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

How to Walk With God.

Greetings All,

Today's thought comes from the first chapter of a book I read as I was starting out in the ministry.  It was 1987 and the book was written by a man who was having a ministry of great impact at that time in New England -- Everett L. Fullam.  The book is entitled, "How to Walk With God."    Yet, before Fullam tells us how to walk with God (by faith, of course), he points out one necessary detail many overlook in terms of the Being we hope to walk with by faith.  Enjoy.

     "The most distinguishing characteristic of the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob -- the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ -- is His holiness. It's not His great power. It's not His infinite wisdom or knowledge. It's His holy character, with no dark spots, no shadows, but rather light through and through. His holiness means a consistency of purpose that is never deflected and a constancy of devotion in continual and eternal covenant.  If we are going to be among those who seek the Lord, we must concern ourselves with His holiness -- and concentrate on responding with a personal holiness that conforms to the will and purpose of God (Hebrews 12:14 / I Peter 1:16). 

     Holiness is not a popular idea today. There is a form of Christianity that is devoid of holiness, an eloquent testimony that its god is not the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, nor is it the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. People fashion gods after their own images and relate to those gods (those idols) on their own terms, because their gods are products of their own self-creation. In the early chapters of his prophecy, Isaiah recorded a marvelous vision of God seated high and lifted up on a throne. Isaiah wrote that God's train filled the temple, and that the pillars of the temple trembled at the presence of God.  He saw the place was filled with smoke and seraphs and angels flew about, singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts" (Isaiah 6:3).  In perceiving this God, the first words that came from his mouth were, "Woe is me, for I am undone. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips."  He had been dealing with the real God, and said: "For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:5).

     The only time we can deal with God and not be impressed by the depths of our need is when we fashion a god after our own liking and worship that god. We can deal with that god and remain the same, but if we come into the presence of the living God, we are struck with our own need. If we are unwilling to deal with the things in our lives that are contrary to the purpose of God, then we are not dealing with the holy God. We are dealing with an idol of our own imagining...  Whatever concerns us ultimately, whatever is the controlling dynamic of our life, is our god. For some people it is family, for others its careers, or getting ahead, or reaching the top. Whatever is dominant in our life is our god; and if it is anything other than the Lord God Himself, that's idolatry.  Before we can walk with Him we need to deal with those things. He wants His people to allow Him to be supreme, and so He told Abram to leave his country, his people, and his father's house. He told him to throw away the gods of his forefathers so he could start afresh, so he could learn to serve Him in singular faithfulness...

     God is a God of mercy -- He is a God of the second chance, and the third chance, and the fourth chance, and fifth and sixth and so on. When we come to Him -- even though we've been walking in the wrong direction,  even though we've stopped for a time and have not been moving at all -- if we recognize that we've been disobedient, and confess and deal with our sin by repentance, we can start over again right away.  God's forgiveness cleanses, and the grace of God again begins to flow toward us, and in us, as the joy of our salvation is restored."

     In our day it must be asked if we seek to walk with God as He really is.  That is, if we seek to walk with the God who is revealed in the Bible as being Holy above all else -- Holy, Holy Holy.  Unspeakably Holy and unalterably opposed to sin.  A God who as Fullam points out, calls us to be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1:16).  In many ways this calls us to divest ourselves of some of the common misrepresentations we have about Him in our minds. It means we must be willing to rid ourselves of the images of Him that we've created (or adopted over time) that make us feel more comfortable in dealing with Him.

     In 1987 when Fullam wrote the book, he could say, "Holiness is not a popular idea today."  I would say that is even more the case today.  Yet if we are to walk with God we must not ignore His primary attribute.  For we are told He is, "the Holy One of Israel."   We are told to "glory in His Holy name" (I Chron. 16:10).  Scripture tells us, "our God is Holy," and "His ways are Holy" (Ps. 77:13 / Ps. 99:9).  No other attribute of God is ever repeated three times in rapid succession. God is never said to be, "Love, Love Love," or"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy."  But He is said on three occasions to be, "Holy, Holy, Holy."  And therefore, if we desire to walk with Him, we must seek to grasp -- maybe above all else -- exactly what that means. For if we do not envision a God who is holy, we are not envisioning the God who is.

May we learn to walk with Him in holiness and reverence, Pastor Jeff 

What comes to mind when you think about God?

Greetings!

