Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory

Greetings All,

     Yesterday I received a book in the mail sent to me by a wise old friend. As one who loves to climb mountains, the title captured my attention when I opened the package: "Canoeing the Mountains," by Tod Bolsinger. Yet, the secondary title clued me into the fact that it probably was not what I initially thought - "Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory."

     As I read the first chapter I felt like the author had been a fly on the wall in many of my conversations in recent years!  He even mouthed some of the exact phrases I had used!  So, today, I let you in on an issue that has been weighing on me (and many others in ministry) for at least the past decade or longer - trying to minister in a post-Christian (often anti-Christian) culture.  This selection below is just to give you a taste of what he will address in the rest of his book -- offering hope for a breakthrough where many seem to have run into what FEELS like an impenetrable wall we were not trained or equipped to break through. Enjoy.

     "One night after a long day of meetings, an older pastor let out a heavy sigh. He was nearing retirement, and we were working together on a project that was supposed to reorganize our entire denomination in order to help our church better minister in a changing world. And that changing world weighed on him.  He remembered well how not that long ago life was different. He stirred his drink and said to me, 'You know, when I began my ministry in a church in Alabama, I never worried about church growth or worship attendance or evangelism. Back then, if a man didn't come to church on Sunday, his boss asked him about it at work on Monday.'

     Sociologists and theologians refer to this recently passed period as 'Christendom.' The seventeen-hundred-year-long era with Christianity at the privileged center of western cultural life. Christendom gave us 'blue laws' and the Ten Commandments in school [and prayer in schools]. It gave us 'under God' in the pledge of allegiance and exhortations to Bible reading in the national newspapers. (I have a copy of the Los Angeles Times from December 1963 that has stories on the Warren Commission (investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy), the nine-thousand-member Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and a list of daily Bible readings for the upcoming week.  Can you even imagine the Los Angeles Times exhorting people to read their Bibles today?) It was the day every "city father" laid out the town square with the courthouse, the library, and a First Church of _______ within the center of the city.  For most of us these days are long gone. (For some of us, that is good news indeed. Did you notice the reference to 'man' in my friends statement?)

     In our day (unlike then) cities are now considering using eminent domain laws to replace churches with tax-revenue generating big-box stores, Sundays are more about soccer and Starbucks than about Sabbath, Christian student groups are getting derecognized on university campuses, the fastest growing religious affiliation among young adults is 'none,' there is no moral consensus built on Christian tradition (even among Christians), and even a funeral in a conservative beach town is more likely to be a Hawaiian style 'paddle out' than a gathering in a sanctuary.  As we see all this we know that Christendom as a marker of society has passed.

     Over the last ten years I have had one church leader after another whisper to me the same frustrated confession: 'Seminary didn't prepare me for this. I don't know if I can do it. I just don't know...'  A number of pastors are ready to throw in the towel. Studies show that if given the chance to do something else, most pastors would jump at it. Reportedly, upwards of fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry EVERY MONTH  [Every year more than 4000 churches in the U.S. close their doors, almost double the number from 20 years ago.] 

     A couple years ago I learned that three of my pastor friends around the country had resigned  -- on the same day. There were no affairs, no scandals, and no one was renouncing the faith. But three good, experienced pastors turned in resignations and walked away. One left church ministry altogether.  The details are as different as the pastors themselves, but the common thread is that they finally got worn down by trying to bring change to a church that was stuck and didn't know what to do. Their churches were stuck and declining, stuck and clinging to the past, stuck and lurching to quick fixes, trying to find an easy answer for what were clearly bigger challenges. What all three churches had in common was that they were mostly blaming the pastor for how bad it felt to be stuck.

'If only you could preach better.' 

'If only you were more pastoral and caring.' 

'If only our worship was more dynamic.' 

'Please, pastor, do something!'  (That is what we pay you for, isn't it?)

     And to make matters worse, the pastors don't know what to do either. As a seminary vice-president I am now charged with confronting this reality head-on. Our graduates were not trained for this day. When I went to seminary, we were trained in the skills that were necessary for supporting faith in Christendom.  When churches functioned primarily as vendors of religious services for a Christian culture, the primary leadership toolbox was:  1. TEACHING (for providing Christian education).  2. LITURGICS (for leading Christian services).  3. PASTORAL CARE (for offering Christian counsel and support).  In this changing world we need to add a new set of leadership tools..." 

