The Angels Are Rejoicing

 I missed him nodding his head. I taught an evangelistic message to our students last night. When asked after the invitation if anyone had asked Jesus in their heart, one guy nodded. I did not see him. I did not learn of his decision until an hour and a half later when we arrived home. 

God has been working in this young man's life for several weeks. God has been in hot pursuit. His uncle and mother both shared the good news of Jesus with him in recent days. Last night God pressed on him the need for salvation. Now the angels are rejoicing. Why do I say that? 

Luke 15:7 (NASB)
⁷  "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 

There is more joy over one sinner who repents and trusts Jesus as their Savior than over the 99 who need no repentance. When someone gets saved, the angels rejoice. I picture in my mind a celebration. A part in essence. God added another one to His family last night. 

He did the same thing last Sunday morning during the worship service. Only He added two in that service. I also imagine how many other churches and individuals experienced the same thing around the world. Heaven rejoices. One of our deacons attended anther baptism service in another church. He told me over a dozen people were saved in that service. What a reason to celebrate. 

Shouldn't we? Shouldn't the fact that God saves people stir and excite us, like when a new baby is added to the family. Shouldn't we be exuberant. O that we could really understand the miracle that takes place in spiritual new birth. 

God opens spiritually blinded eyes to the gospel truth. God, through the Holy Spirit, convicts of sin and the judgment to come. God draws people to Himself. God gives the faith for a person to trust Jesus. God gives the understanding of the redemption message of what Jesus did on the cross. If Heaven rejoices when a person gets saved, we should join right in on the celebration. It is appropriate to weep, to shout, to clap, to say, "Hallelujah, Glory to God!", and to maybe do a happy dance (even it is just on the inside depending what your church allows).

This coming Sunday we get to celebrate baptism. We get to celebrate that special church ordinance. In my mind, I go back in time. I was the youth minister at Spring Creek back thirty years ago. God moved powerfully in our youth group. Many were saved. One Sunday morning I got to baptize several students in a row. It feels like God is doing that again, only this time it is churchwide. 

I am humbled and blessed to behold God at work. He is doing some amazing things. I get a front row seat to view what He does. What a glorious time we are having. I can't hardly wait until Sunday and to see what He will do next. I will be rejoicing in the baptismal waters Sunday morning. I do not expect that will be the last time this year we celebrate someone's new birth in Jesus. May the Lord save many and the baptismal waters be stirred often. May the rejoicing continue. Our God is mighty to save. 

I Never Missed A Day

 I recently visited with an elderly gentleman who shared his testimony. He never attended a church service or read a Bible as a child or as an adult until he had grandchildren. His 15 year old granddaughter witnessed to him. She wanted to make sure he would be in Heaven. She actually led Him to a saving relationship with Christ. His eyes moistened as he told me how he met Jesus. He got saved back in 1970. 

His next statement surprised and inspired me. He said since 1970 he spends an hour in devotional readings and prayer. Then he said, "I have never missed a day." Did you catch that. This man has maintained the discipline of meeting with Jesus daily. He has not missed one day in over 50 years. Let that sink in for a moment. He did not sleep in and neglect a day. He did not take a day off while on vacation. He continued meeting even when he did not feel like doing so. Five decades of devotions has made this seasoned senior saint very tender to the things of God. 

He met me at the back door after God moved powerfully in worship service. He told me, "I need to go spend some time in prayer." He is in his seventies and I see great hunger in this man for God. He seeks God earnestly and is making plans to go on a mission trip to Honduras. 

His love, zeal, hunger, and dedication to draw closer to God both challenge and inspire me. I cannot say I never missed a day. I have on many occasions. May God fuel a new passionate hunger for Him. 

Psalm 63:1 (NASB)
¹ O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

A Private Graveside Service

 I  read this morning about a famous national leader who died and nobody attended his funeral. It was shocking. This man led millions. He became a national hero. He also became a feared military leader. His writings are still read today. This man's influence surpassed his lifetime. 

Nobody attended his funeral. No preacher. No priest. No family members. No citizens of his nation. No dignitaries or politicians could be found. It is not unusual for people to have private graveside services for family. On rare occasion a preacher may be called to preach such a service for a homeless person. Nobody attends the service but the funeral director and a pastor. 

It is downright astonishing that a man of such a magnitude would not be honored at the end of his life. Well, there was one in attendance. No one else. Who is the only one who attended this funeral? You may find it shocking. Yahweh. God. God is the only one to be found when His servant Moses died. 

