Joy and Faith

 I heard a prayer recently that stuck with me. The prayer went like this. "God, may You give us joy in our triumphs and faith to trust You in our trials."

Some people exude joy. It radiates from deep within. It beams through their smiles. It shines off their countenance. Joyful people are truly a blessing to be around. I get that there are plenty of things in this world not to be joyful about. There is also plenty to be joyful about. This morning I saw a little girl I first met on the day of her birth. She is a third grader now. She is always smiling. Running around with her friends giggling and laughing. Joy bubbles out of her all the time. She lives carefree. Loved by Jesus.  Loved by parents and grandparents. Loved by many friends. Her joy fills the room. Everyone loves that little blue-eyed blond-haired girl. The same God who loves her also loves you. That is a sufficient reason for joy. 

All of us should exude joy as it is a fruit of the Spirit according to Gal 5:22-23. Psalms 16:11 reminds us that joy is found in the Lord's presence. In fact, fullness of joy is found there. We can live a life of rejoicing like Paul did. He exhorts us to rejoice always in Phil 4:4. 

Look around you. Do you see many joyful people. I see a lot of stressed, soured, and seething people. I do not see a lot of joy. One singer I heard once sang it looked like God's people had been baptized in sour pickle juice. More frowns than smiles. More puckered faces than abounding joyous ones. 

There are people who are able to rejoice in adverse circumstances. Jesus did so enduring the cross. See Hebrews 12:2-3. Paul did in prison. See again Phil 4:4. Paul and Silas did after getting beaten and thrown in prison. See Acts 16:25. 

We also need to have faith to trust God in trials. I am writing this while sitting in a world history class as students take an examination. Before I passed out the test one of the students asked if I would pray for them. We often pray for people going through difficulties. Why is it easier to have faith for other people than it is to trust God for ourselves? We are presented with a question in the 18th chapter of Genesis. Is anything too difficult for the Lord? The answer is of course not. How we often forget that truth. We get so wrapped up in our problems, mulling them over, stressing over them, and doubting the outcome that we let all of that defeat our trust. Heb 11:1. Heb 11:6. Mark 11:23-24. 

Without question God has earned the right to be trusted. In all circumstances. He has proven Himself faithful over and over again. I Thess 5:24. Choose faith over fear. Choose trust over terror. Choose confident assurance over crisis related anxiety. Phil 4:6-7.

Joy in triumph at all times and trust over every trial. A great prayer to live out. 

Early Morning Workout

 I arrived at TCA early like I do most mornings to pray before power lifting workouts began. God weighed a devotion on my heart to share before the lifting started. The more I prayed the more I sensed God had a different workout in mind. I told one of the coaches I would be surprised if any weights got lifted this morning. I shared from Genesis 18 and then asked a question found in the text. Is anything too difficult for God?

We opened it up to pray for students. If they wanted prayer, they would sit on a wooden box. It started slowly. Awkwardly for people to deal with such heavy issues so early in the morning. That began just around 6:40 a.m. At 8:10 a.m. they were still praying. More students came as the track athletes came in for their early morning workout. They joined right in. Maybe a group of about 50 in all. Weights were not lifted. Heavy burdens were. There was no physical perspiration but there was soul sweat. Tears flowed, hands were laid, faith filled fervent prayers were offered, and God took over. As far as I know He is still moving down below. Prayer requests ranged from family issues, lost being saved, silent requests, to several wanting more fire in their souls. Students prayed for coaches and students alike. Some appeared uncomfortable. A few left. Most stayed. Schedules went out the window. An important meeting for the entire junior class had several absent the leader scrambling to find them. When I told her where the students were she was forced to start the meeting without them. 

The bell rang for classes to open. People stayed and prayed. The tardy bell. A group of over 50 students remained in the weight room interceding for one another. I left sensing I needed to get out of God's way. I shared the move of God with some other adults. I even got to pray for the principal who wanted the fire in him. God is on the move. Those students stayed until 9:20 praying and worshiping God. They missed their first hour classes. Revival fire is spreading. A lady showed me an article where God broke out at Texas A&M. 

