Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:2-6

I can’t believe he said that to me! Did you hear what she just said? I finally got word they were OK.

Every day, according to a University of Arizona study, roughly 16,000 words are spoken with no discernable difference between the number men or women speak. That’s a lot of words! Words that encourage and words that deflate. Words that bless and words that curse. Words to give information and words to bring comfort.

Thankfully you are no longer limited to the approximately 470,000 words in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, they just added 455 new words and definitions in October. Language continually evolves, adding new words almost daily. Surely with this number of choices you can find a word that is appropriate for the occasion?

Men no longer have a ‘slight belly’, they now have a ‘dad bod.’ You can now be a ‘digital nomad’ if you normally work over the internet while traveling. You no longer have to settle for a simple ‘sandwich’, you can have a ‘fluffernutter, horchata, chicharron or Goetta.’ It shouldn’t come as a surprise but “Vax” is Oxford Languages’ word of the year.

No one can escape the word saturated culture we live in today. According to recent statistics, the average time Americans spend on mobile devices is three hours and 54 minutes a day. You can add to this number another three hours and 22 minutes for TV watching. This climate of word saturation can set a pattern of use that no longer encourages us or honors God. Christine Wang writes, “as a society, we like to swear. Swear words have a strange power over us. It starts when we are young, when they are deliciously taboo. Then, as we age, our dependence on swear words increases to the point where as an adult, we find that the magnitude of our emotions can only be captured by cursing.”

With this vast reservoir of words to draw from, what do you do with your words? We could use the newest, trendiest words. Or we could use the good, old-fashioned curse words.  Whatever, or however, we use our words, “Words have power. With your words you can wound and weaken the people who matter most in your life, such as your colleagues and subordinates, your family members and friends, your neighbors near and far. Or you can use your words to bless those who are close to you, to build them up, encourage, and energize them.” Mark Roberts

Without a doubt we need new words to describe our ever-expanding world of language. I guess the world is better off now that the words “blank check company, doorbell camera, air fryer, ghost kitchen, and halotherapy” have found their way into the Merriam-Webster list of words.

Most likely the trendy words of today will be out of vogue with the next generation. However, Jesus offers words that this generation and the next and the next will need long after the air fryer goes to the dump. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” –John 6:63

Jesus knew a few things about words since He is the ultimate Word. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” –John 1:14

Words do have power. Use your 16,000 words today with grace and wisdom. Our world is greatly in need of words that give life, words that give hope, and words that glorify God. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

 

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” Genesis 2:2-3

Its back – Your lost hour from March! Do you feel better with a whole extra hour of sleep? Are you really more rested? Do you really have more energy? What did you do with the extra hour you were given? Is it really a gift if it comes at the midnight hour while you are sleeping? Most likely you didn’t gain a lot from that hour.

ulu Tours, a Hong Kong tour company, launched a five-hour, 47-mile ride to nowhere. Actually, the tour had a destination: sleep. The company realized the soothing rhythm of the road caused people to fall asleep. Kenneth Kong shared that “When we were brainstorming new tours, I saw a social media post from my friend saying that he was stressed out by his work, he couldn’t sleep at night. But when he was traveling on the bus, he was able to sleep well. His post inspired us to create this tour that lets passengers just sleep on the bus.” The first tour was sold out!

The United States is among the world leaders in reduced productivity and increased health issues from lack of sleep. According to Rand Corporation, the US loses the equivalent of 1.2 million working days per year from people not getting enough sleep. In addition, “The US loses approximately $411 billion a year, or 2.28% of its GDP.”

God’s creation in Genesis included the special gift of rest. He didn’t create a day off but a time of rest and renewal.  It should be a time to slow down and enjoy His creation; a time to step aside and enjoy His presence.  On the seventh day, God set in motion a mini sabbatical for us to be renewed and restored. The world gives us an hour and then takes it back. God’s life-giving Sabbath is so important that it was included as part of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). However, when the Sabbath became bogged down in the swamp of legalism, Jesus reminded everyone, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” (Mark 2:27-28 NLT)

Countless times throughout scripture, God’s people were condemned for their failure to observe the Sabbath. Condemned, not for failure to keep rules or regulations, but failure to keep God at the center of the Sabbath and to treat it as holy.

