There are a myriad of problems facing the world today. They keep the news industry in business as we seem to go from one crisis to another against a backdrop of global warming. But what is the greatest problem we face?
It is not global warming.
It is not terrorism.
It is not North Korea.
It is not obesity.
It is not the status of the EU.
It is not GMOs.
It is sin.
That is the stark reality. The fact that each person must face a God and give an account for their lives. And each person is guilty of sin. And the good and just God must punish sin. He has decreed that the punishment for sin is death and eternity in hell. We have a bigger problem than the earth's temperature rising a degree or two: people are heading for an eternity in hell. That is the backdrop of the drama of our days. The other problems are real, but their significance is minor compared to the bigger issue of our guilt before God.
Jesus solved the problem by offering his sinless life for our sinful life. He took the punishment for our sins so that all who believe in him are forgiven and set free from the guilt and shame that comes from sin. I hope that you have found that freedom that comes from the gospel.
But let me remind you for a moment that there are others who have not given their lives to Christ and are still on the road to hell. As Christ-followers, one of our primary tasks is to be witnesses to the gospel. It is not optional. In fact, to neglect that responsibility is negligence of the worst kind! So let me challenge you to make being a witness a normal part of your life.
Be completely sold out to Jesus. We've seen from our study of 1 Peter that followers of Jesus should be different that those who do not know him. This does not mean that we wear ugly clothes or out-of-date hair-styles. It means that we say no to sin and live lives of love. This lifestyle flows out of being radically committed to following Jesus.
Do not be ashamed. Paul wrote, "I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." There is nothing to be ashamed of! I recently talked to someone who actively shares her faith and she simply said that she brings up Jesus and church early in her relationships with people. They are not taken by surprise that she is a follower of Christ. Remember, as we share the gospel we are helping people avoid hell and discover the true reason that they exist: to have a relationship with God. If a blind person was walking toward cliff, would you warn them? Would you be afraid that they might get upset with you for objecting to the direction they were walking? Such is the situation for those around us who do not know Jesus: they are walking towards a cliff and are in danger of dropping down to hell.
Think much about the gospel. The reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus has huge implications for life. We need to think about it. We should dive deep into its glories and be filled with awe and what Jesus has done. Then we need to share it with others. Can you share the gospel message in a brief but powerful way? Can you talk about what Jesus means to you? Spend some time thinking and writing about these things so that you will be better prepared for sharing your fatih.
Pray for opportunities to talk about Jesus. The Holy Spirit is already at work. Ask Jesus to show you where to invest your time and energy. Ask Him to give you "divine appointments" to talk about Jesus. Ask Him to use you to reach those who do not know Him. Then be bold in sharing your faith. Remember, Jesus can take what you say and use it in another person's life. Be a witness and let the Spirit do the rest!
As followers of Jesus, we need to be concerned with the problems that are facing us. Poverty, human trafficking, and injustice are important. But let's make sure that we do not neglect the most important issue of all. We have the gospel. Let's not keep it to ourselves!
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Monday, May 8, 2017
The Auction: What Am I Bid?
What am I Bid?
Suddenly I find myself in a giant hall.
Surrounding me are thousands of young people,
battered, bruised and broken.
Then suddenly I hear a voice.
"What am I Bid?"
A young girl stands out before the crowd of leering, sneering men.
"What am I bid for this piece of flesh?"
The men start to cheer and shout figures:
"Ten," "Twenty," "Fifty," "One hundred."
What can I do, God?
I start to bid. I have to save her.
The cost becomes huge, and I begin to waiver.
Can I afford this?
What price will I pay?
The dream stops.
I am alone again. But the faces are real enough:
Sarah being into prostitution;
Mike with a revolver in his mouth;
Kat covered in cuts and bruises;
John falling into crime;
Laura alone and desperate;
Steve, heroin needle bulging into his vein.
"What am I bid?"
The voice shatters the silence. The auction is on again.
The bidding has begun.
It continues day and night until the end.
It continues day and night until the end.
Most of the bidders desire only to use and abuse.
Satan drives them on.
And so I find myself in the auction.
Will I watch or will I bid?
The price of a single life is huge.
The currency is prayer.
The cost is massive, but the prize is glorious.
A life for a life.
What am I bid?