     If you would like to know what those new and necessary tools are, you will need to purchase his book for yourself!  As a pastor who has lived long enough to see Christendom progressively and purposefully deconstructed, and replaced at almost every turn with secularized and post-Christian alternatives, it has been stretching.  I'm not one of the pastoral casualties he lists, but in all honesty there have been times I have come pretty close. In fact, given those statistics it may be time to start a "pastor support group" for those who feel they are on the verge of being one of those 1500 pastors every month who leave the ministry.

     I haven't had time to read far into his book, but I wanted to share the introductory chapter so people can know there is a voice of encouragement from someone who has his ear to the ground, and has himself been a pastor ministering in our post-Christian culture.   A culture where traditional styles of leadership and ministry (which garnered much fruit in the not-so-distant past) can actually be a hindrance and obstacle in the present. His word to pastors - "Start with conviction, stay calm, stay connected, and stay the course - even when navigating loss."

     Ministry has always required people to, "run the race with perseverance"  (Hebrews 12:1-2).  Yet today is one of those cultural seasons or times when like a runner in a marathon on a hot and humid day, people in ministry are encountering what in the Boston Marathon is called, "Heartbreak Hill" -- a long gradual incline at the 20 mile mark.  It's a "grueling test of endurance" as one writer puts it, which drives many to give up before the finish line.  A place where one must be mentally prepared, make adjustments, and persevere, or become a casualty.  If you happen to be at that place, maybe you might want to see what Bolsinger has to say.

Living in the Grace of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

The Comforter

Greetings All!

This week's "thought" comes from someone we haven't heard from for quite a while - Charles H. Spurgeon.  He has been dubbed the "Prince of Preachers" and is considered by many to be the most gifted preacher ever.  This excerpt comes from a message he preached on October 6, 1872 entitled "The Comforter."   Spurgeon began his preaching career in 1850 at the age of 15. By the time he was 19 he had accepted a call to pastor one of the biggest Baptist churches in London.  Within a short time they had to build an addition onto the church to increase the seating capacity from 1200 to 5000 seats to accommodate the weekly crowds. He was an extraordinarily gifted man.
     To those who wrongly believe that Christianity was universally popular back in the mid-to-late-800's in England, this somewhat auto-biographical account should clear up that misunderstanding.  I've been reading this sermon in my devotional time and found it both interesting and true; that's why I wanted to pass it along to you.  Enjoy.

The Comforter

     “In the 15th chapter of John’s Gospel we find the Savior describing His saints in the world as hated and persecuted for His sake, and He bids them expect this. But He consoles them in verses 26-27: “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me. And you also shall bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

     Now verses 18-27 mean just this—while Jesus Christ was here on earth, if anyone had anything to say against Him or His disciples, the Master came forward to the front, and He soon baffled His foes so that they confessed, “Never has anyone spoken like this man” (John 7:46). At this present time our Master and head is gone from us, so how are we to answer the attacks of the world?  The answer is we have another Counselor who comes to speak for us, and if we had but confidence in Him, beloved, He would have spoken for us much more loudly than He has sometimes done!

     Whenever we learn to leave the business in His hands, He will do two things for us:  FIRST - He will speak for us Himself, and SECOND - He will enable us also to bear witness.  At this present time many questions of doctrine are brought up for discussion, many objections to the truth of God are blocked, and there are many who would lay the axe at the very root of Christianity and cut it down as a rotten tree!  What is our answer?  I will tell you: Nearly all the books that have been written to answer modern philosophies are a waste of time and a waste of paper.  The only way in which the church can hold her own, and answer her detractors is by real power from God!

     Has she done anything for the world?

     Can she produce results?

     By her fruits shall she be proved to be a tree of life to the nations!

     Now the Spirit of God, if we would but trust Him, and give up all this idolatry of human learning, cleverness, genius, eloquence, rhetoric, and I know not what beside, would soon answer our adversaries!  He would silence some of them by converting them as He answered Saul of Tarsus by turning him from a persecutor to an apostle. He would silence others by confounding them and making them see their own children and relations brought to know the truth of God! If there is not a miraculous spiritual power in the Church of God at this day, she is an impostor!  At this moment the only vindication of our existence is the presence and work of the Holy Spirit among us.  Is He still working and witnessing for Christ? I fear He is not in some churches.

