 8). Enjoy!

"Perhaps the challange of the gospel lies precisely in the invitation to accept a gift for which we can give nothing in return. For the gift is the breath of God - the Spirit poured out on us through Jesus Christ. This life breath frees us from fear and gives us new room to live.

Those who live prayerfully are contantly ready to receive the breath of God, and let their lives be renewed and expanded. Those who never pray, on the contrary, are like children with asthma. Because they are short of breath, the whole world shrivels up before them. They creep into a corner gasping for air, and are virtually in agony. But those who pray open themselves to God and can breathe freely again. They stand upright, stretch out their hands, and come out of their corner, free to move about without fear."

"In the thinking of our modern, active, energetic world, praying and living have come to be so widely separated that bringing them together seems almost impossible. But here lies the central problem: How can our prayer be truly necessary for the welfare of our fellow human beings? What do we mean when we say that we should 'pray always,' and that prayer is the 'one thing necessary'?

The question becomes important only when it is posed in its most radical form. The question of when or how to pray is not really the most important one. The crucial question is whether we should pray always and whether our prayer is necessary. Here, the stakes are all or nothing. For if we say it's good to turn to God in prayer for a spare minute, or if we grant that a person with a problem does well to take refuge in prayer, we have as much admitted that praying is on the margin of life and doesn't really matter... Prayer has meaning only if it is necessary and indispensable. Prayer is prayer only when we can say that without it, we cannot live."

Nouwen touches on something I've witnessed over and over: Prayer being used as little more than an occasional emergency distress call. People using prayer like the captain of a ship that's going down in a storm, who races to send out the S.O.S. signal, but does it only then and never when things are well. And, of course, there's nothing inately wrong with turning to God when we're desperate. We all tend to do so.

Yet if that's the only time we think prayer is necessary; if we don't see it as our lifeline to God at all times and for all things (even when things seem to be going very well!), then we have misunderstood prayer's purpose, will not make it a priority, and will not in any true sense be praying people. We will, as Nouwen says, keep it "on the margin of life" and be affirming what our true inner belief in regard to prayer really is -- that prayer "doesn't really matter."

Here the imagery of the Spirit as the "wind" or the "air we breathe" is helpful in relation to prayer. If we were to observe the prayer life of many we could be led to believe that the only time one needs to "breathe" is when they're in trouble. The only time they need to suck in air is when they're drowning. Yet its so untrue. We need to breathe all the time - whether we're in trouble or not!

We stand in desperate need of the "air" or "wind" (the "ruah" or the "pneuma" of Christ or God) whether we are sinking, drowning, walking on solid ground or sleeping peacefully.

In fact, if we prayed "always," or "without ceasing," as the apostle admonishes us, we would find ourselves sinking a lot less, and using prayer as a mere, occasional, hurried S.O.S or distress call far less. As Richard Baxter once said, "Prayer is the breath of the new creature." It's what the Spirit born and renewed soul feeds on and thrives on!


With prayers that God might pour out a spirit of prayer upon all His people, Pastor Jeff

Under the Covenant of Grace

Greetings All,

As I pondered what 'thought' to send out today I realized its been too long since I quoted a Puritan! So today I decided to rectify that!

This one comes from Richard Sibbes, from his classic work, "The Bruised Reed," published in England in 1630 (only 10 years after the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts). It has to do with what God accepts in believers, under the covenant of grace, because of the finished work of Christ.

It deals with how much grace, or how much faith, or what degree of perfection is needed for God to accept what we offer to Him. Read it and I believe you'll be surprised at his answer. It's similar to what most Puritans, saturated in grace as they were, would say -- and will hopefully dispel some of the wrong notions or caricatures people have regarding them. Read it slowly and give it much thought, it is filled with truth and gospel comfort. Enjoy. (*I have updated and clarified the language a bit!).

"In the covenant of grace, God requires the reality of grace, and not any prescribed measure. A spark of fire is as much fire as the entire flame, and therefore we must see grace in the spark as well as the flame. All believers do not have the same strong faith, though they have the same precious faith (II Pet. 1:1). And by that faith, whether strong or weak, they lay hold of, and put on, the perfect righteousness of Christ. A weak hand may receive a rich jewel as much as a strong hand. Only a few grapes are needed to show the plant is a vine, and not a thorn. It is one thing to be deficient in grace, and another thing to lack grace altogether.

God knows we have nothing of ourselves, and therefore, in the covenant of grace he requires no more than he gives, but gives what he requires, and accepts what he gives. 'If she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle doves" (Lev. 12:8).

What is the gospel itself but a merciful moderation, in which Christ's obedience is esteemed ours, and our sins laid upon him? A gospel wherein God goes from being our judge to being our Father, pardoning our sins and accepting our obedience, though feeble and blemished. We are now brought to heaven under the covenant of grace by a way of love and mercy.

