The Incredible Message

Speaking to a renewal conference some time ago, former Asbury Seminary President Maxie D. Dunnam said, "An incredible message has been entrusted to us, a powerfully compelling message of an earth-shattering, world-changing, person-transforming fact. At the heart of it is

Jesus, His incarnation, life, teaching, death and resurrection." 

"People within and outside the church are starving spiritually. Within the church they ask for bread and are given stones. Witnesses abound. Persons in pain and sadness share stories of their long endurance in one of our mainline congregations, but they could take it no longer. Their pastors not only disregarded, they denigrated the authority of

God's word. So the person sought another congregation where Scripture was honoured and preached . . . They were starving for the Word.

"People outside the church are starving as well. They are starving because the church has betrayed her first love, has become so ideologically bound that she is spiritually barren. Committed to theological pluralism and making diversity redemptive within itself, we are diverted from the core dynamic of the

Christian faith: what Christ can do for persons and for society.

"Redemptive, transforming power is in the Cross of Jesus - His sacrificial death for our sins. ... The fire is there to burn up the filthiness, decadence and destructiveness of sin and unrighteousness. The energy and fire are there in the fact that God became incarnate, walked the earth, died, rose again and turned evil's seemingly supreme triumph in its most crushing, irrevocable defeat." 

(The Layman Online, October 31, 2002)
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Character-The Beauty That Lasts

"... clothe yourselves... with the beauty that comes from within... " - 1 Peter 3:4 NLT

When it comes to beauty, get your perspective right: 'Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery, or beautiful clothes... clothe yourselves... with the beauty that comes from within... ' (1 Peter 3:3-4 NLT).

The public relations department of a beauty products company asked its customers to send pictures along with brief letters, describing the most beautiful women they knew. Thousands of letters came in. One caught the attention of the employees and was passed on to the president. It was written by a boy from a broken home who lived in a run-down neighbourhood. With lots of spelling errors, an excerpt from his letter read: 'A beautiful woman lives down the street from me. I visit her every day. She makes me feel like the most important kid in the world. We play checkers and she listens to my problems. She understands me. When I leave she always yells out the door that she's proud of me.' The boy ended his letter saying, 'This picture shows you that she is the most beautiful woman in the world, and one day I hope to have a wife as pretty as her.' Intrigued, the president asked to see the woman's picture. His secretary handed him a photograph of a smiling, toothless woman, well advanced in years, sitting in a wheelchair. Sparse grey hair was pulled back in a bun. The wrinkles that formed deep furrows on her face were somehow diminished by the twinkle in her eyes. 'We can't use this woman,' said the president, smiling. 'She would show the world that our products aren't necessary to be beautiful.'


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God's Dream

Charles Peguy, the French poet, expressed this dream of God as the heart of the matter of all Christian ministry

I will dream a dream within you.....
Good dreams come from me, you know.......

My dreams seem impossible,
not too practical,
not for the cautious man or woman......
a little risky sometimes,
a trifle brash perhaps.......

Some of my friends prefer
to rest more comfortably,
in sounder sleep,
with visionless eyes......

But, from those who share my dreams
I ask a little patience,
a little humour,
some small courage,
and a listening heart........

I will do the rest.......
Then they will risk
and wonder at their daring.....
Run...and marvel at their speed....
Build... and stand in awe at the beauty of their building....

You will meet me often as you work....
in your companions, who share the risk....
in your friends, who believe in you enough
to lend their own dreams
their own hearts
to your building....

In the people who will stand in your doorway,
stay awhile,
and walk away knowing that they, too, can find a dream

There will be sun-filled days,
and sometimes it will rain......
a little variety...
both come from me.

So come now be content

It is my dream you dream....
my house you build....
my caring you witness....
my love you share
and this is the heart of the matter.


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When You're The Leader

"... the leader should be like a servant." - Luke 22:26 NLT

Michael Bruner writes about how, as a brash young college student, he attended a lecture by a former U.S. Attorney General. He says: 'Afterwards I approached him to see if we could meet for coffee. To his associates' shock, he said, "How about tomorrow"... We met and talked for an hour... I peppered him with questions. What famous people had he met? What was it like to be Attorney General in the 60's? When I asked him who was the greatest person he'd ever met, he said, "I don't think of people in those terms." He went on to tell me something I'll never forget. "Don't ever seek to be the greatest. Seek instead to do great things. If you aspire to greatness, your greatness will die with you. But if you aspire to do great things, your legacy will live on. The only way to do this is by being a servant. Lead by serving and you'll do great things." I was too young in the faith to know he'd taken those words from Scripture... Jesus was the embodiment of servant leadership. He didn't just tell the disciples what they should do, he did it along with them... As I left the hotel that morning and waited to cross the street, a blind man with a seeing-eye dog came up alongside me. I stared at the beautiful Lab... his senses alert, his sole purpose in life to serve his... master. Then the light turned green and gently the dog led [him] across the street... God had sent me a living parable. I learned a lesson that morning I would never forget. Pursue great things, not greatness; lead by serving.

