Some songs never grow old

"If I stand" by Rich Mullins

"There's more that rises in the morning
Than the sun
And more that shines in the night
Than just the moon
It's more than just this fire here
That keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger
Than this room

And there's a loyalty that's deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver
Of all good things

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

There's more that dances on the prairies
Than the wind
More that pulses in the ocean
Than the tide
There's a love that is fiercer
Than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother's
When her baby's at her side

And there's a loyalty that's deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegence
I owe only to the Giver
Of all good things

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

And if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72L-bDOozNY&feature=related

Contents under pressure

Recently my wife brought a few diet Pepsi in from the garage that were frozen on the inside. We learned the hard way why labels on cans often say "Contents under pressure." After a few short moments of extreme temperature change the can blew off the top and frozen diet Pepsi was all over our kitchen with some that even made it down the hall way. Thankfully, the half of a can that whizzed by my ear did no real damage except leaving behind a big mess to clean up.

After we cleaned up I thought about the pressure that most people feel with crazy schedules, difficult situations, and the stress of life and how a lot of people feel like "contents under pressure." When things get tough people explode emotionally and relationally.

When times get tough its easy for people to turn to other things and wrong things than turn to God when they feel pressure. When people drink too much, yell too much or go into a fit of anger they are actually trying to deal with or numb pain they are feeling. In times of difficulty it is easy to find comfort in the wrong things.

Thinking about this made me think about Jesus' promise concerning the Holy Spirit:

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;" (John 14:16 KJV)

I love that the Holy Spirit is called the "Comforter." It is a great picture of how God wants to help us in our lives if we will surrender to him. The Greek word for "Comforter" is the word "Paraclete" which literally means "one who comes alongside." I looked up 5 other translations to see how "Paraclete" is translated here is what I found:

NIV: Counselor
NASB: Helper
NLT: Advocate
The Message: Friend
Amplified: Intercessor, strengthener, stand by
Spanish: Consolador (Note the root word "console")

The Holy Spirit was sent to counsel us, to help us, to be our advocate, to be our closest friend, to be our strength, and to be our consoler. When we are under pressure we need to stop and surrender our emotions, our situations, people, whatever it is that is causing us to feel pressure and let him help. We are promised in Scripture:

"But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God)...But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence)." (Galatians 5:16, 22-23 AMP)

Here is a great prayer to pray when you are under pressure:

God, teach me to be patient, teach me to go slow,

Teach me how to wait on You when my way I do not know.

Teach me sweet forbearance when things do not go right
So I remain unruffled when others grow uptight.

Teach me how to quiet my racing, rising heart
So I might hear the answer You are trying to impart.

Teach me to let go, dear God, and pray undisturbed until
My heart is filled with inner peace and I learn to know your will.

- written by Helen Steiner Rice

What to do when you fail?

Lord, are you trying to tell me something?

For:

Failure doesn't mean I'm a failure.
It does mean I haven't yet succeeded.

Failure doesn't mean I have accomplished nothing.
It does mean I have learned something.

Failure doesn't mean I have been a fool.
It does mean I had enough faith to experiment.

Failure doesn't mean I've been disgraced.
It does mean I dared to try.

Failure doesn't mean I don't have it.
It does mean I have to do something in a different way.

Failure doesn't mean I am inferior.
It does mean I am not perfect.

Failure doesn't mean I've wasted my life.
It does mean I have an excuse to start over again.

Failure doesn't mean I should give up.
It does mean I must try harder.

Failure doesn't mean I'll never make it.
It does mean I need more patience.

Failure doesn't mean you have abandoned me.
It does mean you must have a better idea!

Amen.

Playing to win rather than playing not to lose

I am a huge sports fan. I think sports offer great life lessons and there is much we can learn about life from sports themselves. Cliches about sports often end up being descriptions of real life situations. One of those cliches is "playing not to lose." Playing not to lose usually happens when a team is ahead by several points and the other team begins to comeback and score consecutive points.

Just the other day I was watching my beloved Colorado Buffaloes basketball team. They were ahead by seventeen points on the road at Baylor. To gain that lead the Buffs were playing loose and fast. They had a great game plan to win the game. They were taking it to Baylor's serious height advantage. Then something happened. Baylor scored a few baskets in a row and Colorado begin to take bad shots and turn the ball over. Next thing you know the Buffs were completely out of their game plan. They were panicking trying to conserve their lead. They begin to play not to lose rather than playing to win, they stopped playing the way that got them that seventeen point lead in the first place. They blew the game and lost.

Don't we often do the same thing in real life? We do it in our relationships, in our spiritual lives, in ministry, and on our jobs.