What started at Asbury University has spread much further. I am praying God ignite this move into a spiritual awakening. All reports I read and hear about are of God moving among students. I pray we adults will get just as hungry and just as thirsty for God. I don't want God to pass any of us by as He works His wonders across the nation. 

I will long remember this early morning workout that might still be going on as I write this in the weight room. God is doing something special down there. I am grateful I got to see it for myself. Do it again Lord. Do it again. 

Do It Again

 Feb 3, 1970, on a cold wintry morning students dutifully gathered for a required chapel service. Dean Reynolds was scheduled to preach that morning. He sensed God had something else in mind and opened the service for people to testify. Nobody could have predicted what happened next. One student confessed sin publicly. A hush fell over Hughes Auditorium on the campus of Asbury College. God moved in and took over. A wave of His mighty presence fell over the auditorium and students rushed to the altar to pray, repent, confess sins, and some to get saved. They sang, prayed, and knelt in tears well past the allotted time for the service. 

People were not leaving the auditorium. Few people showed up in the cafeteria at lunch. Classes were cancelled. The meeting lasted well into the night. Past midnight. Into the next day and for the next 150 plus hours straight. For seven days people stayed in the auditorium to get right with God. Some even slept there not wanting to miss out on what God was doing. Then the move of God spread all over town and to other campuses. That move eventually touched the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. 

I shared that story Monday morning when I preached to a group of students. Last night I was sent a text that God is doing the same thing again at Asbury College. Starting on Wednesday Feb 8, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. God did it again. That service is still going three days later. People are driving from all over the nation to the small campus in Wilmore, KY to get a taste of revival. Students are singing, publicly testifying of salvation, repenting of sin. It all started when the worship band refused to quit playing at the prescribed hour to dismiss the service. They sensed God was not through. They were right. A few dozen people stayed behind to join in with them. Others followed. God has been working ever since. God is stirring me as I have read about this move of His Spirit and watched several videos. This appears to be genuine. 

I witnessed something very similar on Thursday night with a group of students in much the same fashion. It appears that God is moving. Are the young people the only ones hungry and open to God moving. I sure am. I hope we are not so dignified in our worship gatherings, so religious, so programmed, so predictable, and so prideful that we are not open to God moving in our midst too. 

It starts with some honesty about our sin. It starts with truly getting clean before God. He sees past the pretense and right through our hypocrisy. He sees the near extinction of holiness among the bride of Christ in His church. He is offended by our lukewarmness. In fact, it nauseates Him. He is weary of our religious gatherings void of passion and a hunger for more of Him. He is often not welcome in our worship gatherings as we program Him right off the agenda and out of the room. How many even notice He is not pleased nor present. It is time for the church to take an honest look in the mirror under the gaze of God. 

Sins must be repented of and cast away. Like pornography, fornication, adultery, substance abuse, filthy mouths, lying, gossip, hypocrisy, apathy, leaving our first love, and not abstaining from evil. Such an honest look at us church may not present a pretty picture. If we ever want God to do it again in our midst, we had better get serious about getting right before God. Or He will pass us older ones by to keep doing His fresh work among the young people. 

Why the young people. They are open. They are willing to be vulnerable and obedient when He leads them out of their comfort zones. They are willing to scrap the program and go with God. They are bold. They are unashamed to give themselves with reckless abandon to prayer, worship, and gospel witness. They are hungrier for real more than religion. 

Surely there are some adults who hunger, yearn, crave, desire, thirst, for God to move across this land like He is doing at Asbury, like He did with some TCA high school students, like He did at Asbury College back in 1970, like He did in Wales in 1904, like He did in the First and Second Great Awakenings. Do it again God we plead. 

1 Peter 1:14-16 (NASB)
¹⁴  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
¹⁵  but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
¹⁶  because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

  1 John 1:7-10 (NASB)

⁷  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
⁸  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
⁹  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
¹⁰  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 

Holy Spirit Rain Down

 I spent the last two days at a retreat for students. My role was intercessory prayer. What I witnessed God do last night made a lasting print on my mind. The Holy Spirit rained down on us. The event organizers lost control. The schedule was thrown out of the window. 