This writing on the wall of a prayer room is taken from the book Red Moon Rising, which is the story of a 24/7 prayer movement. It's images are graphic. The scene is haunting. But it is one of the greatest reminders I know of the true nature of what we are involved in as believers and as a church. We are involved in a spiritual battle for the souls of men and women. That battle must be won in prayer. There are no shortcuts.
The prayer room is the energy plant, the furnace, or the boiler room of the church. Without a deep and sustained life of prayer, the church becomes a place dependent on entertaining programs because there is no sense of the presence of God in her midst.
Every revival in the history of the church has been preceded by prayer. Hidden prayer warriors, normally unknown on earth, but known in heaven (and hell), prayed mountain-moving prayers. Revival followed like sunshine follows the rain.
The prayer warrior understands the true nature of things. Social programs, as helpful as they may be, are relatively powerless to free the drug addict or the prostitute from their bondage. Prayer unleashes the power of God and sets the captive free.
Politicians debate policy initiatives, but those who have spent time on their knees understand that the prayer closet is more powerful than any President's office. When the praying person enters their prayer closet and shuts the door they are instantly standing before the King of the Universe. History belongs to the intercessors.
I was standing in the kitchen of a woman who spend her life going into the darkest places and bringing the light of the gospel. This woman is well-known in our denomination for her fearlessness in pioneering work. That morning she sighed heavily and said, "Karl, I don't know what we are going to do. All our old prayer warriors are dying." She understood that she was merely the tip of the sword. The real heroes were those who committed themselves to prayer. Without them, her work would become much less fruitful and even more dangerous.
Today the great need of the hour is prayer. We are called to an impossible task. Impossible, that is, without the power of God. Prayer opens the way for the flowing of the power of God. But such prayer is costly in time, discipline, and brokenness. May the Lord raise up intercessors in our midst who know how to pray are willing to pay the price of effective payer.
There is an auction going on. The currency is prayer. What will you bid?
I was standing in the kitchen of a woman who spend her life going into the darkest places and bringing the light of the gospel. This woman is well-known in our denomination for her fearlessness in pioneering work. That morning she sighed heavily and said, "Karl, I don't know what we are going to do. All our old prayer warriors are dying." She understood that she was merely the tip of the sword. The real heroes were those who committed themselves to prayer. Without them, her work would become much less fruitful and even more dangerous.
Today the great need of the hour is prayer. We are called to an impossible task. Impossible, that is, without the power of God. Prayer opens the way for the flowing of the power of God. But such prayer is costly in time, discipline, and brokenness. May the Lord raise up intercessors in our midst who know how to pray are willing to pay the price of effective payer.
There is an auction going on. The currency is prayer. What will you bid?
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Brother Lawrence
About 75 minutes from here by car is a sleepy little village. Today there is a church, a bar, and a smattering of houses. About 400 years ago a child named Nick was born into poverty. As he grew, he struggled to find enough to eat so he enlisted in the army. Whatever the risks were involved in military service, at least he could be reasonably certain of regular meals and a small spending allowance.
The risks were real. Nick was born shortly before the start of what we now call the Thirty Years War. The Reformation had far-reaching consequences, some of them political. In an era when the approval of the church gave legitimacy to political power, the division of the Reformation gave rise to political power struggles. When a new Holy Roman Emperor was crowned, he sought to enforce Roman Catholicism on the Protestant north. The north rebelled against this violation of the Treaty of Augsburg, and Europe was plunged into a war. It quickly became less about religion and more about power. Eventually all the European powers including Sweden were involved. The Thirty Wars War claimed over eight million lives.
Nick was lucky: while serving in the army he escaped death, but was wounded and the injury was severe enough to end his military career. In a land suffering the devastation of war, he struggled to find work. Eventually serving as a footman, open and closing doors for a wealthy patron.
At the age of 24 he made a decision: he would enter monastic life. He did not have the education to become ordained, but became a lay brother in the Carmelite Priory in Paris. The Carmelite order stressed contemplative prayer, community, and service.
As a lay brother, he was assigned the task of working the priory's busy kitchen. Cooking and washing dishes in a noisy and often steamy kitchen filled his days and years. In spite of the busy work life, there were many who were attracted by his unusual calmness and he would find himself frequently talking with people about the Lord. He would help them deepen their relationship with Jesus.