     Here in our fellowship we behold Him. Look at His workings in this place.  Nearly 20 years ago [back in August of 1854] our ministry began in this city under much opposition and hostile criticism. The preacher [that is, Spurgeon himself] being condemned on all hands as vulgar, unlearned, and, in fact, a “nine days’ wonder”!  Jesus Christ was preached by us in simpler language than men had been accustomed to hear, and every one of our sermons was full of the old-fashioned gospel. Many other pulpits were intellectual, but we held to the pure Scriptures.  Rhetorical essays were the wares retailed by most of the preachers, but we gave the people the gospel.  We brought out before the world the old Reformers’ doctrines, Calvinistic truth, Augustinian teaching, and Pauline dogma! We were not ashamed to be the, “Echo of a long-dead evangelism,” as some wiseacre called us.

     We preached Christ and Him crucified, and by the space of these 20 years have we ever lacked a congregation? When has not this vast hall been thronged? Have we ever lacked conversions? Has a Sunday passed over us without them? Has not the history of this church, from its littleness in Park Street until now, been a march of triumph with the hearts and souls of men being the spoils of the war and the flag under which we have marched been Christ crucified?

     And it is so everywhere! Only let men come back to the gospel and preach it ardently, not with pretty words and the artificiality of polished speech, but as a burning heart compels them, and as the Spirit of God teaches them to speak it.  Then will great signs and wonders be seen!  We must have signs following—else we cannot answer the world!  Let them sneer; let them rave; let them curse; let them lie—God will answer them!  It is ours in the power of the Spirit of God to keep on preaching Christ and glorifying the Savior.  Just as Jesus always met the adversary in a moment, and the disciples had no need of any other defender, so we have another Helper, who in answer to prayer will vindicate His own cause, and gloriously avenge His own elect.”

     In a world of competing ideas and religious views, something must set Christianity apart from all the rest. Something more than "mere morality" as C. S. Lewis called it.  Something more than mere religious gatherings.  Something that shows our faith to be different from all the rest.  And that "something" (as Spurgeon points out) must be the power of God!  People must be able to see and sense the evidences of God's presence and the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit among His people if we are to truly testify to the reality of Jesus and His gospel (I Cor. 14:24-25 / II Cor. 10:3-5).

     Be it the miracle of an extraordinary and other-worldly love; the miracle of someone turned to repentance and faith; the miracle of a healing or a prophetic word that hits home as if it were tailor made; or the miracle of a regenerate heart -- the greatest miracle of all -- the power of God must be seen if people's objections are to be stifled!  "The only way in which the church can hold her own, and answer her detractors is by real power from God!...  If there is not a miraculous spiritual power in the Church of God at this day, she is an impostor!  At this moment the only vindication of our existence is the presence and work of the Holy Spirit among us...  Only let men come back to the gospel and preach it ardently, not with pretty words and the artificiality of polished speech, but as a burning heart compels them, and as the Spirit of God teaches them to speak it. Then will great signs and wonders be seen!  We must have signs following—else we cannot answer the world!"

     To use the words of Isaiah in his deep yearning for a visible and incontestable manifestation of God's power: "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!" (Is. 64:1-2) That's what we need more than anything else -- a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God in incontestable and saving power!  Not manufactured miracles, but God-given miracles.  Not the stuff of mere human emotion, but the supernatural intervention of a sovereign God.  And it must stem from earnest prayer and the gospel ardently preached, as Spurgeon says, from a burning heart that's moved and compelled by the Holy Spirit.  Our prayer, Like Isaiah's, must be, "Come down Lord!"

     With Prayer for the Renewing of Christ's Church on Earth, Pastor Jeff

Life Together

Greetings to All,

     Our “thought” for this week comes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was martyred by the Nazi's one month before the end of World War II.  Though his most famous book was, "The Cost of Discipleship" (where he warned people against adopting the unbiblical substitute for real grace which he called "cheap grace") this thought comes from ideas expressed in his superb book on Christian community entitled, "Life Together."   If you have never read it, it is well worth your time (and the price of the book)!   It's all about those things that are necessary for true Christian community to take place.  Enjoy.