Eugene Peterson regularly shared with his congregation the importance of the Sabbath and the impact that it has on the culture around us. “The great reality we are involved in as people and pastor is God. Most of the people around us don’t know that, and couldn’t care less. One of the ways God has provided for us to stay aware of and responsive to him as the determining and centering reality of our lives in a world that doesn’t care about this is by sabbath-keeping. At regular intervals we all need to quit our work and contemplate his, quit talking to each other and listen to him. God knows we need this and has given us a means in sabbath—a day for praying and playing, simply enjoying what he is.”

Religion tried to legalize the Sabbath through rituals and requirements.  Governments have tried to legalize the Sabbath through Blue Laws and restrictions. Culture tried to dismiss the Sabbath as irrelevant. Technology tried to drown out the Sabbath with busyness and noise.

“A day of rest. A day to humble me with the reminder of my limitations. A day to slow my pace and cease my drive to produce. A day to find my identity outside of what I accomplish. A day to find enjoyment not in what I use, but simply in being myself with God, his creation, and his people, especially my family.”—Bill Gaultiere

God tried to give us the Sabbath as a gift of life and renewal. What will you do with this life-giving gift?

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“…. for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:34

No game safari would be complete without at least one encounter with elephants. The massive African elephant and the slightly smaller Asian elephant enjoy the distinction of being the largest land mammals on earth with life spans that can reach 70 years. These gentle yet powerful creatures move about the land gracefully and majestically. The beautiful creatures also have a remarkable memory that gives us the saying, “an elephant never forgets.” According to a 7-year Kenyan study, the matriarch passes her knowledge on to other members of the herd. Additional studies revealed that as an elephant ages, its memory improves.

I’m sure San Francisco resident Stefan Thomas would have welcomed an elephantine memory when he couldn’t remember the password to access a secure hard drive that contained 7,002 bitcoins valued at approximately $220 million. Forgetfulness is a common problem with 39% of Americans having forgotten or misplaced at least one everyday item in the past week according to a Trending Machine national poll.

We are not surprised when we forget things but what about God? How could God, who is omniscient, forget anything? How could God who created all things, forget anything? How could God who knows our inner thoughts, forget anything?

It is no surprise that God forgives us of our sins. Scripture tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9).

 

We can have confidence that God forgives but does He forget? When it comes to our sins, God has total amnesia. “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Hebrews 10:17. “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” Isaiah 43:25(NLT) “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12

 

It is amazing to think that God chooses to totally forget. In that moment of forgiveness, God also chooses to forget. God chooses not to keep bringing up our past. God chooses not to throw our mistakes and failures back into our faces. God chooses to maintain a relationship with us that is new and fresh each day.

Unfortunately, the one who can’t forget is yourself. Knowing we are forgiven doesn’t seem to be quite enough. We choose to carry the baggage of our past until the weight breaks us from enjoying the beauty of forgiveness. Yes, you will remember but “remember your sin redemptively.”

“We are not capable of forgetting. The memory of a difficult event will always be with us. But we can choose to remember in a redemptive manner. We can remember the event as a time of real pain but also as a testimony of God’s forgiveness and grace. We will always remember our mistakes, but we can also remember that they led to healing.” (James Bryan Smith)

Could it be that Peter stood at the water’s edge reflecting on how Jesus pulled him from the waters of his fear? Could it be the woman caught in adultery walked by the temple spot of her condemnation reflecting on Jesus’ words of grace and healing? Could it be that Paul again walked the road to Damascus but remembered the gift of salvation he received?

Could it be that now, as you look back, you remember “that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor 5:17NLT)

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

Until the End

“The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.

Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I; send me!” Isaiah 6:4-5,8

“Send me” is the only response Isaiah can make. In this moment of complete surrender, Isaiah said he would go. In this moment of total worship, Isaiah knew he had to say yes. In this moment of overwhelming emotion of his own sinfulness, Isaiah said yes.