If we were to compare and contrast playing to win with playing not to lose we would have to start with the fact that playing to win always requires a level of risk and playing not to lose emphasizes conserving. Risk and and conserving are opposites. You can't risk and conserve at the same time. Risk by definition is the possibility of suffering harm or loss.

Another difference between the two is that playing to win requires boldness and playing not to lose oozes reluctance. Boldness is not carelessness but it is confidence and the ability to trust and move forward. It is faith in action whereas reluctance is motivated by fear. In particularly fear of loss. Risk and boldness are excited about the future, reluctance and fear spend a lot of energy on holding on to the past.

In my opinion the person who typifies playing not to lose in the Bible is Saul (1 Samuel 9-31). According to Scripture Saul was "an impressive man without equal and a head taller than any of the others" (1 Samuel 9:2). He had all the advantages a King could ask for yet he played not to lose all of his time as King. His focus was on himself and not losing his Kingdom. He was reluctant, indecisive, and filled with the fear of man. All of his decisions were stained with his desire to conserve what he had rather than be obedient to the Lord.

A character that is the complete opposite of Saul is Caleb (Numbers 13-14). Caleb typifies playing to win. Caleb was one of the spies who went into the land God had promised the Jews. The land was filled with all the great things God had told them but also had giants that intimidated the majority of the spies. In fact they were so intimidated that all but two refused to take God at his word and go into the land. Caleb was one of them that believed God would keep his word:

"Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." (Numbers 13:30 NIV)

God was pleased with Caleb's faith:

"But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it" (Numbers 14:24 NIV)
Playing to win pleases God: "...without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)

Is there a place in your life where you are playing not to lose rather than to win? Where are you walking in fear rather than faith? Reluctance rather than boldness? Conserving rather than risking?

The difficult part in following Jesus is that playing not to lose can be very costly:

"Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life." (Matthew 16:24-25 NLT)

However, the reward for playing to win with him is great: "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven..." (Luke 6:23 NIV)

Paul prayed a prayer about playing to win for some early Christ followers. Would you pray it with me?

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light...With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Colossians 1:9-12, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

New Year prayer by Billy Graham

"Our Father and our God, as we stand at the beginning of this new year we confess our need of Your presence and Your guidance as we face the future.

We each have our hopes and expectations for the year that is ahead of us—but You alone know what it holds for us, and only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its challenges. So help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year.

In the midst of life’s uncertainties in the days ahead, assure us of the certainty of Your unchanging love.

In the midst of life’s inevitable disappointments and heartaches, help us to turn to You for the stability and comfort we will need.

In the midst of life’s temptations and the pull of our stubborn self-will, help us not to lose our way but to have the courage to do what is right in Your sight, regardless of the cost.

And in the midst of our daily preoccupations and pursuits, open our eyes to the sorrows and injustices of our hurting world, and help us to respond with compassion and sacrifice to those who are friendless and in need. May our constant prayer be that of the ancient Psalmist: “Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end” (Psalm 119:33).

We pray for our nation and its leaders during these difficult times, and for all those who are seeking to bring peace and justice to our dangerous and troubled world. We pray especially for Your protection on all those who serve in our armed forces, and we thank You for their commitment to defend our freedoms, even at the cost of their own lives. Be with their families also, and assure them of Your love and concern for them.

Bring our divided nation together, and give us a greater vision of what You would have us to be. Your Word reminds us that “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

As we look back over this past year we thank You for Your goodness to us—far beyond what we have deserved. May we never presume on Your past goodness or forget all Your mercies to us, but may they instead lead us to repentance, and to a new commitment to make You the foundation and center of our lives this year.

And so, our Father, we thank You for the promise and hope of this new year, and we look forward to it with expectancy and faith. This I ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, who by His death and resurrection has given us hope both for this world and the world to come."

Amen

Christmas and the invisibility of God

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17 NIV)

"No one has ever actually seen God, but, of course, his only Son has, for he is the companion of the Father and has told us all about him." (John 1:18 TLB)

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God..." (Colossians 1:15 NLT) "God is love..." (1 John 4:16)

"No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us. (1 John 4:12 NLT)

Did you notice the sequence of those scriptures?