     Let me start with a question: What comes to mind when you think about God?
     One particular man has said that your answer to that question, "is the most important thing about [you]."   So think about it again: "What comes into your mind when you think about God?"   This week's "thought" explains why he makes the above assertion.  It is taken from the book, "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A. W. Tozer, and I pass it along to you because I want to challenge you to think more deeply about what you believe about God.

     As with most of the "thoughts" I pass along, I believe Tozer is right in the things he says.  What we believe about God does have a tremendous effect upon who we are, what we do, and who we will become.  I pray that his words might cause you to earnestly consider, and if necessary make some adjustments, in relation to your view of God. In fact, if you desire a very thoughtful and readable consideration of what Scripture tells us God is like, this book is well-worth the cost and time it takes to read it (or listen to it) The following entry tells you why he wrote the book.  Enjoy.

     "What comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.  Worship is either pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.  We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but the company of Christians that composes the Church.  Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.

     Were we able to extract from any person a complete answer to the question, "What comes to mind when you think about God?" we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that person.  Were we able to know exactly what our most influential religious leaders think of God today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the Church will stand tomorrow. Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God.  Thought and speech are God's gifts to creatures made in His image; these are intimately associated with Him and impossible apart from Him...  We may speak because God spoke.  In Him word and idea are indivisible.

That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us.  Compared with our actual thoughts of Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God.  A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well.  It is to worship what the foundation is to the Temple. Where it is inadequate or out of plumb, the whole structure must sooner or later collapse.  I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God...

     The church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping people. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic.  This low view of God... is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking.  With our loss of the sense of [God's] majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit. The words, "Be still and know that I am God," mean next to nothing to the self-confident bustling worshiper [of our day]...  The decline of the knowledge of the Holy has brought on our troubles...  A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way toward curing those troubles. It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate.  If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is." 

     I have seen the truth of what he says play itself out in my own life, as well as in society.  You too (if you are the introspective type) may be able to see traces of that progression (in a positive or negative direction) in your own life.  We inevitably (subconsciously) take on the characteristics of the God that we worship.  In fact, speaking of idols and those who make them the psalmist says: "Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them" (Psalm 115:8).  This is why it makes such a difference what we believe about God.  "We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God," as Tozer put it.

     Do you believe God is permissive? You believe God is a heartless taskmaster?  You believe God is gracious and kind?  You believe God is a heartless rule-enforcer?  You believe God is Santa Claus in the sky?  Do you believe ______________?   The answer to these questions is extremely important, for you will gravitate toward exhibiting the characteristics of the God you envision.  As many have realized (and used for both good and bad purposes -- like the empathetic counselor who wants to free from guilt with the Gospel, or the terrorist who wants to enlist people to do unspeakable acts of cruelty): All you need to do to bring about change in a person is to change their view of God. 

     Which leads me to ask you one last time: "What comes to mind when you think about God?"   And to close, let me ask you to imagine how different you, and this world could be, if the answer to that question was, "Jesus." (Hebrews 1:3).

Just some food for thought, Pastor Jeff

What Does "Revival" Look Like?

Greetings All!

     Last week I sent out some thoughts on revival.  This morning I gathered with some other gentlemen from my church discussed those thoughts.  In our conversation we talked about what a revival is like and if we had ever witnessed or been part of a reviving move of God.  I will not share things from that discussion, but as a follow-up to it (and last week's thoughts on revival) I did want to share part of a message I once preached on the topic based on the text of Isaiah 57:15: "This is what the high and lofty One says -- He who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."   It contains more thoughts on revival from others (not just mine) and a factual account of the things that actually happened during the First Great Awakening in New England in the 1730's - 40's.  If nothing else, I hope it makes you think.  Better yet, I hope it makes you pray that we might soon see another expression of such divine, holy and reviving grace.  Where water has once flowed, it can flow again.  Enjoy.

What Does "Revival" Look Like?

     “John Babcock, writing of a service in his church during the revival that swept through Virginia in the 19th century could say:  “The death-like awe of silence and solemnity sometimes seemed as if it were the hem of the robe of His glory waxing all but visible in our midst.”  It’s an unfortunate misrepresentation to suggest that all revivals result in outbursts of excited fervor.  They do not.  When the presence of God comes upon a congregation, what often pervades it is a sense of His holiness and majesty.  One feels the eerie sense of a spiritual presence that is so awe-full, so holy, so Other, that a quiet hush comes over that place and people are glued motionless to their seats.  They can hear themselves breathe. They listen to the beating of their hearts.  Even their thoughts seem loud.  Soft weeping throughout the congregation is often the only sound heard.