If you had been standing there, would you have said “Yes, send me”?

The call of God hasn’t changed over the generations. He still calls us to go into this world that needs Him. We may be called to the marketplace where we encounter the lost. For some of us the call is to the ends of the world, to other cultures and people groups. Granted, the call for most people will never be quite as dramatic as it was for Moses, David, Peter, Paul or Isaiah but the impact will still be Kingdom changing.

Sitting in the Regal Cinema watching the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) documentary “Ends of the Earth,” I couldn’t help but think, God is still asking the same question, “Who will go?”  “It’s a mysterious part of the gospel that says God loves the people at the very edge of the world, the people who are marginalized. You know, even among Christians there’s is a kind of calculation about return on investment (ROI) and “bang for our buck.” You hear this with mission work too. But we can’t really approach this from an ROI perspective. The gospel is costly. Jesus comes and He gives His life so we can have life. And He’s the shepherd who goes after the one lost sheep.” David Holsten, Pres MAF

The gospel is costly in so many ways. It puts you in the crosshairs of our secular culture. The cost will require you to sacrifice time and energy. For some, such as MAF pilot, Joyce Lin, it was giving her life in a plane crash in Papua, Indonesia. Her yes to “send me” cost her life. In Haiti this week, 17 missionaries were kidnapped. Their yes to “send me” is a loss of freedom and possibly worse.

Your yes to “send me” will cost you. Will the cost be worth it?  Isaiah doesn’t ask what cost he will suffer, his only question is, “How long, O Lord?” God’s answer: forever. Isaiah doesn’t think, he simply says, “send me”. Frederick Buechner writes, “And that is what a prophet does for a living and, starting from the year that King Uzziah died, when he saw and heard all these things, Isaiah went and did it.”

A young coal miner from Iowa said “yes” to God’s call. George Bennard became an itinerant missionary and preacher. When he was interrupted and harassed in a service by those mocking the cross, it caused Bennard to think deeply about Christ and the Cross. As he meditated on the meaning of the cross, six initial words “I’ll cherish the old rugged cross” birthed the hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross.”

Our “yes” to “send me” will cost us something. Our “yes” to “send me” will look different from anyone else’s “yes.” Yet in the end, our “yes” will be worth it. The words from the final verse of Bennard’s hymn say it well:

“To the old rugged cross I will ever be true; its shame and reproach gladly bear;

Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away, where His glory forever I’ll share.

 So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown.”

Use me Lord to the end. Let others see you in me. Give me eyes to see, ears to hear your call in my life. Fall fresh on me. Fall fresh on me. Amen

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

 

 

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.” Hebrews 11:1-3

Would your faith be made easier by having a Lord you could see?

Over the years the people of Israel had experienced a rhythm of revival and regression, domination and defeat. Finally, they had an answer for all their problems, we want a king! They had God but how much better it would have been if they had a flesh and blood king like all the neighboring nations.  Instead of listening to the Prophet Samuel’s warnings about what it would be like to live under a king, “the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.” (I Samuel 8:19-20)

“Yahweh alone was King over Israel, the prophets thundered: to be feared, to be loved, above all else to be obeyed. When the people decided they wanted a king of flesh and blood like all the other nations, Samuel warned them that the consequences would be tragic (1 Samuel 8:4-18), and history proved him correct in every particular. In the long run Israel as king and kingdom vanished from history altogether.” (Frederick Buechner)

Mark Buchanan tells the story of musician Ray Charles who went blind at age seven. “He lived his childhood in rural poverty, in a one-room shack at the edge of a sharecropper’s field. In the movie about him, in a scene from his childhood, he runs into his house and trips over a chair. He starts to wail for his mother. She stands at the stove, right in front of him, and instinctively reaches out to lift him. Then she stops. Backs up. Stands still. Watches.