     “Acknowledgement of sin in the presence of another brother is a safeguard against self-deception.  It is a curious fact that many people find it easier to confess their sins privately to a holy and sinless God than to openly confess them to an unholy and sinful brother.  If this is so, we must ask ourselves if we are really confessing our sins to God?  We must ask ourselves whether we have not been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to God – whether we have not, rather, been confessing our sins to ourselves, and also granting ourselves absolution.  Is this not perhaps the reason for our countless relapses and the feebleness of our Christian obedience?  Is it not to be found precisely in the fact that we are living on self-forgiveness and not a real forgiveness?

     When sin has been brought into the light and confessed it can be forgiven.  Its power can be broken.  It can no longer hold the believer in bondage or tear the fellowship apart.  The sinner can honestly be a sinner and still enjoy the grace of God and the love of the brethren.  This is the moment where fellowship in Christ becomes a profound reality. [When sin is openly confessed – even the worst of sins – and the love of our brethren continues to be extended to us in spite of it, we approach the profound and transforming reality of community.]

     Open confession of sin to another so crucifies one's pride that rarely ever occurs unless a person earnestly yearns to be rid of his sin.  By openly confessing his sin he breaks the habit of secretly cherishing, nurturing or refusing to let it go.  He becomes accountable.  He gains the support of his praying brothers in his fight to overcome its life-polluting influences.  In essence, he begins to live the life of discipleship." 

     Elsewhere Bonhoeffer equated sin with mold that grows in a damp, dark, cool basement.  How does one rid a basement of that growing mold? They open the windows, let the exposure to the air dry it out, and let the bright light of the sun shine upon it until it dries out and is easily brushed off. 

     Confession of sin is like that.  When we expose sin to the light through confession, in the presence of a brother (for me) or sister (for women), it begins to lose it's life or power, dry up and die.  But if we keep it hidden -- locked away in the dark and damp cellar of secret and repressed memories or emotions -- it will only fester and grow. There is healing, as James reminds us, in confession of sin accompanied by prayer for healing (James 5:13-16). 

     "Confession is good for the soul," as the old adage goes. (Yet one must be careful in their selection of a brother (for men) or sister (for women) to confess to. Trust, confidentiality and godliness would be essential traits.)  Hard as it is to expose some things to the light, it is much more harmful to our spirit to hold it in and keep it hidden and shut up in the dark basement of our emotions.

     In the Service of the Gospel and Church, Pastor Jeff

Gospel Fluency

Greetings All,

     Today's "thought" comes from a book entitled "Gospel Fluency" by a man named Jeff Vanderstelt.  It has to do with putting the Gospel into practice, or developing Gospel-like habits in our relationships. Not simply believing the Gospel and leaving it at that, but living in such a way as to help make Gospel-driven people more believable. This selection has to do with drawing out what's deep in the hearts of people. His point is well taken.  Enjoy.

Listen and Learn

     "Proverbs 20:5 says, "The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out."  We need to become people of understanding -- people who seek to understand others before we expect them to understand us and what we believe.  We need to learn how to ask more questions and draw out what is deep inside people's souls. We need to learn to slow down and listen closely to the longings of their hearts. We need to learn their stories. In short, we need to care more about winning people to Jesus than about winning arguments. Gospel fluency isn't just about talking.  It's about listening as well. This requires love, patience and wisdom. Jesus was so good at this.

     Whenever I consider how I can grow in being a person of understanding who listens well, I think of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well.  It was high noon, when the sun was at its hottest.  There was a reason this woman was getting her water at this time of day.  She chose a time when no one else would be at the well.  Nobody went there in the heat of the day. But she probably wanted to avoid running into one of the wives of the men with whom she'd been sexually involved. She had five husbands, and the man she was then involved with was not her husband. However, Jesus didn't start with where she was wrong. He actually started in a humble posture of receiving from her.  He asked her for water, and she poured out her soul. 

     I've found that starting with a posture of humility, standing in a place of need, and having a heart that is willing not only to give answers but also receive insight, creates a welcoming place for people to open their hearts. The more open we are to listen and learn, the more likely people are to be open as well.  If you look at the story closely, you discover that Jesus continued to make very short, provocative statements that invited more conversation.  He was drawing out, little by little, the longing of her soul.  He was a master at drawing out the heart... I'm amazed at how often well-intentioned Christians overwhelm people with a barrage of words. We go on and on about what we believe and what they should believe, assuming we know what others think, believe or need.  I often find that we are giving answers to questions people are not even asking, or cramming information into hearts that are longing for love, not just facts.  We fail to listen. We fail to draw out the heart. And we miss opportunities to really love people and share the love of God with them They also miss out on getting to hear what's going on in their own hearts.