     When the Spirit comes in power people often begin to weep as the God they have often maligned, taken for granted, and dishonored by their sin, apathy, and unbelief, enters the sanctuary in a tangibly sensed way.  The people feel it.  Many are overcome by a fear of the Lord and a deep conviction of sin as God fills that place with a conscious sense of His holy presence, power, purity, righteousness an soul-exposing light. That’s one of the ways you can tell when “God shows up” and His manifest presence fills a room to convict, convert, comfort, or bring people to earnest life-changing repentance.  It gets really quiet.  Things becomes very still.  Everyone is motionless.  People stop coughing, clearing their throats, and shifting in their seats. Why?  Because they sense the presence of God in a way they don’t (or haven’t) at any other time.

     And don’t get me wrong.  God is always present – at all times, and in all places, whether we sense it or not.  But sometimes, for reasons known only to Him, He chooses on certain occasions, or for certain seasons, to make His presence so tangibly known to us that we actually sense His presence in our midst in an undeniable way.  That’s what revival is.  A powerful visitation of the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity and whose name is Holy (Isaiah 57:15).  God, so to speak, rends the heavens and comes down to visit His people (Isaiah 64:1).

     George Whitefield on one such occasion wrote:  “I was so overpowered with a sense of God’s love, that it almost took away my life.”  The experience of God’s presence - His Holy Love was so powerful it almost killed him.  D. L. Moody testifies of a similar experience.  Jonathan Edwards called them, “special seasons of mercy” or “extraordinary effusions” or “outpourings of the Holy Spirit.”   That is the essence of revival  God comes in a new and fresh visitation of His presence, sometimes in unspeakable holiness resulting in a hushed death-like stillness; other times in love so consuming and overpowering that a person nearly loses consciousness; and still other times in joy so euphoric and captivating that we feel it will carry us up into paradise that very moment (and we wish it would)!  A joy so freeing, peaceful and pleasurable that the soul is enraptured - feeling spiritually ravished by God.

     “When people,” writes Iain Murray, “burdened with a sense of guilt, come to complete deliverance through faith in the atoning work of Christ, and when the love of God fills the hearts of believers, then joy is irresistible.  The greater his knowledge of the benefits purchased by Christ, the greater the degree of joy, liberation, and gratitude to God he receives.”  And what causes it?  The Holy Spirit comes upon a person and convinces them that the Gospel message is really true!  Not that it would simply be nice if it were true, but that it is true!  Christ purchased it all.  He lived the perfect sinless life we could never live, and died in our place as the substitute who took our punishment upon Himself, and on the basis of trusting in that Gospel and that Saving One, we are freely forgiven and put in right standing with God (Isaiah 53 & 55)

     Jonathan Edwards recorded this account of the revival that swept through Northampton, MA, at the start of the first great awakening in America in 1734.  He writes: “The Spirit of God began to set in in an extraordinary way... The news of it seemed to be almost like a flash of lightning upon the hearts of young people all over town... In time, a great and earnest concern about the great things of religion and the eternal world became universal among persons of all ages and degrees.  The noise among the dry bones waxed louder and louder.  All other talk but about spiritual things and eternal things was soon thrown by.  All the conversation, in all companies, and upon all occasions, was upon these things only, except for what was necessary to carry on ordinary secular business.  People’s only concern was to get into the Kingdom of God, and everyone appeared to be pressing into it. The work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner, and... souls did, as it were, come by flocks to Jesus Christ...  In 1735 the town seemed full of the presence of God - never was it so full of love, nor of joy, and yet so full of distress (in the unbelievers) as it was then.   There were remarkable tokens of God’s presence in almost every house...  The Lord’s day was a delight.  Worship services were beautiful.   The congregation was alive... and every hearer was eager to drink in the words of the minister.  From time to time people were in tears as God’s Word was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love; and others out of concern for the souls of their neighbors.”

     It was a move of God’s Spirit so powerful it spread from Massachusetts to Connecticut and then clear down the east coast - all the way to Georgia.  Everyone sensed the presence of God as the High and Lofty and Holy One who inhabits eternity broke in upon the consciousness of people in a way so real and tangible that even unbelievers felt His presence in their midst.”

     I would love to share more historical accounts of revival. Like the Moravian revival of 1727, the Wesleyan revival in England around the same time, the revival among the Indians through David Brainerd, the 2nd Great Awakening in America, and many others, including the Azusa Street Revival and two others in more recent years at Asbury and Wheaton colleges. But time and space do not permit it.  That will be up to you to research n your own!