Ray stops crying. He quiets. He listens. He hears, behind him, the water on the wood stove whistling to a boil. He hears, outside, the wind pass like a hand through cornstalks. He hears the thud of horse hooves on the road, the creak and clatter of the wagon they pull. Then he hears, in front of him, the thin faint scratch of a grasshopper walking the worn floorboards of his mama’s cottage. He inches over and, attentive now to every sigh and twitch, gathers the tiny insect in his hand. He holds it in his open palm. “I hear you, too, Mama,” he says. She weeps with pride and sorrow and wonder.” Charles later explains to someone, “I hear like you see.”

To “hear like you see” beautifully describes the faith that allows us to see beyond our physical realm of life. You may think “flesh and blood” answers will solve all the problems but they seldom do. Living a God-focused faith allows you to hear like others see. It allows you to enter deeper into the heart of God than any physical senses can ever take you. Living a God-focused faith allows us to see what others will never see.

Israel looked for their answers in a flesh and blood king but were quickly disappointed. Today we look for answers in “flesh and blood” solutions. If only this political party could be elected, they would solve all our nation’s problems. If only our elected officials would act boldly against neighboring countries. If only…. becomes the “flesh and blood king” that never can provide a future.

Would your faith be made easier by having a Lord you could see? Without a doubt. But the great thing is, we have that LORD.

He is called Jesus-Immanuel; God is with us. He is called “Our Father” who provides for us, forgives us and leads us.  He is called Jesus-the Good Shepherd. He is called Jesus-the Resurrection and the Life. He is our Advocate.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” –Psalm 121

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

“How much money is enough?” The reporter’s question prompted John D. Rockefeller’s response, “Just a little bit more.” Over his lifetime Rockefeller would amass a fortune becoming the first billionaire in the United States before his death at age 97. Yet I think Rockefeller fully understood that the “little bit more” could not be held onto for eternity. Rockefeller, who daily read his Bible, attended prayer meetings twice a week and led a Bible study along with his wife, understood the temporary status of his treasure. A lot of his giving was church-related; generous to Baptist missionary causes, funding universities and social ministries.

What is the value you place on your treasures? Rockefeller used the wealth entrusted to him “where moths and rust cannot destroy.” Unfortunately, we often don’t realize the real value of something until it is gone. It could be something material or lost intimacy with a family member or a relationship with God. An antiques enthusiast in Connecticut could easily relate to Jesus’ parable in Matthew; “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (13:44)

An antiques hunter came across an interesting looking porcelain bowl at a yard sale in New Haven, Connecticut and purchased it for $35. The buyer did some research on his purchase and found out the bowl was a 15th century Ming Dynasty-era piece. The $35 yard sale bowl ended up selling for $721,800 at a Sotheby auction. Angela McAteer with Sotheby said it was a once in a lifetime discovery. McAteer said, “How the bowl ended up at a Connecticut yard sale remains a mystery. It’s possible it was passed down through generations of the same family who did not know how unique it was.”

How easily do you discard your treasure? A 64-year-old man in southeast Germany found two framed paintings in a roadside dumpster. The paintings were actually 17th century original portraits by Italian artist Pietro Bellotti and Dutch artist Samuel van Hoogstraten. The police launched an investigation into how two priceless artifacts ended up in the trash can. I am pretty certain that whoever threw out the two paintings had no idea of their real value.

Time after time Jesus confronted the religious leaders of the day because they repeatedly rejected the precious gift of God’s love replacing it with worthless rituals and requirements. “The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.” (Matthew 12:35)

Do we discard the real treasure of a friendship over a heated argument about politics? Do we discard the real treasure of a church family because of a disagreement over an issue? Do we discard the real treasure of a relationship with God because He didn’t answer a prayer the way we though He should?

In Star Winar magazine, a most interesting article was posted on the relationship between happiness and treasure. “The most remarkable research is one done involving the world’s richest and poorest peoples.  The Forbes 400 “richest” list was given a survey and their satisfaction level was rated at exactly the same point as were the people of Masai of Kenya and the Intuit people of northern Greenland, both of whom have neither electricity nor running water.

Money is a necessity to live but apparently it can’t buy happiness and that’s for you to decide.  And as the old saying goes, “Money can buy you a house but it can’t buy you a home.”