The speaker did not really preach. He opened the door for the Holy Spirit to have His way in our midst. A service that was planned to last 50 minutes lasted two and a half hours. Most of that was the invitation and students responding to God. Students surrendered to Him. God weighed heavily among us. For starters the students began leading themselves in worship. Not for just a song or two. For nearly two hours. One would start a song, and many would join in. Next, students repented of sin and began praying for one another. Tears began flowing. I made my way from the back of the room to be available to pray for any students God might send to me. He sent over a dozen throughout the course of the evening. 

I kept sensing God wanted some students to testify. I felt deeply impressed to pray for that even when I was praying for those who came to me. I felt the Spirit of God was brooding over us waiting to breakthrough. Time passed with singing, repenting, salvations, and prayer. 

Then a young freshman stepped forward. He told the story of how a year ago he intended to kill himself. He drank a bottle of alcohol trying to numb some private pain. Next, he took a knife and intended to press it deep into his stomach. He said he felt alone. Like nobody cared. With knife in hand, he decided he would check his phone one more time to see if anyone had reached out to him without knowing his plans. He had a text message from a friend he had not heard from in a long time. The friend sent the message, "Just wanted to tell you that God loves you." With that reminder he put the knife down and did not go through with the suicide. 

This story was shared in deep tears. The several hundred students got up and surrounded the young man pouring out his soul. Prayers followed. Another testified about deep seated anxiety and what caused it. There were more tears and group surrounded this hurting one.  People prayed over this one too. There were others. One student testified she had never felt God move like that and she led a friend to Jesus and prayed for numerous other students. God moved and had His way. 

When the service ended, each grade level met for a breakout groups. In one group 14 students reported they had trusted Christ for salvation that night. Others were saved during the evening. When asked how many were saved last night or rededicated their life last night[, two thirds of them stood up. 

It was a special night. When a group opened their hearts to God and got out of the way. God did the rest, and He gets all the glory. Praise be to His wonderful name. 

Sleepless Night

 I toss and turn sleepless in bed, 

A thousand thoughts in my head,

Questions unanswered linger long, 

Considerations of all my wrongs, 

Sufferings of the beloved flock,

Have my mind vice grip locked,

I roll to my side for some sleep, 

Praying Lord my peace to keep, 

Finally throwing the covers back, 

Getting up in a room pitch black,

I stumble to this little office nook, 

Contemplating the holy good book,

What God says to a troubled mind,

What hope is there I need to find, 

Psalm forty-two and in verse five, 

His word in me blazes back alive, 

Why downcast my tormented soul,

Why discouraged what I can't control, 

If I remember God in this late hour, 

His wisdom and His infinite power,

Hope is not lost this sleepless season,

Hope that transcends human reason, 

Though troubled in a fog of confusion, 

Unwelcomed thoughts find intrusion, 

God is still my hope and salvation, 

Even when He gives no explanation, 

He absolutely knows what He is doing,

When I cannot see what He is brewing, 

He works His tapestry of amazing grace,

Intricately woven and tightly laced, 

Working all things for His purposed good, 

When things aren't what I thought it should,  

God sits on a high throne ruling with might, 

Worthy of faith when we don't have sight, 

He stands in control amidst chaos and pain, 

Hope in God, I say it over and over again, 

His peace is beyond our understanding, 

His strength is above our comprehension, 

When I drink in truth in quiet meditation, 

It soothes and heals like potent medication, 

I am reminded of God's loving compassion, 

Lavishly measured out and not rationed, 

He works endless days and sleepless nights, 

So, I can rest cradled in His infinite might, 

No need to worry, fret, or give into anxiety, 

God works in marvelous ways with variety, 

He has earned the right of trust and belief, 

So, my troubled soul can find needed relief.

Don't Lose Heart

I received a text at 2:33 am. The message read that this person could not sleep or eat. They were experiencing something more painful than they had ever experienced before. They did not know how to handle their situation. I texted back an appropriate response with scripture to help. Truth is the person is brokenhearted. Going through a grieving period. 

