Be Still And Know

I have 3 amazing kids. One of the things I notice at my house is the absence of noise when they are at school. I can hear every electrical sound. I can hear the sump pump kick on and off. I can hear the washer and dryer cycling and a wide variety of other noises that I never hear when my kids are home. There is a lot of noise at my house. Most of it is fantastic. Kids playing together and other noises that make me know my family is healthy and happy.

As I stood outside today, I noticed exactly how noisy it was outside. Sounds that many times I just stop paying attention to and accept as normal. Then, I went to go vote at our county auditors office. What I saw and heard made me know even more that the world is even more noisy. I saw 6 employees on their phones frantically texting and saw others in the office on phones and tablets as well. It really hit me then because my phone dinged and I immediately reached to check who was texting me. That text was followed by a Facebook notification dot that appeared on my Facebook icon. Then, my mail app refreshed and suddenly I had 9 email messages from different people. My life is noisy. Everyone of us could attest to that fact.

Our busyness and our need to be continually in the loop has caused something to happen in our spiritual lives as well. We are placing our same expectations of instant information from God. We are looking to God the way we look at our phones. We want that text tone followed by a cleverly worded message. We want God to answer our Facebook status or our tweets and then we become disappointed in him because he is not answering us as fast as we think he should.

There is a scripture Psalms the 46th chapter and 10th verse that says Be still and know that I am God.... When was the last time we actually took the time to do this? To quiet ourselves and put away the phones and the iPads and just be still and understand that God does not need our help to run the universe and he will do just fine without us for 5 minutes.

I was asked the other day why do I think that we do not see the miracles of the past occurring in church today. My response was this. We have forgotten the art of tarrying. We are so quick to stop and just accept no answer as the answer. God has called us to be vigilant in prayer and wait on him. Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. We have to get to the point of being still and knowing that he is God. We cannot understand him or his ways unless we ourselves are connecting with him. God is not superficial so he does not honor superficial things. He cannot take on things that are not his nature. We have to learn to be still again. So the question is how.

1. Force the issue: You have to be intentional about getting still. Set the time and keep to it. Leave your phone somewhere you cannot hear it or see it. Don't keep it with you and say I will turn it on silent. You know you will put it on vibrate and if your phone is like mine vibrate is louder than most of my ringtones.

2.Get accountable: Many times we do not even know how much we are under the mastery of our technology. We find ourselves sleeping with our phones. If it dings, we have anxiety until we see what it is. We need someone to ask us the hard questions. Then, they can work with us to develop a strategy for victory.

3. Use it as a tool for becoming more like HIM: In becoming more like him, I am not saying turn into super stalker and know everything about everybody. Use your phone to honor God. Read the scriptures instead of playing Candy Crush or Pearls Peril. Use it to send words of affirmation when REAL interaction is not possible for whatever circumstances. Master your technology do not let it master you.

I realize it may sound simple, but while you were reading this post, you got distracted by the banner at the top that flashed you had a Facebook or text notification. When was the last time you spent 5 minutes quiet before God without your tech? Set that time everyday. 5 minutes just being still. God will justify the time. Let him work and watch what he will do. He wants to reveal himself. The best things in life are worth waiting for. How would your cake be if you just kept opening up the door to the oven every 1 minute. It might eventually get done but it more than likely would look done but be raw and unfit to eat. We need to spend the time, see it as an investment, and reap the benefits of a true relationship with God.

Like It Is Our Last

Now that the planes of the US and France are on bombing runs in Syria, I have started seeing and hearing individuals talk about the prophecies of Isaiah as it relates to Damascus. You can read scripture and see remarkable parallels and sign of the end of the age. It is remarkable how accurate the term and even timelines are. There is however one thing that I must say.

IF YOU KNEW THE EXACT DATE OF THE RETURN OF THE LORD, HOW WOULD THAT CHANGE THE FOCUS OF YOUR MINISTRY?

Christ has never called us to be on the defensive. Why, because his truth can hold it's own. We are called to be on the attack ever pressing forward not biding our time until we see some great cataclysmic sign and know that the end is near. We have got to live and minister each day like it is our last. There are people dying and going to hell every minute and every second that we spend trying to figure out who is right about the blood moon or what eschatological timeline is correct, we are wasting precious minutes that we could be using to tell someone about the love a Christ and introducing them to the savior.