Go ahead. Read it for yourself. 

Deuteronomy 34:4-6 (NASB)
⁴  Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there."
⁵  So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
⁶  And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day. 

Did you catch that? "He buried him." "No man knows his burial place to this day." God held a private burial service for Moses. He called Moses up on a mountain and God buried Moses Himself. He carved out the final resting place for the body of this great man. In a grave known only to God. Nobody knows where. It is not marked for the human eye to see. No visitors can stop by to remember this great man. God preserved the last moments of Moses' life for Himself. My mind wonders about those last moments of communion. What did they say? How gently and tenderly did God lay Moses down? How precious did God view the death of Moses. See Ps 116:15.

Moses had a close relationship with God. They talked often in the tent of meeting. Moses talked to God and more importantly God talked to Moses. That relationship went all the way back to a burning bush experience. From that encounter, Moses witnessed moves of God that still are amazing to read about. What would it have been like if we had actually witnessed them. 

Moses hungered for God. At one point, he pleaded with God to show His glory to Moses. God hid in the cleft of a rock and passed. Moses only saw the backside of the glory of God. His face glowed after that encounter with God. People knew He heard from God. It was to this servant God entrusted the law. God gave him the huge assignment to deliver Israel and lead them. Moses was a man of uncommon prayer. 

Therefore, God buried Him in an uncommon way. He reserved the burial of His servant for Himself. He did not allow one other person to attend. Even with all that, Moses was not perfect. At one point he tried to steal God's glory by saying he and God had provided the water out of the rock, when it was only God who did so. The consequences for Moses was to be excluded from ever setting foot in the long awaited Promised Land. God let him see it from atop that lofty mountain from a distance but did not let him enter. 

This story fascinates me. A man of Moses of magnitude would have had thousands upon thousands attend his funeral. No doubt numerous stories would have been told. People would mourn. God did not allow anyone else to attend. 

I recently preached a funeral where every seat was taken and numerous people stood along the walls of both sides of the sanctuary. It made me wonder how many would attend mine. Then I read this story. If God was the only one in attendance at my funeral that would be more than enough. I desire to be closer to Him than any human relationship including my wife and children. 

We should all want death to be our liberation to know God more fully without the hindrances of our body. Do we yarn to know God like Moses did. To consistently meet Him in the secret place. To embrace death when it comes at the door through which our communion with God will be enhanced and intensified for eternity. 

I am thankful for a little jaunt through Deuteronomy this morning and for reading about a private graveside service. There is so much untapped truth in the Bible. May we all meet God in the pages of tattered and torn Bibles from much use. May we learn more of Him. May we encounter Him in Bible stories that soak the soil of our souls. 

Are You a Pastor

 180 outreach at the park last night started very slowly. We were at the park with four pizzas in hand but nobody skated. We even offered some to soccer players on an adjacent field. They declined the offer. We have never been there before when nobody showed up. 

After a long while, one guy walked up and sat on a bench at the far end of the park away from us. It became apparent that he would not venture any closer. I made my way over to talk to him. He played on his phone but kept looking up nervously as I approached. I asked his name and we will call him Jeff. That's when he asked, "Aren't you a pastor?" I answered affirmatively and wondered how he knew that. 

He told me, "I heard you preach before." Then he told me where and who his mother was. His mother attended our previous church. I invited him to have some pizza and over a slice of pepperoni God opened the door to witness to him. When asked, Jeff sat silent in response to the question where he would spend eternity after this life. He had absolutely no answer. 

This provided the opportunity to present the gospel plan of salvation. Afterward, he said he had prayed to receive Christ in the past. We talked about his family and his life. He then asked me a question I don't recall anyone asking me before. "What is your favorite book of the Bible?" Now, I sat in silence going over the different books of the Old and New Testaments in my mind like an old fashioned rolodex. I thought about it for a good thirty seconds before I settled on the book of Acts. I also told him I loved Psalms. 

We talked about a few other deep things while the other volunteers from Spring Creek wisely discerned to give us space at the picnic table. Eventually his father came to pick him up and we parted with me handing him one of our prayer cards. 

Again we were alone in the park. A good while passed before out of the shadows, appeared a young man we met six or seven weeks ago. He knew we would be there he told us. He even said he had invited others to come. It was great to see him. I am grateful that in the past few weeks we have started seeing some of those we have met before. This young man was out of work. We were able to connect him to somebody who knows some people offering work. Hopefully this will work out in employment. 

