Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

Unleashed – As you go – Pray

“Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.” Romans 12:2 TPT

On November 3 our nation will officially cast their ballots for multiple individuals across the nation, for both national and state level offices. I have experienced lots of elections, both in the United States and overseas, and, unfortunately, as we become more secularized as a nation and world, the negativity and mudslinging increase.

Regardless of who you vote for, some will win, others lose. Results may drag on for days, weeks, or maybe months. One party or the other will probably contest the election. Commentators will analyze the results and give their “unbiased” opinions. Frustration and disappointment, or satisfaction and celebration, will be equally expressed across the nation.

We watch as our cities overflow with anger, hatred, violence and destruction. We have witnessed the worst of politics through the degrading of other’s characters and ideas. We were bombarded with accusations and half-truths. Yet our hope is not in the ugly events of the day but in Jesus Christ.

So, I ask the question as a Christ-follower:  “What do I do on November 4?”

My short answer: I will do what I did the day before and what I will do the day after, keep my eyes upon Jesus. I can’t control the outcome of the election but I can control my attitude. I can’t control the violence in the streets but I can be a refuge of peace for others. I can’t control the bitterness that comes out of others but I can control the words that flow from my soul.

On November 4 the world is going to need us to be springs of living water for them to drink from. Let the world see Christians, who may have disagreed on the election, still come together on Sunday to worship, pray and fellowship together. Let the world see us united in the One who gives us life.

On that day, as every day, let our life be lived as Romans 12 Christ-focused people. As followers of Christ we will focus on:

  • Love that is sincere, devoted to one another in love and honoring one another
  • Serving the Lord with spiritual fervor
  • Being joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer
  • Sharing with those in need and practicing hospitality
  • Blessing others even if they persecute us
  • Rejoicing with those rejoicing and mourning with those who mourn
  • Seeking to live in harmony with one another, not prideful, not conceited, not repaying evil for evil
  • Taking care to do right, living at peace and rejecting revenge
  • Overcoming evil with good

Living a Romans 12 lifestyle could have a transformative impact on a world that is in need of a drink from the cup of grace that only God offers.  However, it only happens as we stay in oneness with Jesus. As Oswald Chambers wrote, “Keep at the Source, guard well your belief in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow for other lives, no dryness and no deadness.”

“Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.” Romans 12:1 TPT

God is great on November 4 – as He is forever!

Pastor Lynn

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” Deuteronomy 4:7

“We may discover that bringing spiritual power to bear upon needy places across the world through prayer may be our largest challenge in the years ahead.”

This challenge was issued by Baker James Cauthen, while serving as president of the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) at the March 1960 Board meeting. Fast forward 60 years and his words are as relevant today as they were in 1960. Dr. Cauthen challenged the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to accelerate the impact of international mission work “by an enlarged missionary staff, increased evangelistic efforts and the employment of intercessory prayer.”

Oswald Chambers wrote, several decades before Dr. Cauthen’s remarks, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, but prayer is the greater work because we can do nothing without God’s help and power. We are dependent on Him and the greater work of prayer is essential for advancing His kingdom, plans and purposes.”

Dr. Cauthen understood this principle and went on to say, “We have learned to organize for enlistment, evangelism, stewardship, and other important functions in our church life, but there remains a vast area of need in organizing the prayer potential of the millions of people who make up the churches.” If these words were true in 1960, they carry the same truth today. We have the best organizational methods possible. But do we undergird the methods with prayer to make them function? We have more evangelistic methods than at anytime in church history. But does our lack of prayer contribute to the growing number of Americans who hold no religious beliefs (better known as “nones”) every year?

Paul shared in 2 Corinthians 1 how he was overwhelmed, about to give up entirely as if under a death sentence. Paul and his team were facing incredible opposition in their mission work. Paul writes, “For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.” (2 Cor 1:8)

Paul knew he couldn’t do it on his own. Through the church’s unleashed power of prayer, Paul was able to write, “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” (2 Cor 1:10-11)

Prayer is not one of the strategies employed to do missions, or to do church work, or to do life. Prayer is the very essence of all we do in life. Prayer sounds simple until we begin the hard work of actually praying.