Regardless of the size of our bank account, our 401K or the square footage of our house; the real treasure is “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Paul writes in 2 Corinthians that “we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” There is nothing wrong with earthly treasures if you hold them loosely. The real treasure you need to guard and hold tightly is the treasure of heaven found in Jesus Christ. One writer asked the question, “What do others see in you—the glory of God in a clay pot, or a clay pot trying to look like a treasure chest?”

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

God – Faithful for a thousand generations

“Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” Deuteronomy 7:9 (NLT)

Worthy of trust; consistent with truth; accurate; exact – these are words that convey the meaning of faithful. Images of steadiness, loyalty and reliability come to mind when we talk about a person who is faithful. Scripture captures for us the faithfulness of God from Torah to Psalms to the Prophets through the Gospels to Revelation.

Normally faithful is an adjective describing someone but in the case of Jesus, Faithful and True is one of his names, “Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.” – Revelation 19:11

Faithfulness “for a thousand generations” is a number we struggle to wrap our minds around.  A number that basically has no end is how the writer of Deuteronomy is trying to capture the unending faithfulness of God. As followers of Christ, faithfulness becomes a source of hope from generation to generation. A.W. Tozer wrote that “The faithfulness of God is a datum of sound theology but to the believer it becomes far more than that: it passes through the processes of the understanding and goes on to become nourishing food for the soul…. Upon God’s faithfulness rests our whole hope of future blessedness.”

A story is told of an old Scottish preacher who was rebuked by one of his deacons for the dismissal results from his preaching. The pastor was reminded that only one boy had been added to the church all year.  The pastor agreed saying, “I feel it all but God knows I’ve tried to do my duty.” On that day the minister’s heart was heavy as he stood before his flock. As he finished the message, he felt a strong inclination to resign but after everyone had left the building, the one young boy added to the church came to the pastor and asked, “Do you think if I worked hard for an education, I could become a preacher and perhaps a missionary?”

The old faithful pastor didn’t live to see the end of the story but he knew “the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations.”  Years later an aged missionary couple returned to London from Africa after spending over 50 years on the mission field.  It is said, “His name was spoken with reverence. Nobles invited him to their homes. He had added many souls to the church of Jesus Christ…. His name was Robert Moffat, the same Robert who years before had spoken to the pastor that Sunday morning in the old Scottish kirk.”

Robert Moffat and his wife Mary’s faithful impact still continues on to the generations that followed. Moffat worked to translate the whole Bible into Setswana to provide ongoing teaching and nourishment of new believers. Moffat would mentor David Livingstone for the ministry and their daughter, Mary would later marry him. Livingstone would become part of the great gospel expansion into Central and Eastern Africa.

Faithfulness is not confined to what we see but of what we don’t see. Moffat wrote that, “We shall have all eternity in which to celebrate our victories, but we have only one swift hour before the sunset in which to win them.”

Thomas Chisholm captured well the awe-inspiring faithfulness of God in his great hymn, “Great is thy Faithfulness.” “A faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love” on us.

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with thee; Thou changest not, they compassions, they fail not; As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is they faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed thy hand hath provided; Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Undoubtedly each of us will walk through periods of pain and suffering, yet as we lament, we are able to identify with the words of Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations: “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” (3:22-24)

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

 

 

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

The forgotten blush

“Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 6:15 NLT

Remember when the teacher called on you in class and you didn’t have the foggiest idea of the answer? Your face turned deep red.

Remember when you did something totally stupid and everyone turned to look at you? Your face turned fire engine red and you wanted to crawl under the table.

Blushing is a natural response to some action that embarrasses or shames you. It is an involuntary reaction to an event and the bottom line is that you can’t control blushing. Charles Darwin called blushing “the most peculiar and most human of all expressions.” Mark Twain said, “Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.”  I am pretty confident in saying that most of us have even blushed because we blushed!

