Sunday Mornings and the Pastor

I guess you can say I'm an early riser. I enjoy getting up by 5:30 am every morning. I find a person can't get much done when they are sleeping. There is something special about those early pre-dawn hours. I began this practice early in my parenting years. I found those early hours to be the quietest of the day. My family was asleep and I could actually be alone with the Father. I have especially enjoyed the early hours of Sunday mornings. This is always when I polish my sermon, get the last few details out of the way, pray through my message one more time and, in general, begin to get my heart ready for the upcoming sermon. This is when I begin to really feel the weight of my job. This is when I feel the great responsibility to bring the Word of God to the people God has placed under my care. It is an amazingly awesome privilege but also a great responsibility. Unless you have ever preached before, you can't imagine the pressure a pastor feels. Most pastors love God with their entire being. They desire nothing more than to glorify the Father with their weekly sermons. People, pray for your pastor. Pray he honors God through his study and through his life. Pastors, take the responsibility of bringing the Word of God to your people serious. Study. Spend time in the Word and let the Word spend time in you. Come into your pulpit, not with cute catchy phrases, but come with the power of the Holy Spirit. Beg God to speak through you. As I prepare for today's sermon, I am reminded of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians: "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (2:1-5). We have enough men in America who are able to bring sermons with wise and persuasive words. We are in need of a few more preachers who bring the message with demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. Just a simple thought for a Sunday morning.

Psalm 51: The Psalm of Desperation

Psalm 51: The Psalm of Desperation Why do we continually fail in our walk with God? Why is it we so often ask God to forgive us of the same sin over and over again? With simple will power, we decide to stop the action that we know harms our witness and brings shame to the Father, but soon find we fall right back into the terrible habit we hate with all of our being. Why do we fail so often? I see this work itself out in my own spiritual journey and see it evidence itself in many of the people I council with on any given day. How do we overcome? Psalm 51 may be the perfect text for us to examine. I think of this Psalm as the “Psalm of Desperation.” As you read Psalm 51, can you sense the desperation in David’s spirit? I can almost see David writing this psalm through brokenness and tears. He is crying out to God in desperation. He cries out “Have mercy on me, O God.” He knows he is guilty and deserves God’s judgment. He begs God to have mercy on him. He begs God not to remove His Spirit from him. Have you ever been that desperate over your sin? Are you more disappointed that you got caught or that you brought shame to the Father’s name? Are you more worried that God won’t bless you any more or that you have embarrassed the only person who loves you unconditionally (God)? The first step in gaining victory over your sin is desperation. From desperation, God will lead you to a declaration of guilt. “Against you, you only have I sinned.” You must own your sin. It is neither your father nor your mother’s fault. You sinned, not because you were raised a certain way, but you sinned through a conscience choice to disobey God. We try to defend our actions before God telling Him we are too weak to do any better. We do our best to divert guilt to someone else. We disown our sin and deliberate our guilt and judgment with God. In other words, we play games with God. We try to make others look worse than ourselves and pray God will have mercy with us but bring judgment upon others. Once you have hit rock bottom and you are desperate for the hand of God, make your declaration of guilt before the Father. From your declaration, you will be led to a genuine dissatisfaction with your spiritual walk with the Father. You know there has to be more to this spiritual life but you are missing it. Through a genuine dissatisfaction, you will realize that only God can do the work in you that is needed to bring victory to you. In verse ten, David implores God to “create in me a pure heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” The Hebrew word David used for “create” is “bara.” This is an interesting word. In the creation account it is used three times in Genesis 1. God, and God alone, created in Genesis 1 verses 1, 21, and 27. God created the heavens and the earth. God created the animals and God created male and female. It was only God who created those things and David affirms that it is only God who can create a pure heart in you. Too often, we try by our own willpower to change those habits we hate so much. But we continually fail because we cannot create a pure heart within us. Only God can “bara” a pure heart within you and me. Release your strangle hold on your life. God will not override your self-sufficiency but will freely empower to victory if you humble yourself and let Him “bara” in you. Remember, God wants you to live a victorious Christian life more than you desire a victorious life. From your dissatisfaction with your current spiritual state, you will begin to uncover wonderful discovery: God is more concerned with your heart than what you do. David says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (vs 17). You will unchain yourself from the constant treadmill of trying to perform enough acts of righteousness to please God. As we surrender ourselves to God, we discover it is not about performance but about surrender. Finally, as you read and meditate over Psalm 51 there will be a deep, slow and gentle ebb of hope resonating within your spirit. Slowly but surely you will begin to dream again. This hope will begin to flood your soul and overflow out of your heart. David writes, “Then there will be righteous sacrifices…”(19). David believes God is not done with him and one day David will again be restored to the place of offering righteous sacrifices of a broken and contrite heart to God. David’s hope in restoration is what drove him to his knees. Hope for forgiveness permeates this Psalm. While the consequence of David’s sin is clearly taught in scripture, we also know David was listed in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. God is a god of second chances. If you are reading this and find yourself in a continual cycle of failing in your Christian walk, can I encourage you to humbly go before God with a singular desperation and offer God your genuine confession? In your desperation, go to God in the following way: It may feel a little awkward at first. Open your Bible to Psalm 51. Lay it on the ground before you. Humbly bow in the presence of God. Lay flat before the throne room of God and remain silent. Say nothing. In a few moments, begin to read the 51st Psalm to the Lord. As you come to portions of the Psalm, read them as if you are guilty. You are the one desperate for God. You are the one who is guilty. Beg God for your life. Plead with the Father for a second chance. Implore Him not to give up on you but humbly forgive and use you again. If you go to God with that attitude, I am confident that He will freely forgive your sins, restore your relationship with Him and faithfully use you again. Go to God humbly and in desperation and see what He might do through you.