Prayer is the power that penetrates the closed borders of nations for the gospel. Prayer is the power that encourages fellow believers found in the persecuted church of China to stay strong. Prayer is the power that prepares the heart of this lost world for the Gospel.

“it is because the harnessing of our prayer potential and the responsibility for larger evangelistic efforts on a world scale go hand in hand that the call to greater prayer support for missions is so imperative.” (Cauthen)

“…For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples” Isaiah 56:7 Prayer is not a luxury, it is essential. Prayer is not confined to a few “saints,” it should be the heartbeat of every Christ follower. Prayer is not a laundry list of wants but is used to connect our desires into the desires of God. Prayer awakens us to who we are in God’s family.

God is great

Pastor Lynn

 

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

 “But I know the loving God will redeem my soul, raising me up from the dark power of death, taking me as his bridal partner.” Psalm 49:15

In a couple of weeks our nation will select men and women who will become the leaders of this nation. Ballots will be marked out of heartfelt convictions, anger, party loyalty or fear as we give individuals positions of power and authority. Some will become leaders who use their power wisely. Others will abuse their stations.

However, Psalm 49 is a powerful reminder that what is important is not the wealth of the world, the power of the moment, or the influence of politics—all these things will eventually vanish. The only remaining reminders will be streets named after the dead and lifeless monuments where birds come to roost. The real riches of life are found in God. He reveals the wisdom that will live forever.

Frank Viola shares the story of a young French pastor conducting visits in the homes of his congregants. At one of the houses, the wife was away so he was able to talk only with the husband. Upon returning home, the wife blasted her husband with questions about the pastor.

“What did he say? “, she asked.

“He asked, “Does Christ live here?”, the husband replied. “He didn’t really ask me anything else. Just, “Does Christ live here?”

“Well, surely you told him that we are the church’s biggest supporters?” she replied.

“He didn’t ask that,” the husband repeated. “He only asked, “Does Christ live here?”

Her response was, “Well, you must have told him that we read our Bible and say our prayers every day?”

Once again, the husband replied, “He only asked, “Does Christ live here?”

“Well, did you tell him that we attend his services every Sunday and sit in the front?” the wife persisted.

“He didn’t ask about that. He only wanted to know, “Does Christ live here?”

The Psalmist reminds us “The brightest and best, along with the foolish and senseless, God sees that they all will die one day, leaving their houses and wealth to the others. Even though they name streets and lands after themselves, hoping to have their memory endure beyond the grave, legends in their own minds, their home address is now the cemetery! The honor of man is short-lived and fleeting. There is little difference between man and beast, for both will one day perish. Such is the path of foolish men and those who quote everything they say, for they are here today and gone tomorrow! (49:10-13 TPT)

History will record the results of the election. Commentators will talk endlessly about the results. Those who won will be elated. Those who lost will be deflated. Yet how quickly the results will vanish from the news. The next day will be another story, and the next day, another story ad infinitum. However, the real story that begs an answer is, “Does Christ live here?”

For this is the only question that God will someday ask of the rich, the powerful, the poor and the destitute: “Does Christ live here?”

 

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

Unleashed – As You Go – Pray

“When I had nothing, desperate and defeated, I cried out to the Lord and he heard me, bringing his miracle—deliverance when I needed it most.” Psalm 34:6 (TPT)

“I begin to suspect that the world is divided not only into the happy and the unhappy, but into those who like happiness and those who, odd as it seems, really don’t.” Very poignant words written by C.S. Lewis to his brother Warren in 1940. Lewis’s words still seem to be accurate as it relates to the current state of happiness. According to a Harris poll, only one in three Americans say they’re “very happy.” “According to the 2019 World Happiness Report, negative feelings are rising around the world—and the United States is particularly hard-hit with an “epidemic of addictions.” The same report ranks the United States at only number 19 of “happiest countries” in the world.