To me it seems like we are firemen who instead of running in a building and rescuing people are simply standing outside the inferno shouting "hey that building is on fire" "you need to get out" In the end, the fire still burns and the people still are trapped and eventually perish. Is there value in eschatology? Yes there is. It needs to be the warning sign that we as Christians need to get off our laurels of self righteousness and get to work about the King's business. The time is short. The end is approaching. The signs are all there. Shortly, the rapture will occur and when I stand in front of God, I am sure he will NOT ask me "Hey Dave, how close did you get to the date I was coming back/" I am sure he will ask me "what did you do with the time I gave you?" and also "who did you share my gospel with?" and "what did you do with my son Jesus?" Then, as I stand there in front of him awaiting his reply, I will know exactly where I stand with him. All of my best efforts here on this planet fall drastically short of worthiness to enter heaven. It is simply the grace of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection that seals me.

It's not that I don't think prophecy is unimportant because it is important. I really just feel that we have gotten so caught up in trying to figure it out that the enemy has used it to make us lose focus of what will reduce perishing souls from hell. Prophecy can direct people to Christ and it does so importance is there definitely. Just simply live each day like it is our last. You will love ministry more,. Just go for it. Many times the reason we don't really feel like we have won is because we have strived for second place not to win the race. The time for pacing yourself is over. It is time to flat our run for the mark that Jesus Christ has set for us. All we have to do to win is finish.

Walking Wounded

This morning I was talking with a man that said something pretty profound. He asked me how our church services went on Sunday and I responded fantastic. We had new people visiting and even some people who had never really been to church before coming in and responding to the altar call. He then proceeded to ask, why is it that Christians are so bad about cannibalism? With a puzzled look on my face, he continued. You know Christians have a bad habit of eating their own. As I thought for a moment, I replied it is sad but we do have lots of walking wounded in our churches. 

Why is that the case? It seems that no matter what the church size may be or how diverse the congregations, we seem to wound those that are supposed to be standing with us. I believe that it is the enemies number one battle plan to attack churches from the inside out. In the military, it's called friendly fire.   Innocent people get into the crossfire and are wounded. 

What causes walking wounded? 

1. Not Knowing Our Enemy Many people are quick to pick up a cause. In every disagreement there are sides to every story. When we are not familiar with the enemy and his tactics, we can easily pick up a live grenade or step in the middle of a landline. We must be on guard of what we say and how we step. Seek God first and defuse the bombs the enemy would have you fall victim to. Communicate with each other. Follow Matthew chapter 18 for the proper model of conflict resolution so you can avoid the live grenade of gossip and slander. Side step the landline of negativity and instead pick up the standard of righteousness. 

2. Improper Use Of A Weapon Our military is the most well trained force on the planet. We spend time on tactical things that other countries wish they could. We have advanced weapon training and every soldier knows how to use his weapon to the best of its ability. We as Christians should be the same way but we don't. We are quick to unload both barrels and pull the pin of righteous indignation and explode all over someone leaving them staggering if not dead from the onslaught. Bible verses quoted out of context, false self righteousness, and forced holiness. Instead of restoring people gently, we restore them with extreme prejudice. 

3. Putting Our Armor On Someone Else In scripture we read that King Saul placed his heavy armor on David and then David rejected the armor of the king and took what he knew and went out to defeat the giant. It is easy for us to become judgmental and say because you don't look or act like me, you can't possibly be saved. We are placing our armor on someone else and it will NOT fit. 

We must stop the friendly fire. The phenomenon of walking wounded is destroying the church and its credibility. How can we be a witness for Christ and be his message when we are fighting among ourselves. We must strive for more. Uplifting and edification are just two things church is supposed to do. Yes correction is in the list but in the right context and process. 

Pretty interesting thoughts. 

Are You Afraid?

I'll admit it. I get a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach when I hear the news about beheadings and martyrs. My mind wonders when I read about some great mystery that has been revealed through a cosmic sign in the sky. I begin to ask myself how will I react? How would I react if placed in a situation like that? Almost daily I come in contact with people who say they are scared by all of these things. I have been asked what I think about these events and signs and wonders that are occurring. I get asked if I am afraid. My answer is yes I am afraid. What? wait a minute. Your afraid. Let me explain.

I am not afraid of terrorists or Blood Moons or polar shifts. I am afraid that the Christian community in the United States and the free world are responding out of fear of the unknown and there in lies the problem. We see so many things today that we can relate to the end times. We can read Revelation like a playbook at a football game. It can become so overwhelming that we find ourselves engrossed in trying to figure out Bible prophecy and end times timelines. We become fearful that some world leader is the new antichrist. Our eyes are fixed on the destruction of the world and freedom that we become frightened for the sake of fright.