With continued prayers for you all, Pastor Jeff

Training Like Jesus

Greetings All!

     This week I received a magazine called, "Voice" (September/October 2018) which had a very interesting article on, "Training Like Jesus" in which the author -- Paul Seger -- shows the difference between the way Jesus trained people, the way the Church throughout history has done so, and the way we tend to do so today.   I found the differences quite fascinating, not to mention a bit convicting and very challenging.  I trust it might not only be informative and thought-provoking for you as well, but challenging to consider.  It gave me a much greater appreciation and respect for disciplers and pastors from the past.  Enjoy.

Training People Like Jesus Did

     "Life on the mission field has honed my conviction and commitment to discipleship. I have gained an appreciation for the absolute necessity of leadership training.  For years I have done both.  Discipleship of new believers and training men for church leadership became an indispensable part of missions and ministry.  But a visit I took to Israel this past year demonstrated how woefully inadequate my approach has been. As we traversed the Holy Land and rehearsed the life of Christ, it became obvious that His method of discipleship differed greatly from the way we disciple and train...

     The Gospels speak of Jesus moving around the country with little reference to distances he traveled.  In my naivete, I failed to factor walking into the equation. From His base of operations in Capernaum, Jerusalem was at least a five-day trek (approximately 121 miles, walking the whole way)...  What do these distances have to do with the amount of time Jesus spent training His disciples?  It is obvious these long walks would have given inordinate amounts of time to talk and train.  Lengthy hikes with conversations.  Lessons and lectures were enabled by hours on the road.  Add to that the absence of television, internet, phones, movies, electricity, and readily available entertainment, and the hours for teaching and training rapidly stacked up.  Evenings around the campfire allowed for unhurried conversations.  In the 21st Century we might wonder how Jesus could train disciples in 3.5 years. We anticipate four years of undergraduate work and then another three to four years for seminary. Yet in half that time Christ prepared the men who would be the foundation and future of the greatest initiative in history, the Church.

     Most preparation for ministry in the Western world takes place in a classroom and a 15-hour semester load is considered normal. Then, if there is an hour or two a week with a mentor, it is considered an exceptional experience...  But when Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, it was to spend 24 hours a day together for months on end.  They ministered together, ate together, worked together, relaxed together, socialized together and lived life as one.

     We will never replicate the teaching style of Jesus today.  We have neither the will nor the capacity to do this. But there have been phases of church history where something similar happened. In the early years of the United States there were no colleges and seminaries.  Men who wanted to enter the ministry did so by moving into the home of a pastor.  They rose in the morning and had devotions together. Breakfast was shared with opportunity to converse. Study for messages filled their morning hours and were done together (the older instructing the younger). Afternoon visits and evangelism were done together with opportunity to debrief after the event. Evenings were unhurried conversations around the table.  "In eighteenth-century New England, Christian leaders such as Jonathan and Sarah Edwards regularly had one or two pastor-trainees move into their home (alongside their 11 children!) where the budding ministers had opportunity to observe the quality of their marriage, the reality of their spiritual life, and the demands of pastoral duties" (Ted Engstrom, The Fine Art of Mentoring).  How many pastors do you know who have apprentices living in their homes?  Would I be willing to do that?

     Some pastors were better at doing this than others, so it was suggested that these shepherds do this full time.  With these full-time shepherds, Harvard and Princeton were formed to formalize the training and we never looked back. Our jam-packed schedules, programs, and Western approach to education have become the norm and crowded out the potential of training like Jesus.  I'm not sure we will ever go back to the way Jesus did it.  He spent the time... It would take a radical adjustment to ministry for the average pastor to include a couple trainees in their home and schedule... Even though we will not replicate the teaching style of Jesus, many of us could start moving in that direction."

     It is challenging to consider and think that maybe the newest way of doing things isn't the best or most effective.  It's also challenging to consider the depth of commitment it took to be disciples of Jesus. Or to be like a Sarah and Jonathan Edwards and open your house already full of 11 children to the watchful eyes of one or two pastors-in-training who watched (so as to learn) your every move. Imagine someone (or a couple of someones!) watching how you treat your wife and family, keep your house, spend your income, raise and train your children, pray and study the Word, evangelize and train leaders, speak of and interact with everyone in the Body of Christ, and seek to further the work of the Gospel locally and globally.