Whose Life? Tebow or Brady

A couple of days ago, a new World Champion was crowned. A new Super Bowl MVP drove away in his new car. More people watched the 2012 Super Bowl than any other television show in history. The year produced one winner and 31 losers. Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge football fan and enjoyed watching the Super Bowl even though “my” team was not playing (Yes I really do know it is not “my” team but I like to think it matters a little that I’m a Bronco fan, though I know it really doesn’t). I am a huge Denver Bronco fan. It has been my habit for many years to check the Denver Post online a few times a week just to keep up with the news coming out of Bronco Nation. A few weeks ago, the Post ran a very interesting poll: Whose life would you want to live: Tom Brady’s or Tim Tebow’s? Whose life would I want to live? Interesting thought: they are both losers. Maybe I’d rather live Eli Manning’s life. The Denver Post had a few interesting reasons to want to live the life of Brady or Tebow. Consider these: Tom Brady has been a multiple Super Bowl Champion and a multiple Super Bowl loser. He has been the MVP of the NFL and will be a certain Hall of Famer. He is married to a “Top Model.” He has a contract with mega-millions and receives millions more in product endorsements. He has one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. Tom Brady is living an amazing life. Tebow doesn’t have it bad as well: He is a two-time National Champion, a Heisman Trophy winner, a first round draft pick, he is the hero of Bronco Nation, he has a contract worth multiple millions, receives millions in endorsements, and he has a very large cult following. He is also an amazing role model. So whose life would you live? The last time I checked, Tebow, was narrowly beating Brandy. But the poll was taken through the Denver Post so the results are surely skewed. But for you, whose life would you live? As a Christian, we do not have the luxury of asking that question. You see, Jesus Christ has bought us. He paid a very high ransom price for you and me. Therefore, He owns us. We are slaves of Christ and the life we live is not our own but it is Christ living His life through us. We must continually have a Christocentric view of life. Jesus did not come to make your life better. He came to kill your life and live His life through you. Paul says it this way: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). As we consider the process of sanctification (being transformed into the image of Christ), we need more Christians dreaming, not of becoming a Tebow or a Brady but dreaming of becoming mighty and valiant warriors in God’s Kingdom. We must be willing to surrender everything, to keep our eyes focused on Christ and obediently allow Christ to live His life through us. We We are certainly losers in this life. But let me assure you, if you are in Christ, you will be great winners in the next life. Don’t compare your life to Tebow or Brady. For that matter, don’t compare your life to anyone except Jesus Christ. Surrender every area of your life to God and allow Christ to live His life through you. Thoughts to consider: What habits or attitudes keep you from allowing Christ to live His life through you? Are you willing to surrender everything to Christ? Whose life would you rather live? Tim, Tom or Jesus’ life? What is keeping you from living God's dream for your life?

January's Books

I have challenged myself to read 52 books this year. That is one book a week. I hope to keep my totals growing this year. Here are my books in January: "Radical Disciple" by John Stott, "Unlimiting God" by Richard Blackaby, "Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn, "Not a Fan" by Kyle Idleman, and "Limiting God" by John Hunter. Ok, five down only 47 to go. By the way, the next "Pastor's Book Club" read will be David Platt's "Radical." Join me in February as we read Platt's book.