One of the greatest weapons the enemy uses is distraction. The truth is nothing we can do will stop this one thing we know is true. Jesus Christ IS coming back and that time is very soon. You don't have to research many manuscripts and decode ancient languages to figure this one out. The end times are here. Satan wants us so engulfed in trying to figure out prophecies that we forget the true meaning of why we are here. OUR PURPOSE ON THIS PLANET IS TO WIN THE LOST! It is not to figure out some great mystery that will reveal that some leader is the antichrist or is the false prophet. We can use prophecy to propel and project a sense of urgency but we must be leading people to Jesus Christ. I do not need to give someone a history lesson on fire to let them know the building is on fire and the exit is this way.

The enemy wants to get us to forget that God has not given us a spirit of fear. He wants us to forget that the Holy Spirit was given so we could be bold in the face of adversity. He wants us to continually look into the face of fear until we see ourselves there. Please understand that this is not a bash Bible prophecy preachers or those who study the scriptures for even deeper realms of knowledge of God. It is simply a reminder that we must be the message of Christ and while part of that message is that he will come like a thief in the night the other is that he died to save them from their sins. He was their substitution on the cross.

Recognize what is happening in the world today for what it is. A sign of the end of the age. Let the prophecies and the correlations to world events we are witnessing first hand motivate you to speak the message of Christ boldly. Until the trumpet sounds be about his message and his purpose for your life and know that if you stand for him he will stand with you just like he did in Daniel chapter 3.

After The Win

Recently, we had a major event at our church. We hosted a men's conference that was planned for several months. The anticipation of the conference was so palpable in the atmosphere. It consumed our minds as to how to make it the best we could. We spent resources to market it and to promote to the best of our ability. Finally, we got to the days prior to the conference and the last minute details seemed to be too numerous to count. The conference day arrived and it was great. We had to adjust on the fly but who doesn't. Sunday came and the speaker gave his final address and then we took him to the airport dropped him off and that was it. Conference done. People saved and changed, budgets met, a big win for our church.

On the drive back home from the airport, I was talking to one of our deacons and a very big question came up. What's next? We sat in silence for a little bit and then something amazing happened. My deacon, who is the best one I have ever seen, said "this is what will make us or break us." My mind raced as I processed this statement.

So often, we get hung up in the preliminaries and planning that we forget to plan after the win happens. Thankfully, we did plan out after the conference. For us, we knew that this was a spring board for us to launch our men's ministry. But for many people, they lose the momentum because they failed to plan after the win.

After the win there are some vital things that must happen. Here are a few.

1. CELEBRATE. You and your church just completed a monumental challenge and walked away with energy and vigor that is difficult to manufacture. It is pure raw energy. Let the people see you smile and hear you give praises and accolades to those who were involved. One of the worst things to do is not to celebrate because you take on the worker bee mentality. It is just back to making more honey and then making more honey. Celebrate the win.

2. DON'T CELEBRATE TOO LONG. How long is too long? Celebration varies some situations call for longer and others for shorter. With this conference and previous conferences we have done, we celebrated and heard testimonies for a week or so, but we began to teach and talk on what we were going to do with the results from the conference as it applied to us. We wanted our congregation to see that the events have purpose but the end result was helping people not having an event. So, now we are navigating the nuts and bolts stage of men's ministry and how it will be the most effective. We are allowing the church to walk that journey with us and be a part of the process.

3. ARTICULATE THE RESULTS AND WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH THEM. If people can see that what has been done had purpose and is being acted upon, they will rally behind it. They may not even understand all the details. They are just happy to see that their time, talents, and treasure went to benefit people and the church as a whole.

It sounds simple right? Celebrate the win, don't hang out on it for so long you can't see the need to do anything else, and let people see why it was done in the first place. It may sound simple but many leaders will try to make things happen and they many times will succeed but they fail to bring their congregations along with them or place themselves in the position as dictator and the do what I say do individual. This never allows the purpose to gel in the hearts of the people. If the purpose fails to gel the actions of the people will be sluggish and they many times will come away with a feeling of being used instead of being valued. Be intentional in your words. Your praise means more than you know and your vague or sarcastic criticisms penetrate deeper than you may think as well.

Above all build relationships. Build the community. You are not about events you are about people. Be genuine.