     I have found that when people, including myself, are invited to say out loud what they believe, they come to realize something is wrong. This is why counselling is a busy enterprise. People have no one to listen to them  They need to speak out loud what is going on in their hearts, and the only way some can do so is by paying a counselor to listen.  I'm all for counseling, but I've spoken with many counselors, and most of them agree that if God's people would slow down, close their mouths, open their ears, and listen, many people wouldn't need counselors.  Jesus slowed down, drew out the heart and listened. As he did this at the well the Samaritan woman's heart spilled out. And as it did, he guided her in a process of confession -- not just of her behaviors, but also of her beliefs. She had been looking for love in all the wrong places, and had clearly misunderstood God and how he interacts with us as humans. As Jesus engaged and listened, he was able to show her how he could provide what she thirsted for most. He could lead her to a well that would never go dry, providing an unending supply of soul water. He was the water that would deeply satisfy her soul. 

     The love she was looking for was standing right in front of her. And the God she should worship would go with her wherever she went. He wasn't on this mountain or that.  He said he wants to come to human hearts like an unending stream of water that refreshes the soul. She believed Jesus, and then went to tell her whole village about him. That's what you want to do with good news -- share it with others.  When people really grasp the good news of Jesus, satisfying the deep longings of their souls, it's hard for them to keep it to themselves."

     A friend of mine used to enjoy pointing out that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason -- so that we would listen twice as much as we talk.

     He had a point.  Too often we seek to talk when we need to offer people the gift of listening, and nowadays it is a rare and scarce gift.  As the author goes on to point out: "Francis Schaeffer said, 'If I have only an hour with someone, I will spend the first fifty-five minutes asking them questions, and then in the last five minutes I will share something of the truth."  Yet, regardless of the specific ratios or percentages of time, we should in the very least make it our aim to spend more time earnestly listening than talking.  That's how we become people of understanding, as Prov. 20:5 puts it, who aim at drawing out the deep waters in a person's heart.  Maybe we could all give this a shot at one of the upcoming holiday parties or events. Two ears, one mouth.  That's a good ratio.  Let's do it.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

Thoughts on Revival

Greetings All!

     Today I send out some thoughts on revival.  I do so because it seems clear to most who look around at the contemporary scene that the church stands in great need of God's reviving influences.  Not mere emotionalism.  Not religious fanaticism.  Not a sudden surge of popularity or culture-wide respect for the Church.  And not humanly generated attempts to pump up a fleeting zeal through motivational speeches.  No.  A true heaven-breathed move of the Holy Spirit which transforms hearts and restores in the people of God an all-consuming love for Him and our neighbors, a passion for His glory, a yearning for His kingdom to come, and a true concern for His redemptive will to be done on earth -- regardless of the sacrifice or cost to us.
     I send these to you with the hope that they might guide your prayers for such a blessed move of God in His Church.  May the fresh winds of the Spirit blow through the Body of Christ as we pray, confess, repent, worship, speak of His grace and love as He calls us to love.

"How little time the average Christian spends in prayer!  We are too busy to pray, and so we too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little.  There are many services, but few conversions. The power of God is lacking in our lives and in our work. We have not because we ask not."

R. A. Torrey

“Revival is God breaking in and upon and over His church like ocean waves upon the shoreline rocks.”

Jonathan Edwards

“Revival is the Church falling in love with Jesus all over again.”

Vance Havner

“Revival is a community saturated with God.”

Duncan Campbell

“A revival means days of heaven upon earth.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Revival is ultimately Christ Himself, seen, felt, heard, living, active, moving in and through His Body on earth.”

 Stephen Olford

“Revival is that strange and sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring, re-animating, and releasing them into the fullness of His blessings.”

Robert Coleman

“Revival is an extraordinary work of the Spirit that invades the church to re-energize us with God’s eternal purposes in Christ Jesus.”

David Bryant

“Revival is a sudden bestowal of a spirit of worship upon God’s people.”