I wonder how David would answer the “poll taker” if asked the question, “Are you happy?” I wonder if he would pause for a few minutes and think about his circumstances? I wonder if he would think about everything he has lost? David was probably at the lowest point of his life. A few months before he had been in the inner circle of King Saul, now he was hiding in a dark, cold cave of Adullam. He had been the subject of a hit musical, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” David had been forced to say farewell to his most trusted and caring friend, Jonathan, and was now being chased by professional assassins of Saul with one purpose, to kill him. He had to play the fool in front of King Achish so he could escape.  Are you happy, David?

I think David would look at the” poll taker” and, for his answer, gently begin singing the words of Psalm 34:

“I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

I will glory in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”

David continues the song finally ending with the words, “The LORD will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.”

David never had the opportunity to celebrate the “International Day of Happiness” that the United Nations proclaimed for March 20 of each year. He wouldn’t fully comprehend how only one in three Americans could be happy. What David fully understood was that, regardless of the circumstances, the best recourse is to praise our way out of difficulties and into the light.

These thoughts came to my mind the other morning in my prayer time as I meditated on these verses:

When I find myself jealous of what others have — thank God for what I have.

When I find myself fearful — look to the God of all creation as my source of strength.

When I find myself overwhelmed — turn my load over to Jesus.

When I find myself worrying — trust God who feeds the sparrows.

When I find myself uncertain — let God, take the lead.

When I have unholy thoughts — give them to God to redeem.

“The Lord is close to all whose hearts are crushed by pain, and he is always ready to restore the repentant one.” Psalm 34:10 (TPT)

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

Unleashed – As You Go – Pray

“Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you—better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.” Proverbs 27:10

How could a small city such as Crosby, North Dakota make the national news headlines? There wasn’t a presidential debate in the city. There were not political protests or social unrest occurring on Main Street. Much to the dismay of everyone in town there was not a grand opening of a new Chik-fil-A!

No, what made the headlines were actions taken that showed what living as community is all about. Neighbors and friends coming together to help someone through a tragedy.

Lane Unhjem suffered a heart attack while working on his farm. Transferred from Crosby to Minot and finally to a Minneapolis’ ICU, the Unhjem family was facing a devasting loss of their livelihood. Without Lane there was no way the family would be able to get the crops harvested. That is until neighbors heard of their plight and came together for a “Harvest Bee.” Sixty farmers pulled onto the Unhjem’s farm piloting 11 combines, 11 semi-trucks with trailers, and several grain carts with tractors to begin harvesting the crops spread across Lane’s 1,000 acres farm. Seven hours later the crops were harvested and safely in the storage barns.

However, there were more headline making actions to come. The next week another group of farmers came together to haul in 714 large round hay bales that will provide the feed to get the cattle through the coming winter months. Meanwhile a “cooking bee” produced a month’s worth of meals that were put into the freezer for the family. Neighbor and friend Don Anderson shared that “the outpouring of support for Lane and his family is not surprising for those of us who live here. We have a long history of helping people in our community when they are faced with tragedy or hardship.”  He went on to say, “when friends band together to help you when you’re down, that’s something money can’t buy.”

Crosby, North Dakota is a great example of a Kenyan proverb that says, “In times of danger it is important that people act together.”  I understand the importance of neighbor helping neighbor having grown up in rural Oklahoma.  I grasp the depth of “better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away” after years of living in Africa. I hope that all of us understand the importance of being part of a loving church family as we follow the pattern of the early church in Acts 2 “they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

Unleashed has been FBCPTC’s “harvest bee.” In August 2017 we pulled our “combines and tractors” into the field to get rid of an overwhelming debt. Week after week, all working together determined to finish this “harvest of debt.”  Together we have done what no one person could have done alone. Only as a focused, determined, church family have we been able to bring ourselves closer to being Unleashed. The field is almost cleared to allow us to focus more resources on other Kingdom purposes. We can do it!

“If you want to walk fast, walk alone;

If you want to walk far, walk with others.” (African proverb)

God is great,

Pastor Lynn Burton