He died in February 1691. As a monk, he had no possessions, but there are always a few things that need to be sorted through when someone dies. Father Joseph de Beaufort found among his effects letters that he had written about the spiritual life. The priest realised that he was holding gold in his hands. So he took the letters, added some reminiscences of the monk, and published a little book. That book has been translated into over 100 languages and been printed millions of times. Not a bad legacy for an obscure monk toiling in a kitchen!
I forgot to mention that when he became a monk he took the name "Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection"... Brother Lawrence for short. The name of the book is The Practice of the Presence of God.
At the heart of the book is the idea that we should be aware of the presence of God throughout the day. We should have a continual ongoing interior conversation with God regardless of what we are doing. He sought to break down the idea of the secular and the sacred when it came to communion with God. Or to put it in his words, "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament."
"We should establish ourselves in a sense of God's Presence, by continually conversing with Him. It is a shameful thing to quit His conversation, to think of trifles and fooleries."
"In order to form a habit of conversing with God continually, and referring all we do to Him, we must first apply to Him with some diligence: but that after a little care we should find His love inwardly excites us to it without any difficulty."
"The the end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshippers of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity."
"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God."
"We cannot escape the dangers which abound in life without the actual and continual help of God: let us then pray to Him for it continually."
There are some books that are worth reading. This is one of them. It is not long. It can be found for free on the internet. It can be found in multiple languages. So let me encourage you to find it and read it. But more than that, let me encourage you to begin to actually practice the presence of God in everything you do.
The risks were real. Nick was born shortly before the start of what we now call the Thirty Years War. The Reformation had far-reaching consequences, some of them political. In an era when the approval of the church gave legitimacy to political power, the division of the Reformation gave rise to political power struggles. When a new Holy Roman Emperor was crowned, he sought to enforce Roman Catholicism on the Protestant north. The north rebelled against this violation of the Treaty of Augsburg, and Europe was plunged into a war. It quickly became less about religion and more about power. Eventually all the European powers including Sweden were involved. The Thirty Wars War claimed over eight million lives.
 |
| Church in Herimenil, France Photo by Sebastien Guerin |
At the age of 24 he made a decision: he would enter monastic life. He did not have the education to become ordained, but became a lay brother in the Carmelite Priory in Paris. The Carmelite order stressed contemplative prayer, community, and service.
As a lay brother, he was assigned the task of working the priory's busy kitchen. Cooking and washing dishes in a noisy and often steamy kitchen filled his days and years. In spite of the busy work life, there were many who were attracted by his unusual calmness and he would find himself frequently talking with people about the Lord. He would help them deepen their relationship with Jesus.
He died in February 1691. As a monk, he had no possessions, but there are always a few things that need to be sorted through when someone dies. Father Joseph de Beaufort found among his effects letters that he had written about the spiritual life. The priest realised that he was holding gold in his hands. So he took the letters, added some reminiscences of the monk, and published a little book. That book has been translated into over 100 languages and been printed millions of times. Not a bad legacy for an obscure monk toiling in a kitchen!
I forgot to mention that when he became a monk he took the name "Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection"... Brother Lawrence for short. The name of the book is The Practice of the Presence of God.
The Central Idea
At the heart of the book is the idea that we should be aware of the presence of God throughout the day. We should have a continual ongoing interior conversation with God regardless of what we are doing. He sought to break down the idea of the secular and the sacred when it came to communion with God. Or to put it in his words, "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament."
Some Quotes
"We should establish ourselves in a sense of God's Presence, by continually conversing with Him. It is a shameful thing to quit His conversation, to think of trifles and fooleries."
"In order to form a habit of conversing with God continually, and referring all we do to Him, we must first apply to Him with some diligence: but that after a little care we should find His love inwardly excites us to it without any difficulty."
"The the end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshippers of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity."
"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God."
"We cannot escape the dangers which abound in life without the actual and continual help of God: let us then pray to Him for it continually."
What are you waiting for?
There are some books that are worth reading. This is one of them. It is not long. It can be found for free on the internet. It can be found in multiple languages. So let me encourage you to find it and read it. But more than that, let me encourage you to begin to actually practice the presence of God in everything you do.
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