Ray Crozier, a psychology professor from England concluded that “blushing evolved as a means of enforcing the social codes to which we humans must adhere for our societies to function in a friendly manner. By blushing when we’re embarrassed, we are showing others that we recognize we’ve just mis-stepped socially, and that we’re paying the price for it. Others who see us blushing after an awkward situation understand from experience the unpleasant feelings we’re undergoing at that moment, and blushing may serve as a nonverbal, physical apology for our mistake.”

Greek philosopher Diogenes once remarked to a blushing boy, “Courage my boy, that is the complexion of virtue.” The late Lucille Ball was reported to have said, “The problem with our world these days is that we no longer blush.” Long before Lucille Ball or Diogenes, long before your first blush, God shared how a whole nation didn’t “even know how to blush.”  Awkward social situation blushing is normal and healthy. However, when a culture no longer blushes then you are facing a major spiritual problem.

“Jeremiah, say to the people, “This is what the LORD says: “When people fall down, don’t they get up again? When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back? Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path? Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back? They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around. I listen to their conversations and don’t hear a word of truth. Is anyone sorry for doing wrong? Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”? No! All are running down the path of sin as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!” (8:4-6)

Twice the call for spiritual renewal is met with the same response, “Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!”  Jeremiah confronts a nation that no longer has the moral foundation that produces blushing in its people. They were a nation where the people no longer feared God enough to blush; a nation of people that no longer had tender hearts to their sins that would cause blushing.

Throughout history, people have decided to go their own path, forgetting God and hardening hearts that no longer blushed at their actions. You only have to read the latest headline or watch the morning news to witness in our nation the accusation that we “do not even know how to blush.” “Shamelessness has pervaded the culture. There is no shame in the vilest behavior. There is no guilt in the most evil act. There is no embarrassment when caught in the most abominable conduct.“– Dr. Daniel Merritt

 

Our generation must choose which path to walk: the ancient path of God or the modern path of evil. Scripture records for us how Ezra felt the shame and embarrassment of a nation that had rejected God’s path.  “At the time of the sacrifice, I stood up from where I had sat in mourning with my clothes torn. I fell to my knees and lifted my hands to the LORD my God. I prayed, “O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. . . .” (Ezra 9:5-7b)

 

Lord, we need to again feel the weight of our sins until we can again blush in your presence. Give us hearts that are tender, lives that are open to you, minds that are pure and life-styles that are God honoring.  Let us again come to you in repentance.  Let us again seek “the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for our souls.”

 

God is great,

 

Pastor Lynn

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

That was God!

“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it.” Acts 4:16

When was the last time you simply said, “That was God!”  Maybe you had been sick and recovered; maybe you were out of work until one day, out of the blue, you get a job offer; maybe you had been dealing with a problem at work and all of a sudden you had an epiphany.

It is not always easy to explain the unexplainable. Non-believers will try to find a rational answer. Some will call it fate, others, pure luck. Believers will often use the word miracle but more as a good luck term. “The living God, the God Who is God and not a philosopher’s abstraction, lies infinitely beyond the reach of anything our eyes can see or our minds can understand.” –Thomas Merton

IMB missionary George Smith should be dead but he is not! George and his wife Geraldine serve in the country of Uganda. George became sick in January with Covid and had to be medically evacuated to Nairobi, Kenya where he was placed on a ventilator with very little chance of survival. Yet as doctors talked to his wife about the need for end of life decisions, she simply continued to pray. People around the world simply continued to pray. New believers in Jesus who had recently come out of Islam realized the need to pray. George is now home in Louisiana recovering. Is this miracle or medicine?  The simple answer is both, but if I could ask George he would probably say, “That was God!”

The miracle for George is not necessarily the recovery, but the story that he will be able to tell. Miracles have a purpose which always point us to God. Jesus performed many miracles that always told a story – a story that pointed people to God, a story that changed lives, a story that led to redemption. “What makes it a miracle is that God performed it specifically to make Himself known, to communicate with human beings. When God pokes into our world through the miraculous, He is communicating with us, otherwise we cannot appropriately use the term “miraculous” to describe the event.” –Eric Metaxas

Peggy Noonan thought miracles existed “in part as gifts and in part as clues that there is something beyond the flat world we see.” We live in an age when people are looking for clues that there is something more than the life they are living. It could be that God will use miracles to point people to Him because you would think miracles would be a sure-fire way of drawing people to Him. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Jesus performed miracle after miracle yet faced increasing opposition and rejection.