I love what Pastor and theologian John Stott says about the invisibility of God. It is very applicable for us as we celebrate Christmas this year:

"It is a fact that God is invisible. No one has ever seen him and the very invisibility of God has always contributed a major problem to faith. In Old Testament days, the Jews were ridiculed by their heathen neighbours - 'Where is now your God? We can't see him. Come to our temples and we'll show you our gods. They are visible, they have ears, and eyes and mouths. But where is your God?' The people of God were embarrassed by these heathen taunts and would reply, 'True, your gods have eyes - but they can't see, they have mouths, but they can't speak. Our God, however, has neither eyes nor mouth but he can both see and speak.' Psalm 115:2-8. The same problem confronts scientific secularists today. Trained to use the empirical method, they are sceptical of anything which is not amenable to investigation by the five senses. They refuse to believe in what they cannot see. How then has God solved the problem of his own invisibility? The first answer is given in John 1:18 (RSV) 'No one has ever seen God: there is only the Son - he has made him known'. Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). As he himself said, 'he who has seen me, has seen the Father' (John 14:7). That's wonderful, people may respond - but it was also two millennia ago. Is there no way in which the invisible God makes himself visible today? Yes there is. 1 John 4:12 begins with exactly the same words, 'Nobody has ever seen God' - but instead of continuing that only the Son has made him known, it goes on - 'If we love one another, God dwells in us…' It is surely one of the most breathtaking sentences in the New Testament. It declares that the same invisible God, who once made himself visible in Christ, now makes himself visible in Christians - if we love one another. There is no more convincing evidence of the reality of the living God, than the love which animates the Christian community."
(This first appeared in a publication from the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity.)

May God bless each of us this Christmas with a richer understanding of His love so we in turn bless this world. When we love one another we literally manifest the presence of God! What a profound thought. As Jesus prayed, let us also pray:

"...I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23 NIV)

Diving in

I am thankful for kid movies. I think I like them as much as they do! One of my favorites is "Finding Nemo." Before that movie I had never heard of the East Australian Current. The EAC is an ocean current that moves warm water in a counter-clockwise manor down the eastern coast of Australia.

There is a scene in the movie where Sea turtles use the EAC as a super highway to travel down the eastern coast of Australia. Like vehicles merging onto the freeway the turtles merge into the current and let it take them where they want to go.

With that in mind let me tell you what happened the other day.

I have been a pastor for a long time. Ministry is a truly privilege. However, it is not always as glamorous as you may think. There are mundane days and irritating situations. The other day felt like one of those days when it started.

I had a call to meet with a with a man who "needed to talk to pastor." In my experience that can mean many things. Little did I know that this time would be a sovereign move of God.

The man did not tell me he needed money or that he had some crisis in his life that he needed rescued from, he simply told me he was empty and was looking for direction and purpose.

It was a "God" experience. I felt a deep impression in my heart that I was going to have the privilege of leading this man to Christ, the One he was longing for.

There are times when you are talking to someone about the truths of the Gospel and it feels as if your words are bouncing off the person's forehead. This was not one of those times. He was a sponge to all that I was talking to him about. It made me think of all the other people that had spoke into his life at some point or another. Someone somewhere planted a seed, someone else watered, God made it grow and I was about to harvest.

I wonder if doctors who deliver babies ever grow tired of seeing newborns come into this world? I know when my kids were born I was always aware that there was Creator, life giving, God, and that at each birth I was witnessing a miracle.

Putting faith in Jesus is a birth, it is the New birth Jesus talks about in John 3. So spiritually I was about to deliver a newborn into this world. The person who delivers the baby can't take credit for anything in the process of life but serving and being available to help the mom and the family. The same is true when we lead someone to Christ. We do not get any credit, we just get the privilege of seeing the work of God before our very eyes.

So, back in my office I asked the man if he wanted to put his faith in Jesus and be a follower of Him. He said he did. So he prayed his first prayer to God and asked Jesus to be his Savior and Lord.

"For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved." (Romans 10:9-11 NLT)

It was pretty awesome to witness. I truly had to repent to God for not always having the best attitude going into situations. I have had the privilege of leading others to Christ before, but it had been awhile since I this had happened. I think being a pastor gets in the way of doing real ministry sometimes!

What does all this have to do with the East Australian Current? Well, The picture God gave me after praying with the man was that of God's current. God's current, spiritually speaking, is always flowing. We like the sea turtles of Australia are not moving toward God but moving about in the vast ocean of life doing our own thing, going our own direction, when suddenly God in His amazing love draws us into His current. We then learn to flow with Him, letting Him lead, and ultimately Him leading us into Eternal life with Him. That is the destination of His current. It does not matter how old we are when we dive into His current, it does not matter where we have been, what matters is that we dive in.

I am so thankful God drew me into His current. I can feel my selfish nature fighting against it sometimes, but God in His love always reminds me of His grace and ultimately where we are headed and I stop fighting and let Him lead again.

Lets Dive in...