Courtesy: Bob Gass and TWFT
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Mountain Moving Faith

Mountain Moving Faith

A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary.

Unfortunately, the church with its undersized lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard.

Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had "mountain moving faith." They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week.

At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation's 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o'clock the pastor said the final "Amen." "We'll open next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too."

The next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called "come in," a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered. "Excuse me, Reverend, I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We're building a huge new shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church? We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly."

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:21)

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Not Professionals

"We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry," John Piper writes in his book Brothers, We Are NOT Professionals. "Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry."

Professionalism leads to spiritual decline, Piper believes: "For there is no professional childlikeness; there is no professional tenderheartedness; there is no professional panting after God."

In the chapter, "Brothers, Fight for Your Life," he urges pastors to take 20 minutes a day, six days a week, just to read.

"Without time of unhurried reading and reflection, beyond the press of sermon preparation, my soul shrinks... For your own soul and the life of your church, fight for time to feed your soul with rich reading."

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Integrity as the Best Collateral

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!' All of a sudden, 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!'

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Brothers, We Are NOT Professionals

"We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry," John Piper writes in his book Brothers, We Are NOT Professionals. "Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry."

Professionalism leads to spiritual decline, Piper believes: "For there is no professional childlikeness; there is no professional tenderheartedness; there is no professional panting after God."

In the chapter, "Brothers, Fight for Your Life," he urges pastors to take 20 minutes a day, six days a week, just to read.

"Without time of unhurried reading and reflection, beyond the press of sermon preparation, my soul shrinks... For your own soul and the life of your church, fight for time to feed your soul with rich reading."

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Have you surrendered your time to God?

In One Minute Uplift newsletter Rick Ezell repoted that a friend of his said, "My problem is that I have surrendered my time to work, to other people, and to bad habits."

Rick, however wrote that "We should first surrender our time to God. God owns it anyway. Our task is to manage properly what has been entrusted to us until he returns or wants it back, including our time."

"Think about a compass and a clock Two very important tools, but two very different instruments. One would be wise not to confuse the two. To surrender our time to God is to be governed by a compass rather than to be controlled by a clock. A compass provides a sense of direction, purpose, vision, perspective, and balance. A clock measures duration, the expenditure of time. A compass determines effectiveness-doing the right tasks. A clock determines efficiency-how long it takes to accomplish a task. Both have their place. But, the compass must come before the clock, therefore, effectiveness before efficiency. The "mega priorities" of the compass subordinate the "mini priorities" of the clock."

"A compass, therefore, becomes a symbol of an internal guidance system that provides us with our values and convictions based on God's Word. This non-negotiable governs our lives. In the same manner that the gravitational force pulls the compass needle; it is God that governs the drive of our lives. We surrender to his force." 

"Our time should be surrendered to God daily. I asked a friend who is engaged in many pursuits successfully, how he managed it all. He said, "I give my first minutes to God, then I commit the remainder of the day to his Lordship. And amazingly I work more effectively and efficiently.""

Have you surrendered your time to God?  Is your time in his hands?

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The Need for Change

It is good to hear and be moved when the spiritual clarion indicates the need for change. At such times tools (ideas) are usually assembled; Builders are usually mobilized, while action might be held back on the beach of reservation.

We cannot both eat our cake and have it. It is either we understand and heed the law of sacrifice or stay back to abide alone.

Jesus was revolutionary while He was here. while enacting the Mosaic principles beyond what the lawgiver understood, He towed the path of a revolutionary. He used the platform contemporary to him to move forward. "You have heard...", he told them; "But I say to you", he quipped in conclusion without compromising the original intention.

The traditional elders might be drunken with anger about their traditions being violated. He had insisted on why he came: it was not to appease ancient minds, but to please the one that assigned him to come for that hour; to do his will and finish the works was His preoccupation.

He spoke directly to women: they too were important to God. He healed the sick on the sabbath: that was the intention veiled in the past. The custodian of the laws and traditions that we should commend received the other side of Him.