A. W. Tozer

“A true revival means nothing less than a revolution, casting out the spirit of worldliness and selfishness, and making God and His love triumph in the heart and life.”

Andrew Murray

“Revival is God revealing Himself to man in awful holiness and irresistible power. It is God’s method to counteract spiritual decline and to create spiritual momentum in order that His redemptive purposes might be accomplished on earth”

Arthur Wallis

“Revival comes to the church when we are thoroughly possessed by the hope held out in the gospel—and that hope is Christ Himself.”

David Bryant

With prayers for God's Spirit to stir afresh in your heart, Pastor Jeff

Personal Testimony of Dr. A. C. Dixon (1854-1925)

Greetings All!

     I chose this week's "thought" for the sheer honesty and transparency evidenced in the heart of the pastor who penned it.  It is a personal testimony that comes from, Dr. A. C. Dixon (1854-1925), pastor of the Baptist Church in Chapel Hill North Carolina, and then later pastor at the Ruggles Street Baptist Church in Boston. His testimony speaks for itself. Enjoy.

"The hand of the Lord was upon him." 

Ezekiel 1:3

     "While I was pastor at the Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, the university town of North Carolina, I was made to realize that, as a preacher, I was a dismal failure. 

     Parents all over the state wrote to me and requested that I look after the spiritual welfare of their sons in the university. I prepared sermons with the students in mind and was glad to see that they showed their appreciation by attending our Sunday services in large numbers.  At one point we appointed a week of prayer and preaching with the single purpose of winning them to Christ, and they attended the evening meetings.

     About the middle of the week their interest seemed to turn into opposition. The spirit of mischief possessed them. One night they tried to put out the lights. As I walked through the grove around the university buildings, I sometimes heard my voice coming from behind a tree. A bright student had caught a part of my sermon the night before, and he was mimicking me in thought and tone for the benefit of his fellow students who showed their appreciation by applause and laughter.  As I walked by an open window I heard my voice being mimicked in prayer and floating out.  I felt defeated and seriously considered resigning from the pastorate.  No one had been saved.

     After a restless night I took my Bible and went into the grove and remained there until three o'clock in the afternoon. As I read I asked God to show me what was the matter, and the Word of God searched me through and through giving me a deep sense of sin and helplessness, such as I had never had before...  That evening the students listened reverently, and at the close two pews were filled with those who had responded to the invitation. The revival continued day after day until more than seventy of the students had confessed Christ.

     Now the practical question is: "What did it?"   Certainly not I; I fear it was the "I" that kept God from doing it for a long time. There came to me out of the day's experience a clear-cut distinction between [human] influence and [divine] power.  Influence is made up of many things -- intellect, education, money, social position, personality, organization -- all of which ought to be used for Christ.   But power is God Himself at work unhindered by our unbelief and other sins.

     The word "influence" occurs but once in the Bible, and that in Job, where Jehovah speaks to the old patriarch of the "sweet influences of the Pleiades" (one of the nearest star clusters to the earth) -- a good text for a young minister to preach on in the springtime, but not sufficient in dealing with a group of mocking university students.  The New Testament word "power" holds the secret, and the power from on high was no other than God the Holy Spirit touching the soul through the living Word and giving it birth from above. I had been trusting and testing many other good things, only to fail.  The touch of God did in a minute what all my best efforts could not do." 

     His testimony speaks for itself. People may mock and laugh at and easily resist all our efforts.  But when the power of the Spirit attends what we say, even our feeblest human efforts can be used of God to melt the most hardened heart. We may (by our innate natural gifts) be able to influence people in some small and temporary way (and many pastors have been content with that), but only God (by the working of His mighty power) can change a hard heart permanently for all eternally.  Therefore, it should be our earnest desire to seek the assistance of this power, and not be content until our spirit is bathed in it and our efforts are attended by it.

In The Service of the Gospel, Pastor Jeff

George Mueller's Secret

Greetings All,

      This week's "thought" comes from the well-known man of faith George Mueller of Bristol, England (1805-1898).  The testimony of his life is both amazing and inspiring, with many books being written about him.  For at one point in his life he decided to live entirely by faith, asking God alone, through prayer, to meet his financial needs. It was difficult at first, and with no fixed income he was sometimes down to his last penny before the Lord would supply his need, but God always did.  And soon he was not only able to support himself and his wife Susannah, but eventually build 5 orphan homes which housed over 10,000 orphans from 1834-1898.  And as if that were not enough to occupy his time, would minister in 42 countries (the last at age 87), and preach 3 times a week during this time.  Yet even with so many to take care of, he still stayed true to his conviction not to make his needs known to anyone but God in prayer.

















