Although I don't listen to the Crabb family very much, I did hear a song by Jason Crabb (written by his father who is a wonderful songwriter!) that expresses how I feel at times. God is good; God is faithful; God has never disappointed me once, but sometimes I hurt and get overwhelmed...and I cry. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Revival God's Way
Revival God’s Way
Our revival services came to a conclusion this past Wednesday night. Dennis Deese from Piney Flats, Tennessee was our guest evangelist. Bro. Dennis preached with power and passion. In each of our services, decisions were made as the Spirit of God moved in the hearts of those attending. It was a great week. My prayer is that what began this week will continue into the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.
If we ever lived in a time when the church needs revival, it is now. I personally don’t know of any Christian who would disagree with that statement. However, recognizing a problem or need and doing something about it are not the same. In a day when our families are falling apart, when immoral behavior is at an all time high, when substance abuse is destroying lives, and when just about every ungodly behavior is not only accepted but actually endorsed by multitudes of people, what are we as the church doing to bring about a move of God? Read again God’s words in 2 Chron. 7:14...
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Are we doing anything that even closely resembles God’s instructions? We are pretty good at cursing the dark, but are we doing anything to share the light that we have?
I am inclined to believe what Leonard Ravenhill said many years as to why we do not have revival. He said that the church does not have revival because she is content to live without it. We do all the necessary things to “plan” a revival, but it does not come. Experiencing revival is not jumping through a set of hoops or following some formula that we have been told will ensure a great move of God that will result in a lot of movement. Revival, true revival, will only come God’s way. The Bible teaches that God desires brokenness and contrition.
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “ I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).
Brokenness and humility will always precede revival. Pride will only prevent it. This is why I believe it is so difficult for revival to come – because not many are willing to get broken over their sins. Pride will not allow it. But when we do get humble and turn from our selfish and wicked ways God has promised to move among His people. Someone once wrote that if revival truly broke out among God’s people there would be...
"...increased and renewed participation in worship, an outpouring of love among God’s people, a heightened awareness of holiness with confession, repentance and restitution, an eagerness for Christian service, anointed preaching of and an individual interest in the holy word of God, a growing boldness in prayer, a remarkable ease in witnessing to and evangelism of the non-church community, all out involvement in spiritual warfare, an unusual sense of well-being or wholeness."
I long for those things to happen. But more than any of those, I desire that God would come down and dwell among His people. That we would desire Him alone and not just what He does for us. That we would experience the Blesser and not just the blessings! I am convinced that revival can come and that it will come if we are willing to have revival God’s way.
I praise God for the decisions made this week; I really believe He was in those decisions. I want what began this week to continue. Revival can still sweep through this community and any other community if His people are willing to pay the price and stop being content with the status quo.
By the way, you can check out Bro. Dennis’ ministry by going to his website, www.dennisdeese.com. You will find a lot of helpful ministry resources on this site.
Our revival services came to a conclusion this past Wednesday night. Dennis Deese from Piney Flats, Tennessee was our guest evangelist. Bro. Dennis preached with power and passion. In each of our services, decisions were made as the Spirit of God moved in the hearts of those attending. It was a great week. My prayer is that what began this week will continue into the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.
If we ever lived in a time when the church needs revival, it is now. I personally don’t know of any Christian who would disagree with that statement. However, recognizing a problem or need and doing something about it are not the same. In a day when our families are falling apart, when immoral behavior is at an all time high, when substance abuse is destroying lives, and when just about every ungodly behavior is not only accepted but actually endorsed by multitudes of people, what are we as the church doing to bring about a move of God? Read again God’s words in 2 Chron. 7:14...
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Are we doing anything that even closely resembles God’s instructions? We are pretty good at cursing the dark, but are we doing anything to share the light that we have?
I am inclined to believe what Leonard Ravenhill said many years as to why we do not have revival. He said that the church does not have revival because she is content to live without it. We do all the necessary things to “plan” a revival, but it does not come. Experiencing revival is not jumping through a set of hoops or following some formula that we have been told will ensure a great move of God that will result in a lot of movement. Revival, true revival, will only come God’s way. The Bible teaches that God desires brokenness and contrition.
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “ I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).
Brokenness and humility will always precede revival. Pride will only prevent it. This is why I believe it is so difficult for revival to come – because not many are willing to get broken over their sins. Pride will not allow it. But when we do get humble and turn from our selfish and wicked ways God has promised to move among His people. Someone once wrote that if revival truly broke out among God’s people there would be...
"...increased and renewed participation in worship, an outpouring of love among God’s people, a heightened awareness of holiness with confession, repentance and restitution, an eagerness for Christian service, anointed preaching of and an individual interest in the holy word of God, a growing boldness in prayer, a remarkable ease in witnessing to and evangelism of the non-church community, all out involvement in spiritual warfare, an unusual sense of well-being or wholeness."
I long for those things to happen. But more than any of those, I desire that God would come down and dwell among His people. That we would desire Him alone and not just what He does for us. That we would experience the Blesser and not just the blessings! I am convinced that revival can come and that it will come if we are willing to have revival God’s way.