Change must be embraced when the need is obvious. I believe Sister Aimee Semple McPherson did preach the gospel in a revolutionary manner beyond the traditions many are promoting almost a century later.

Sancrosant on the church is the burden of bridge building that understand the meaning of separation from the world which was never intended as segregation. For how long shall the church continue to play safe? Can't we simply admit that we are afraid of the world that we suppose to win for the Lord.

The church complains about the manners of the world. Shame! Why then are armed with the gospel. The same fear we have of our youth. We would like them to repeat our history and preserve the past that God is great than.

We are all here for a time like this. None will come from the past nor from the future to do it for us. In the same manner as Jesus spoke the language the people understood and less of talitha cumi; we must embrace change and stop priding ourselves in the language of the past.

My concern is that when change is not embraced as at when due, we may look back to regret it later.

We cannot continue to play safe as comfort zone never brings optimal benefit. We must be daring to go for the deep, fish are there waiting. You don't actually get much of them on the beach of reservation or resignation.

If we fail to respond now, posterity would publish the history of a dark age, when light was not sufficient; of a people that repeated the history of the early (Jewish) church which embraced and celebrated its value above the universality of the gospel.

Again, I insist, the gospel is universal in nature. It is a gospel for all. Sis. Aimee was able to reach both the 'high flying' hollywood actors and the downtown folks.

If we tarry, the Holy Spirit will once again take charge directly, by turning the Deacons to fiery evangelists. He will rock the boat of stagnancy and send the ones for the hour, those without the title of hierachical formation beyond their immediate environs to turn the world upside down; those who shall take water of the word out of the pots of tradition and have it changed on their hands to produce the New Wine needed in a generation.

We mau thereafter call tjem our products, but hte Holy Spirit would have carroed out an agenda accordmg to the design we have violated.

As the Lord moves His Church into a season of change, may we understand the time and the demand of the season, to fly on the wings of the unreserved Holy Spirit. With Him we shall be safer than what we arrange for in our reservation. Let the church keep the legacy, not by the celebration of human tradition, but in the joy of being dynamic.

May the Lord advance His kingdom uniquely in our time.

Isaac Tolu Boluwatise

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Preaching Must Lead People Toward the Image of Christ

In his presentation at the E.Y. Mullins Lectures Pastor John MacArthur made the following assertion which I consider valuable and pivotal for every pastor.

"I have learned through the years that the deeper you go into the things of God, the higher the people go in worship. Shallow preaching produces shallow worship. I can basically walk into a church and listen to the music for 15 minutes and tell you how profound the people's understanding of the things of God is because it will be reflected in that.

"If people are really going to know what it is to worship God with the mind, they're going to have to understand the deep things of God, and that doesn't mean you are oblique, it doesn't mean you are obscure.

"What is my responsibility as a shepherd? Is it to entertain people? To ignore my people while I talk to the non-people of God? What is the goal of my shepherding and my preaching? It is to conform my people to the image of Christ as much as possible as God uses me as an instrument of the teaching of His Word which does the conforming. The church is precious to me because it is so identified with Jesus Christ.

"I preach only the Word of God, only one book, because it is by the Word of God that sinners are saved and the saved are sanctified. ... I leave the effect of that truth to the purposes of God and the mighty work of the Holy Spirit." 

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Providence

The only survivor of a shipwreck came upon a small, uninhabited island. He prayed repeatedly for God to save him and everyday scanned the horizon for his answer. Even though he was exhausted and in despair, he eventually managed to build a little hut to keep him out of the weather and to store his provisions.

Then one day, after searching for food, he came home to find his little hut on fire. The worst thing that could have happened had happened. Everything he had was consumed. In his grief he cried out, "God, how could you do this to me!" Early the next morning, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. They had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the castaway. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

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"Mister, are you ready to find Jesus?"

A drunken man stumbles across a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by the river. He proceeds to walk into the water and stand next to the old country preacher. The minister notices the old drunk and says, "Mister, are you ready to find Jesus?"

The drunk looks back and says, "Yes, preacher, I sure am."  So the minister dunks the fellow under the water and pulls him right back up.

"Have you found Jesus?" the preacher asks."No, I didn't!" said the drunk.

The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him up, and says, "Now brother, have you found Jesus?"

"No, I have not, Reverend."

The preacher now holds the man under for at least 30 seconds this time, brings him out of the water, and says in exasperation, "Man, have you found Jesus yet?"

The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher, "Are you sure this is where he fell in?"

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