     
      In the last 68 years of his life (he lived to be 92), he obtained through prayer the equivalent of $7,200,000.00 and never asked anyone directly for any money.  In those last 68 years he never took a salary for his ministry but trusted God to put in people's hearts to send him what he needed. He never took out a loan and never went into debt. And neither he nor the orphans were ever hungry.  Much to his credit, and unlike many today, "George Mueller never prayed for a thing just because he wanted it, or even just because he felt it was greatly needed for God’s work. He would search the Scriptures to find if there was some promise that covered the case. Sometimes he would search the scriptures for days before he presented his petition to God. And then when he found the promise, with his open Bible before him, and his finger upon that promise, he would plead that promise, and so he received what he asked. He always prayed with an open Bible before him" (R. A. Torrey). The story of his life is indeed inspiring, with many accounts of God's miraculous provision and answers to prayer.

     This excerpt is what has been called "George Mueller's Secret," or his personal method of sustaining his inward joy and happiness in Christ amidst the many stresses and responsibilities laid upon him by virtue of overseeing such a large ministry.  I have often reflected back on it and sought to practice his method.  I pray it might be of help to you as well.  Enjoy.

     “It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. What is that truth? I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord.  The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord; but how I might get my soul in  a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.  For I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world, and yet not being happy in the Lord, and not being strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in the right spirit.

       Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer after having dressed in the morning. Now, I saw that the most important thing was to give myself to the reading of God's Word, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, by means of the Word of God, whilst meditating on it, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord. I began therefore to meditate on the New Testament from the beginning, early in the morning. The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words of the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God, searching as it were into every verse to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word, not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon, but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul.

     The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that, though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less to prayer. When thus I have been for a while making confession or intercession or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it, but still continually keeping before me that food for my own soul is the object of my meditation. The result of this is that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercession mingled with my meditation, and that my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened, and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart.

The difference, then, between my former practice and my present on is this: formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible, and generally spent all my time till breakfast in prayer, or almost all the time. At all events I almost invariably began with prayer.... But what was the result? I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or even an hour on my knees before being conscious to myself of having derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, etc.; and often, after having suffered much from my mind wandering for the first ten minutes, or quarter of an hour, or even half an hour, I only then really began to pray. I scarcely ever suffer now in this way. For my heart being nourished by the truth, being brought into experimental fellowship with God, I speak to my Father and to my Friend (vile though I am, and unworthy of it) about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word. If often now astonishes me that I did not see this point sooner...

     And yet now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man. Now what is food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water passes through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it and applying it to our hearts.  When we pray we speak to God. Now prayer, in order to be continued for any length of time in any other than a formal manner, requires, generally speaking, a measure of strength or godly desire, and the season therefore when this exercise of the soul can be most effectually performed is after the inner man has been nourished by meditation on the Word of God, where we find our Father speaking to us, to encourage us, to comfort us, to instruct us, to humble us, to reprove us. We may therefore profitably meditate with God's blessing though we are ever so weak spiritually; nay, the weaker we are, the more we need meditation for the strengthening of our inner man.

     Thus, there is far less to be feared from wandering of mind than if we give ourselves to prayer without having had time previously for meditation. I dwell so particularly on this point because of the immense spiritual profit and refreshment I am conscious of having derived from it myself, and I affectionately and solemnly beseech all my fellow believers to ponder this matter. By the blessing of God, I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials, in various ways, than I have ever had before; and having now above fourteen years tried this way, I can most fully, in the fear of God, commend it.”

     It is my hope that this "secret" comes to be known far and wide, and that it might be used to encourage and challenge many to follow in his footsteps. Obviously, given all Mueller accomplished in his life, no one can say, "It was easy for him  back then, life wasn't as busy then as we are today."  For when I think of all that he did, I find it hard to comprehend how he managed to do it all!  Of course, the answer surely lies (to some degree) in the secret he shares above.  You may seek to try it and see!

In the Service of Jesus,  Pastor Jeff