Mark tells the account of when Jesus was in his hometown of Nazareth. “And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.” (6:5-6) If Jesus couldn’t perform miracles in his own hometown, how can we expect people to be moved by miracles today?

Moses stood on the shore of the Red Sea and watched the hand of God split the water. That was God!

Queen Esther stood before the king to save her people. That was God!

David stood at the edge of the battlefield having faced the biggest giant of his life. That was God!

Jesus hung on the cross and said “It is finished.” That was God!

Today you may be standing at the edge of a hospital bed praying for healing of a loved one. Today you may be pouring out your heart for a wayward child. Today you may be pleading for mercy. The miracle you need more than anything is God himself. At the end of the day you are able to cry out, “That was God!”

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:29-31

That was God!

God is great

Lynn

 

 

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.” Psalm 69:1-3

Turn on the TV! These were the words I heard shouted as I answered a call from Connie. We had just moved from Nairobi, Kenya to Richmond, Virginia to take on a new assignment with the International Mission Board. September 11, 2001, a day forever etched in time. Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 which is still as fresh in our memory as if yesterday.

We joined that night with other believers at our church to pray. Across America, thousands of other churches opened their doors for prayer. For the next several Sundays there seemed to be a spiritual awakening as churches were filled to capacity. Millions were looking for hope, assurance that everything would be OK. People sought the fellowship of others in the midst of tragedy. The words of William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury after World War II, said it well, “The church is the only organization that does not exist for itself, but for those who live outside of it.” It was those from outside that also sought the comfort of the church.

Yet as quickly as our nation turned to God in fear and confusion on that bleak night, just as quickly people went back to their pre-9/11 lives. R. C. Sproul wrote that the very last sermon that Martin Luther preached was on people departing from the power of God. “Luther preached with passion about his concern for Germany. He observed that after the gospel had been rediscovered—after light had dawned and pushed aside the darkness that had eclipsed it during the Middle Ages—people were now becoming somewhat jaded to the gospel. They could hear it from virtually every pulpit in Germany, but it was no longer something that ignited fire in their bones.”

As our nation commemorates the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we find ourselves deeply divided, less respectful of others, civility forgotten, fear increasing and anxiety prevalent. Instead of our nation focused on God, we find an increasing number rejecting the church. Janet Denison writes that “People will continue to blame “religion” for what is wrong in the world. It’s the job of every Christian to glorify God for all that is right. If we will take the time to “be prepared” and use every opportunity to share the “hope” that we have with “gentleness and respect,” we will change the culture one conversation at a time.”

As a firefighter was sorting through the rubble and remnants of the south tower he made an unbelievable discovery: A Bible fused to a chunk of steel. Pages from the “9/11 Bible” remained with a portion of Jesus Sermon on the Mount showing, as if God was speaking to America, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” (Matt 5:38-39)

Joel Meyerowitz, the photographer assigned as record keeper of ground zero, after receiving the Bible, said, “It totally mesmerizes me that amidst the burning destruction of 9/11 and the remaining rubble, this fragile yet powerful piece of parchment was able to endure and send a lasting message to us all: Our fleshly nature urges us to repay evil for evil, but God calls us to press on in forgiveness and love, while leaving vengeance to Him.”  (To view a short video showing and discussing the 9/11 Bible click here)

On this 20th anniversary of 9/11 I hope we set aside a time for prayer and reflection. Let it serve as a renewed time of prayer for our nation’s citizens to again be humble and willing to return to God. Pray that our nation would be used of God to touch the world for good. Let our churches be a place of healing and spiritual renewal. “When the unchurched, the lost, and those away from God enter our churches, they need to see us believing in the power of prayer and the power of God.” — Ronnie Floyd

 

“The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8

God is great,

Lynn