Hard To Believe

Have you ever had one of those mementos where your faith in what God could do and then seeing him do it collided with each other? Today was one of those days for me. Many of you know that my youngest son Joel was born 3 months premature. For those of you who don't here is a brief description of his struggle. My wife's water broke completely at 16 weeks. Yes 16 weeks. We immediately went to the OB and he sent us immediately to a specialist who told us to abort this little baby because there was less than 0% chance of his survival. We called anyone and everyone who knew how to pray and decided that only God can decide life and death and so we went home praying that God would do something miraculous. My wife placed herself on bed rest and started drinking enormous amounts of water. In December, we went back to the specialist who were surprised that we were still pregnant. My wife was placed in the hospital and I became a single father and full time pastor for the next 3 months. Joel was born at 2 pounds 8 ounces on January 10th. He surprised the doctors at his progression and actually was released on oxygen a week before his actual due date.

That was a miracle. The doctors told us that his life would be less than extraordinary. He would have very little cognitive functions and very limited motor functions. They said he would more than likely develop CP or some other disorder. We received nothing but bad reports about him. But, we knew God had performed a miracle. Joel progressed and while he has had some difficulties and some struggles, he is functioning and doing well. That brings me to today.

My wife and I dropped my son off at school today for the first time. No tears were shed by my son. He was unbuckling his seatbelt to get up and get started with school. I took a snap shot of him holding his bear on the way to school. Beary will be sitting in the van today waiting for my son to come out of school. Joel hugged me said by dad and pulled away from me and was met by a teacher who was so excited to see him. He walked with her and as we pulled away did not even look back he just kept walking and went in to begin the next great chapter of his life.

That's when my mind flashed back through all the pictures of my son on monitors in the NICU. All the hours of therapy and stretching to make sure his muscles were loose. All the giggles and funny games we played together as he was growing up and surpassing expectations of physicians. It was in that moment also that God placed on my heart this one thought. "THAT'S WHAT FAITH DOES."

Faith enables us to walk without looking back. It helps us to overcome fear of the unknown. It strengthens us and brings us to a new level of confidence. Had we believed the doctors, my son would not be here. Had we believed the therapists, my son would be lower functioning and meeting their expectations instead of surpassing the expectations of man.

I shed some tears today as I watched my kids go to school. But, my faith was charged because I was watching the results of it in real time. Thank you God for your faithfulness and steadfastness. Happy first day of school.

Fighting Insecurity

Many of you who know me would say that I am a pretty secure person. I don't let doubt show in my face or my actions. I have been told I come across as confident and not at all shy. Let me admit something to you. I battle insecurity daily. It is only by the grace and strength of God that I am who I am. Lots of people just gave me an amen right there because you do the same thing. 

Insecurity is one of the hardest battles for anyone to fight. It attacks your very make up and structure. I battle this almost every day. I have tasks that I know must be completed but sometimes the thoughts of "why would someone listen to you? who do you think you are? Do you remember what you used to be like?" come in with such force, I have to stop and get my bearings back. Some of you have no idea what I am talking about and still others are again giving me an amen. You know precisely what I am talking about. So, for what it is worth to you, I want to give you some steps to overcome insecurity. 

1. Remember who made you. 

Seems simple remember that God created you. God is not bound by the circumstances of your birth or your life or your family. He created you in his image and the image of the creator is perfect and bold. When you feel insecurity rising in you, stop and say a prayer and remind yourself that you were created by God for his purpose and he has never and will never create junk. 

2. Everything you need has been given to you. 

I remember reading the first chapter of Ephesians where the scripture says all things have been given to you. Notice the word have. It is saying that what we need to succeed has been given to us already. We have access to them. We simply must take them and use them. We can battle with feeling ill equipped or ill prepared but we can be confident in knowing that God has given us what we need to succeed and not just to participate but to see it through to completion. 

3. The power is not yours it is God's power. 

At first, you may view this a a slight contradiction but in actuality it is a statement of truth that expounds on the previous point. The power to do has been given to each one of us who believe. But, it is not a fleshly power that has been given. It is spiritual power which comes from God and if we understand that supernatural power from the very hand of God is what we now have access to and full right to use then we can be confident and not be insecure. God is never weak and never runs, so we can be strong and courageous. 

When I need to get my head together, I stop and think on these three things and I feel the spiritual recharge. I do what scripture directs and take captive every thought that comes into my head and make it submit to the will of God. It is not my will but it is the Lords will. We can succeed at anything we put our minds to. Remember he has given you all the power you need to succeed and win not just merely get by.