Nobody has been saved in the months we have gone outside the walls of the church to love skaters to Jesus. That is our ultimate goal, but we are just thankful to have built a few relationships and continue to build more each week. It's slow progress but we still make progress each week. We brave the cold, we often meet complete strangers, we offer pizza or tacos, a sympathetic ear along with a warm heart. We trust Jesus has a purpose in all of it. He will draw them to Himself. 

180 is more than a move on a skateboard. It is our sincere hopes to watch Jesus transform lives so that people do a 180 turn around in their lives. Repentance is in essence a 180. 

From week to week we never know who we are going to meet out there. We never know what stories we are going to hear. We never know what needs we will discover. We simply feel compelled that Jesus loves them and so do we. So, we keep showing up and we keep sharing God's good news to those who will listen. It is our prayer to see both kinds of 180s. 

I'm Home

 Tragedy struck Spring Creek when a 28 year old father of two darling girls died in a car wreck. We held his memorial service last Saturday. We live streamed it and at last count over 3,000 people viewed that service. 

This is a poem written about Tyler. His mother told me she always wanted to know when he got home. He would slip into the bedroom and whisper in her ear, "I'm home." That story prompted this poem. 

When younger, you wanted to run and to roam, 

Momma wanted to know when. you go home, 

As a man, you branched out to follow your dreams, 

Just 28 years old - how the time flies it seems, 

A personality as large as Texas - much bigger than life, 

Your tragic premature death is cutting deep like a knife, 

Questions linger as everyone wants to know the why, 

You, so young and filled with hopes had to go and die, 

Your memory brings smiles followed by cascades of tears, 

Way to soon to lose a son and father at just twenty-eight years, 

O, if we could all see you now walking the streets of Glory, 

Telling everyone your amazing grace redemption story, 

In the presence of Jesus, who saved your eternal soul, 

And healed the broken places and made you all whole, 

By a faith you chose and embraced for your very own, 

Mom, Dad, Nanna, girls don't cry, I finally made it home. 

Blindsided By Blessings

 How many times have I sat down to write the latest testimony of something extraordinary God did in response to prayer. So many that I wonder if people ever think I am making all these things up. I assure you I have not. They are tangible answered prayers from God. Let me share with you two of the latest. 

I wrote to you before how when we first came to Spring Creek, and the parsonage became available, we faced the need of furniture. We promised our youngest son Turner that he could graduate from Paradise High School, where he has attended school except for two years. That meant we would keep our house in Runaway Bay until he finished school and therefore needed the furniture in that house until after his graduation. 

We did not have extra furniture for the parsonage. I knew I would spend part of my time in that house as well our oldest son. I did the only thing I knew to do. I started asking God for it. Asking for furniture without debt. We watched God over the past 14 months do some amazing things. The first pice of furniture given to us what a reclining sofa. Later two different people donated recliners. We were blessed with bunk beds and then a full size bed. We were blown away when someone else donated a queen size bed and matching dresser. Someone gave another recliner and then someone donated a leather couch.  We were blessed with a leather lounge chair. All in answer to prayer. 

The parsonage was fully furnished with the exception of a dining table. No big deal. We brought in a folding table from the church and a few chairs and all worked. God had something else in mind. Just after Christmas someone donated a dining table with six dining chairs. Another powerful demonstration of God's ability to provide. 

He was not finished. Just a few days ago I received a call from a student minister I have preached for on numerous occasions. Mark is a former running back for Texas Tech. Though in his sixties, he still plays flag football with his students every week. I thought he called to invite me to preach another event. This is when God blindsided me again with another blessing. He told me he and his wife Teresa felt led to give me their 2010 Chevrolet Crew Cab truck. It sits now under the car port at the parsonage ready to go when I get the title transferred and insurance on it. 

If you have kept up with these blogs, that makes four major miracles since Thanksgiving. If you are new to this let me catch you up. That means God has provided four vehicles for my family since Thanksgiving without one penny of debt. I prayed for the first three vehicles for three years. I did not even ask God for the fourth. Yet my truck has 282,000 miles on it. It doesn't look great with dings, dents and scrapes. It runs well and I contented myself to drive it. This 2010 truck has 120,000 less miles than the old one. Like I said, I was blindsided by blessing. All praise, glory and honor to God who hears our desperate prayers and intervenes in miraculous ways. 

What will God do next? I pray and wait to be blind sided by blessing again. When He does I will be sure to tell you all about it. I love to share these testimonies hoping to inspire you. What God has done for my family He can do for any of you who pray, persist and believe all things are possible with God.