We must always remember the difference between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace -- between Moses and Christ. Without mercy Moses breaks all bruised reeds, and quenches all smoking flax. For the law requires personal, perpetual, and perfect obedience from the heart--and that under the most terrible curse--but it gives no strength to do what it demands. It is a severe task-master, like Pharoah's, requiring the whole quota of bricks, yet giving no straw. Yet Christ comes with blessing after blessing, even upon those whom Moses had cursed, and with healing balm for those wounds which Moses had made.

The same duties are required in both covenants, such as to love the Lord with all our hearts and with all our souls (Deut. 6:5). In the covenant of works this must be fulfilled absolutely, but under the covenant of grace it must have a gospel mitigation. A sincere endeavor proportionate to grace received is accepted. The law is sweetened by the gospel, and becomes delightful to the inner man (Rom. 7:22). Under this gracious covenant, sincerity is perfection. (This is not because God lowers his righteous standards in the new covenant, but because Christ has met those righteous standards perfectly on behalf of his people. It is not simply the justified sinner that is accepted by faith though still sinful, the deeds he offers to God are also accepted, though flawed and stained by residual sin)...

We must remember that grace is sometimes so little as to be indiscernable to us. The Spirit sometimes has secret operations in us which we are unaware of at the present, but Christ knows...

A troubled soul... is full of objections against itself, yet for the most part we may still discern something of the hidden life. We may discern the faint trace of smothered sparks."

With prayers for you in your walk with Christ,

Pastor Jeff

Heroes with Doubts

Greetings All,

This weeks 'thought' comes from a book entitled, "The Hidden Price of Greatness," by Ray Beeson and Randela Mack Hunsicker. I enjoyed this book simply because the authors share what other Christian biographies tend to leave out -- the humanity, weaknesses and struggles that well-known Christians have often endured.

All too often Christian biographies, with their desire to accentuate the accomplishments and praiseworthy traits of great leaders, purposely leave out information which shows their flaws. Many don't want to know that the heroes of our faith had doubts, wrestled with temptations, fell to temptations, and often endured intense mental and emotional anguish -- sometimes even experiencing nervous breakdowns. And because such things are not shared, we tend to be ignorant of what these authors share: That greatness often comes with a huge price tag attached. It is not, as we can be tempted to believe, all fame and glory.

This selection has to do with the great English preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon. By the time Spurgeon died at the age of 57, he had published more than 3500 sermons, written 135 books, and pastored the Metropolitan Tabernacle for 38 years (growing the congregation to over 14,000 members). He started and taught at a college for pastors, established and funded two orphanages (one for 250 boys and another for 250 girls), and began a home for elderly widows. To this day he is still considered one of the best preachers that has ever lived.

Yet throughout his ministry Spurgeon was plagued with "depression, discouragement, illness and fatigue. He didn't always experience the miraculous release he received after the Music Hall disaster (when God replaced his depression with joy). Added to his own difficulties, he had the sorrow of seeing his wife, Susannah, become a semi-invalid at thrity-six years of age...

Most of us want, as cartoon character Charlie Brown put it, a life of 'ups and upper ups.' It just never feels good to feel down. But there aren't enough dollars, pleasures, or achievements to keep away the low tides of life. Charles Spurgeon experienced this and commented, 'The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy.' Christians go through times of despair--whether they're willing to admit it or not.

Throughout his life Spurgeon was honest about his frequent discouragement and depression. He tried to prepare less-experienced Christians for dark moments. He assured them that Christ, the Man of Sorrows, knew how they felt when their hearts were breaking, and that the Savior would bend to catch his children's tears. Trials taught Spurgeon much about the ways of God and about the human condition... In a lecture he later gave to young ministers, the following key principles emerged:

1. Those who trust and serve God are not exempt from dejection.
2. Our suffering teaches us compassion for others.
3. God often chooses people for special service because of their awareness of their own limitations. He knows they are more likely to remain dependent on his strength and guidance. However, these same people are also apt to become too introspective and collapse under a burden of false guilt. Because they are conscientious and caring, they worry (and) may also take on more responsibility than is healthy.
4. Our pain may actually prepare us for the particular mission God has planned for us.
5. Sorrow is inevitable in the lives of those who share God's grief over sin and evil.
6. Great success is almost always mixed with heartache so that we will not glory in our achievements... Suffering is a strong antidote for pride and any delusions of granduer.
7. Dark times drive us to new levels of trust in God and release greater dimensions of His power in our lives... The 'aha!' of discovery is often preceded by the agony of failure... Pain cuts through our theology, our complacency, our self-sufficiency and leaves us with quiet, humble hearts that can hear the voice of God."

All too often we can tend to think the road to greatness is paved with cushions and lined with adoring fans. Not so if that 'greatness' is to be defined in Christian terms. The sinful nature is aroused and reinforced rather than diminished and deadened when the self is adored, praised and pampered. Ministry that helps others usually flows out of struggle, pain and suffering, not a life of ease, abundance and unhindered success. Even Seneca, the Roman philosopher and statesman could say: "It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness."

With prayers for your continued usefulness in Christ's service,

Pastor Jeff