Later I drove to the school for powerlifting and heard a new Steven Curtis Chapman song titled Don't Lose Heart. The message of that song seemed very appropriate for my friend. I shared it once I arrived at TCA. It reminded me of seasons of grief in my own life. When your heart hurts so deeply that it affects more than just the emotions. It affects physically too. Like a deep pain in the gut that will not subside. In such seasons a person stumbles through life going through the motions. Halfheartedly attending to duties required. Feeling numb to everyone and everything around them. It is like living with a hole in your heart. Like dragging a heavy weight that cannot be unshackled. Even when tears do not flow on the outside they are flowing on the inside. Living with all this tends to isolate people in a dungeon of depression from which they cannot seem to make an escape. It is a dark season. One that only those who traveled that same dreadful path could relate to. 

I thought about the season of grief I endured from 1989-1990. I was a senior student at Howard Payne University. My grief was not associated with someone dying. It still felt the same. A daily death grip on hope and a strangulation on faith. Every moment of every day was a chore to endure. Classes and course work were not given my diligence. My parttime job only got a part of me.  Like I said, I stumbled through those days just trying to survive and not stay locked in my room, which I did do a lot.

It was in that dorm room that I met God. I mean I met Him in the midst of pain like I had seldom ever felt. I listened to Christian music. I prayed. I read my Bible. I wept a lot. During that summer I fell in love with God. I did not think life could get any harder. I would learn decades later it could. It was the lessons I learned in Jennings Hall that brought me through grief, back to hope and peace. The song I listened to most from Steven Curtis Chapman was His Strength Is Perfect. I rewound that song over and over again on my cassette tape player. I memorized every word. I sang it as a prayer and offering of worship in my private cathedral in Jennings Hall. Nobody knew the God encounters in that room. I learned not to lose heart. 

I found it ironic this morning hearing Chapman's latest release about not losing heart. Very powerful lyrics. 

Another sleepless night

Praying hope comes with the morning light

Right now you're feeling like you've lost this fight
And fear is screaming out your name

When you say "God help me"
You're wondering if He's even listening
Truth is, I've wondered the very same thing
So you don't have to feel ashamed

Let me walk with you through this valley
And tell you all that I've learned to be true

Don't lose heart, don't you dare let go
I've been where you are, you are not alone
I know it gets dark, I know it gets hard
But we're gonna make it home, so don't lose heart

Don't lose heart
Don't lose heart

Take my hand
And I'll show you all the scars from where I've been
Remind you how we both know this story ends
I know you'll do the same for me

These afflictions that are only temporary
Are gonna turn to glory beyond compare

So don't lose heart, don't you dare let go
I've been where you are, you are not alone
I know it gets dark, I know it gets hard
But we're gonna make it home, so don't lose heart

Don't lose heart
Don't lose heart

Don't lose hope, don't lose faith
Just hold on tight every promise God has made
You lose the fear in the light of grace
Just lift your eyes to your Father's face

Hear the song he's singing over you
Don't lose heart
I won't ever let you go
I'm right where you are
You're safe in my arms

So don't lose heart, don't you dare let go
I've been where you are, you're never gonna be alone
I know it gets dark, I know it gets hard
But we're gonna make it home, so don't lose heart

Don't lose heart
We're gonna make it (oh, don't lose heart)
Don't lose heart
We're gonna make it (don't lose heart)
Don't lose heart
We're gonna make it
We're gonna make it home

So don't lose heart. 

He says it better than I ever could. Grieving brothers and sisters. Don't lose heart. He knows what He is writing about. He lost his young daughter in a tragic accident several years ago. He knows about walking through the grieving process. Don't lose heart weary ones. God will help get you through. You will make it through your grief like millions of others who have gone before you. Don't lose heart.  

Quench and Grieve

 God is moving across the land. There is no question about that. Just read John 5:17 to support this truth. Whether God is moving is not the question. The issue is whether the Spirit of God is both quenched and grieved repeatedly. 

Picture building a campfire. Carefully laying the wood, igniting a flame, fanning the fame and continually adding more fuel to sustain the fire. You worked hard to build that fire. You nurtured it from infancy to a raging blaze. Then someone comes with large bucket of water and pours it over the flame extinguishing it. How would you feel? Upset. Angry. Offended. 