     Pastors often talk about "living in a fishbowl" where people observe everything you do.  And that's with people looking on from the outside!  Imagine them living in your house 24/7 for a couple years at a time!  Yikes!  For us who need our times of privacy to gather our thoughts and regain strength, it's a daunting thought!  We might all say, "Only by Your grace, O God!  Please give us what we need to begin to disciple more like Jesus did."

With You In Our Habitual Need For Grace, Pastor Jeff

A Lesson in Integrity

Greetings All!

     This week's "thought" was sent to me by a friend.  It's basically a lesson in integrity in a world that often lacks it.  It came from the blog site: WONDERNEED ( runwonder.com ) and was the post for August 7th.  I thought it was a story worth passing on simply for the truth it teaches -- that in a world that has embraced moral relativism, some still look for people of godly character.  Enjoy.

How One CEO Taught His Employees a Lesson in Integrity

     "A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.  Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.  He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you..”  The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued: “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED… I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

     One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.  By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

     Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.  A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

     When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”   The CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot.  He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front.  Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”  When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!  His name is Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.  “How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

     Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.  All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”

     In a world where we can tend to think that the road to success is simply a matter anticipating what others want, and then seeking to give them what we think they want (even if it means violating what we know to be right and true), this story stands as a helpful corrective. The honest person, or the person of integrity, as we all know, does not always "win out" in the end -- from a worldly perspective. Many people without solid integrity rise to the top, while those who have integrity get left in the dust.  In many cases honesty and truthfulness and a refusal to do what is wrong can be a problem when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder.  I knew a man who had to step down from a good paying managerial job because he was asked to change (tell an outright lie) on an employee accident report where the company was indeed at negligent and at fault, so that his employer would not be sued by the injured workers for their lost wages.  His honesty resulted in his losing his job, not a promotion.

     Yet, that's the choice we must all make.  Do what's expected and wanted, or do what is right.  Tell the truth, or manipulate the truth to our advantage. Do what we are asked (though immoral) or refuse to do it and accept the consequences -- whether they are good (by the world's standards) or bad (by the world's standards). Be a person of integrity because we know that's what God wants, and Christ calls us to, or do whatever enables us to get ahead in the world.  After all, many things that are legal are not moral, holy, or righteous in the sight of God.

     It brings us back to the ultimate question:  "What good is it if we gain the whole world and lose our soul?"   Every twisting of the truth...  every breach of integrity...  every overly-inflated charge (like the OT weighted scales)... chips away at the substance of our character and makes us less and less of what God wants us to be.  As Jesus told his disciples, "Let your yes be yes and your no be no; whatever is more than these is of the evil one" (Matthew 5:37).  When confronted by a moral dilemma, our goal should never be,"what will benefit me (in the worldly sense),"  but what honors God the most?  What does honesty and integrity demand?  For only then can it truly be to our benefit.

In the Glad Service of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

For Each Day A Prayer

Greetings All,

     This week's "thought" will surely qualify as the shortest one I've ever sent out! 
     It's a prayer by Blaise Pascal, the famous and brilliant French physicist and defender of the Christian faith. He is more well-known for his book, "Pensees" (meaning, "Thoughts") where with great wisdom, insight, reflection and logic he addresses and answers objections to the Christian faith. It has helped many a skeptic on their journey to faith in Jesus. This thought, however, is simply one little prayer he prayed.  A prayer packed with so much faith and profound spiritual insight (even though very short) that I thought it deserved to stand on its own.

     It is found in a book I received in the mail yesterday from Honduras, as a gift from my good friend Edith Peters. (Thank you Edith!)  The title is, "For Each Day A Prayer."  The author (the collector and arranger of the prayers found in it) is Elisabeth Hamill Davis.  It was published in 1905.
     She does not say where she found this prayer, but I offer it to you for your consideration -- requesting only that you might read it, and then honestly and earnestly ask yourself if you could sincerely pray it as your own, stating the truth he states, and requesting those things he asks for.  Enjoy.

     "The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away, blessed be the name of the LORD."

Job 1:21

"O Lord, let me not from this day forward desire health or life, 

       except to spend them for You, with You, and in You.

  You alone know what is good for me; 

       do, therefore, whatever seems best to You.

Give to me, or take from me. 

Conform my will to Yours.

Grant that with humble and perfect submission, 

and in holy confidence, I may receive the orders 

of Your eternal Providence; and may equally adore 

all that comes from You; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen."

In His Service, Pastor Jeff