I praise God for the decisions made this week; I really believe He was in those decisions. I want what began this week to continue. Revival can still sweep through this community and any other community if His people are willing to pay the price and stop being content with the status quo.
By the way, you can check out Bro. Dennis’ ministry by going to his website, www.dennisdeese.com. You will find a lot of helpful ministry resources on this site.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
A Man Of Prayer
Recently I purchased a book on prayer by E.M. Bounds. If you have never read any of his writings I encourage you to do so. His writings on prayer have probably challenged me more than any other book that I have read on this subject. Even though he died in 1913, his messages still have much to say to the church today regarding this often-neglected discipline.
The challenge for me is this: to become a man of prayer and not just a man who prays. What is the difference? For me, to just be a man that prays speaks only about what I do. For example, to be a man who prays means that I believe in prayer and I pray at the right times. It means I pray at mealtime, at bedtime, at church, and of course, when I am facing a crisis or some other special circumstance. As a pastor, I pray when I visit someone in the hospital, at funerals...like I said, at the right places and at the right times. Don’t get me wrong, we should not neglect to pray at times like these. However, to be a man of prayer speaks more of who and what I am. In other words, to be a man of prayer means my entire life is lived in an attitude of prayer; I don’t have to think about praying - I just pray. I become sensitive to the Spirit when He speaks, and I take the time to speak to Him. If I am a person of prayer then praying is as natural as breathing. The day begins in prayer, and every decision that I make throughout the day is determined by seeking God’s will through prayer. And it’s not just the “big” decisions, but even the ones that we consider small.
Consider these words from scripture:
“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up” (Luke 18:1).
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Phil 4:6).
“Never stop praying” (1 Thess. 5:17).
These are just a few verses that instruct us to be people who live constantly in an attitude of prayer. Again, they teach that we should be people of prayer and not just people who pray! Scripture teaches that Jesus Himself often got alone with God and prayed. I believe it was because His prayer life was so powerful that it compelled His disciples to go to Him and ask Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). When was the last time our prayer life was a challenge to someone? I’m not saying that we should try to impress people with our prayers or prayer life. What I am saying is that people should see the believer as having such an intimate relationship with the Father that they will inquire of us as to how they can enjoy that kind of relationship themselves. That will never happen by saying routine prayers that go nowhere. I want my prayer life to make a difference. It can if I am a man of prayer.
As we saw in the previous verses, a child of God can go to Him about anything, whether big or small. If He knows the number of the hairs on our head (Luke 12:7); if He feeds the birds, and clothes the grass of the field (Matt 6:26-30), how much more does He care about you and me? There is nothing regarding His children that He is unconcerned about. Knowing that our loving heavenly Father cares about us and wants to hear from us should drive us to our knees... regularly. We don’t need to just be people who pray because that is what we are supposed to do; we should be people who pray because that is who we are, and that is what God desires.
May it be said of us as it was said of an old saint, “Prayer was pre-eminently the business of his life.”
O Lord, help me to be a man of prayer!
Monday, March 21, 2011
A New World
I never thought that I would enter the world of blogging. I really don't like to write. I really don't think I am that good at writing. However, there are times when I have a few thoughts that I need to get out, and no one is around to listen. Of course, there are times when others are around, but they don't care what is on my mind at that moment...if they ever care! So I just figured this might be a way to get some of those thoughts out, and if anyone is interested they can log on and read. As the title says, what is found on here will be simple thoughts- nothing deep or profound since I don't know how to think deeply anyway. Also, the posts on here will be occasional...no deadlines!
In one sense, starting a blog is a way that I am facing one of my fears. Since I don't have a lot of confidence in my writing ability (or spelling for that matter...thank the Lord for spell check!), I don't like to put my thoughts in print. It is safer to keep them to myself or just tell someone what's on my mind. That way I don't allow people to see one of my weak spots. That is fear, and fear brings a snare (Prov. 29:25). I'm not saying that God told me to start this blog, but it will help me to face one of my fears that I have had for some time. Who knows, maybe someone might actually get something from a future post; I hope so. I'm sure some will read them and think that I need to just stick with preaching. Maybe they will be good for a laugh.
Anyway, I begin this journey with excitement, and I look forward to what shall follow. We shall see what the future holds!
John 3:30
In one sense, starting a blog is a way that I am facing one of my fears. Since I don't have a lot of confidence in my writing ability (or spelling for that matter...thank the Lord for spell check!), I don't like to put my thoughts in print. It is safer to keep them to myself or just tell someone what's on my mind. That way I don't allow people to see one of my weak spots. That is fear, and fear brings a snare (Prov. 29:25). I'm not saying that God told me to start this blog, but it will help me to face one of my fears that I have had for some time. Who knows, maybe someone might actually get something from a future post; I hope so. I'm sure some will read them and think that I need to just stick with preaching. Maybe they will be good for a laugh.
Anyway, I begin this journey with excitement, and I look forward to what shall follow. We shall see what the future holds!
John 3:30
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