That is exactly what happens in corporate worship as well as private devotions. God orchestrates His move by leading the worship songs, drawing the congregation to Himself, inspiring the message, working in hearts to receive that message, and all of that leading to the climatic moment when He leads people to respond. We quench the Spirit when we try to control the service. We have it managed down to the minute. I have always said when we come to worship, we do not punch a clock. God should have complete freedom to work how He wants and for as long as He wants. 

People can strangle the Spirit of God and quench it for everyone else when a leader quickly shuts everything down rather than letting God have full sway in the service. Leaders often fear losing control and the worship service extending beyond the sacred allotted one hour. How can anyone thing we get to dictate the confines of how and when God gets to move. It is a testament to how offended God is that so many churches are not filled with the life of God. Why do we allow such leaders to extinguish the movement of God among us? Only Spirit led and Spirit sensitive people should be allowed to preside over any worship gathering. 

I saw this played out recently. The preacher was given an allotted amount of time to preach. He finished well within the time constraints. In fact, he finished early. Instead of an extended time of invitation the crowd was dismissed. I felt like God wanted to do so much more in that service as I sadly I watched people exit the building like sheep still processing the message they just heard. 

Nobody has the right to extinguish the move of God for the rest of a congregation. More than once I have dismissed a crowd who no longer wanted to be in the service so that they would quench the Holy Spirit for those who yearned to meet with and respond to God. 

Read I Thess 5:19. We are commanded not to quench the Spirit. 

In Eph 4:30 we are exhorted not to grieve the Spirit. That means not to distress or sadden the Spirit. This happens when we say no to His nudges. When we refuse to submit and obey Him, we sorrow the Spirit of God. 

Are we guilty on a regular basis of quenching and grieving the Spirit. God wants to move. He does move. How often do we pour buckets of water on His work extinguishing the fire or we distress the Spirit by ignoring Him or rejecting His leadership. 

This should not be. It is sin. It offends God and harms other believers who want the fiery presence of God to move in their midst. When the majority of a congregation would rather play religious games than have God encounters it is sin. I have seen quenching and grieving. Sadly, I have been insensitive to His leadership and extinguished God's work myself. Shame. I do not want to do that any longer. I am also offended when others try to do it too. 

May God have His will and way each and every time we gather for worship. May we not quench or grieve Him in our personal encounters either. We need God to work in our lives, churches and society. Pour your bucket of water on the work of Satan, but never on the work of God. 

Volcano Eruption

 I went to a preaching opportunity this morning. God awakened me at a ridiculous hour. I did not get up immediately but remained in the bed praying for the upcoming preaching assignment. I carried the burden of that message for months. Months ago God opened the door. Almost as soon as I received the invitation God impressed a message on my heart. It felt like molten lava boiling beneath the surface. Slowly building toward an eruption. Boiling over and bubbling in intensity. 

I arrived at the preaching destination early where I prayed more. The truth burning in me intensified as the preaching hour neared. As the auditorium filled with people,  I heard several asking who was scheduled to preach. I did not tell anyone it was me. Not until I had to be wired with a microphone. God gave laser focus on the mission at hand. A very clear and deliberate word to be expounded. A volcano of truth to erupt. 

I hid in a little hallway behind the stage to wait and pray. I remained there during the worship and teared up when one of the songs directly related to the message God had. When it came time to deliver the word of God, the volcano of truth erupted with passionate force. The room was silent. The presence of God felt heavy. The weighty sense of God settling in the room among the worshipers seemed evident. The hearers were hit in the face with the volcanic force of truth from scripture and the heart of God. I did not preach long. I did not have to. Twenty minutes and I sensed God wanted people to respond. I stopped preaching and prayed leaving the results in God's hands. 

Many responded publicly for prayer. Some prayed in groups. Some prayed with counselors. Others prayed alone. Some stood in a daze unsteady and unsure at what had just happened. God met His people. He drenched all of us in His presence. The volcano of His truth and presence touched many lives.  Mine as much as anyone. To Him be the glory for all He has done and will continue to do in the days ahead for those hearers. . 

The Great Adventure

 I just got off the phone with a lady from our church. She related multiple stories about the ways God is working around her and her husband and the ministry they head up. It was thrilling to hear about divine appointments that could have only been orchestrated by God. Witnessing opportunities where God manifested His presence. We both talked about the adventure of following God. 

Somewhere in Tennessee in 1992 song writer and performer Steven Curtis Chapman got inspired with the idea for a song. He titled it the Great Adventure. The chorus of that song began ringing in my head once I hung up the phone. I looked up the lyrics to get familiar with them again and printed them off to start writing this blog. The chorus is as follows:

            Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze, through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace, let us follow our leader into the glorious unknown, this is a life like no other whoa whoa, this is the great adventure. 

Chapman also wrote the lyrics, Come on get ready for the ride of your life, gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind and discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored this is what we were created for. 

That does not seem the be the testimony of most people. Did you catch those words, "Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind." I believe that is where the majority of Christians live. Long faced religion. Religious duties ritualistically done leading to the same old rut and rot of the mind and heart. Let's face it. Most of what Christians do is BORING! Most worship services are BORING! Not because the word of God is not proclaimed. Not because songs of Zion are not sung. Boring because very few intend to really live out the truths they are hearing. Especially when it comes to obeying God by faith. Far too many are content to sit on the sidelines and watch a few others play. Christianity is not a spectator sport to be watched. It is the game of life to participate in as a willing available vessel of God. 

What would happen if you really sat before the Lord and gave Him your yes with no strings attached? If you committed to following His next directive no matter how outlandish or how far it stretched you beyond your comfort zone? Do you want to live out your remaining days associated with boring religion or in the pursuit of God and adventure? Adventure can be defined with words like unusual, exciting, and hazardous. Those words may scare some to death. They prefer the predictable, the routine, the safe, and secure road. There are a few thrill seekers who long for more than boring worship and meetings. They desire adventure. They long for the real God to work in real ways through them and around them. They long to give real testimonies of the real ways God works. 

I have been in pursuit of God seriously since 1991. Before that I studied for the ministry after salvation and God's call. One day on the Howard Payne campus a fellow teammate asked me my plans for the future. I had it all figured out. I laid out my plan before him in detail. He chuckled and commented, "You've got it all figured out." Fast forward 38 years. None of that went as I planned. We have followed God through open doors, more steps of faith than I can recount, serious challenges and setbacks, multiple victories, agonizing defeats, relocation after relocation, and one adventure on top of another. 

I made a promise to God several decades ago that I would follow Him and run toward every leap of faith He called me to and jump trusting Him for where I landed. It reminds me of standing on the edge of a cliff we used to jump off into a lake as kids. It was a 30' drop into the water. The first time I stood on the edge and looked down to the water my knees trembled. I did not like the height. Fear rose and began strangleing all the courage I had. Down below all my friends were telling me to jump. I knew I could not turn back as a coward. They would never let me hear the end of it. I had to jump. I backed away from the edge and psyched myself to take a running start and leap. You know what the hardest part of that leap was? Not going off the edge as you might suppose. Committing to those first steps. Once I hit a full sprint I threw caution to the wind and just jumped. In midair I do not recall fear. I still remember though, trying to work up the courage to take those first steps. 

Now that is what following God by faith is like. It is the pathway to great adventures. It all starts with the willingness to say yes to God. No matter how fearful you just say yes and commit to obey. This requires some courage. The reward is a lifetime of God encounters that thrill the soul. Not to obey is cowardice that will lead to regret and long faced boring religion. Which do you want? Which does God want for you? Read II Corinthians 5:7 and Hebrews 11:6 if you are unsure of that last answer. Your great adventure begins with one yes and one step of obedience that leads to many other steps. Go ahead. Try it. 

Personally I am going to end this by praying. I will ask God if there is some other major step of faith He is calling to me to at this time. If He reveals something, I commit in advance to say yes and to comply. Only He knows what great adventure it will lead to next.