A Visionary's Prayer

Dear Lord, You are a God who knows all and sees all. And yet, You see things differently than we can. Help me to see things as you see them. Help me to see myself as you see me. Help me to recognize the value of my efforts in your service. Help me to see the grief that my sin causes you, and the consequences that it brings on my life and testimony. Give me new insight into my place in your family and the responsibilities that come with being a child of the King. Enlighten my understanding of my brothers and sisters in You. Help me to love them enough to overlook their quirks, trust them enough to bare my soul, and minister to them with the kind of spirit that will allow me to help them through their trials and out of their temptations. If I am injured or offended by any of them, help to speak of it only to them and You. And help me to seek reconciliation as soon as I can. In this way I will be able to see them as you see them, as your cherished treasures. Focus my eyes, as well as my heart, on the souls of the lost. Help me not to gaze at their sin, only at their need. Help me recognize as you do, that Your grace is their only hope and that I am your channel of grace to them. Give me enough courage to seek them out and win them regardless of the cost to myself, knowing that You paid a much greater price. Give me a vision of a world won to Christ and the strength to strive to see it come about. Help me to recognize that the mission field begins at my front door and extends to the ends of the earth. And most of all. Lord, help me to keep my eyes clearly focused on You so that I will not be caught unaware when you stand and call me to your side!

Till The Whole World Hears The Gospel

Till The Whole World Hears The Gospel

The Lord is calling us today

To preach His message come what may

To wand’ring souls who’ve gone astray

Till the whole world hears the Gospel.

To those whose heart by sin is bound

Who languish in the lost and found

We must proclaim the joyful sound

Till the whole world hears the Gospel

The poor and needy, tempest-tossed

The soul that’s paying sin’s dread cost

Need us to lead them to the cross

Till the whole world hears the Gospel.

To the brokenhearted, lonely soul

Who has felt betrayal’s painful toll

Let’s give them hope of being whole

Till the whole world hears the Gospel.

To the blind and lame and even dead,

To those whose lives are filled with dread

Hope and healing He brings instead

Till the whole world hears the Gospel

Our urgent mission for today

Is that we go and give and pray

And not relent until the day

When the whole world hears the Gospel.

And when this message of salvation

Has been proclaimed to every nation

With Him we’ll sing in celebration

That the whole world heard the Gospel

Pastor Marty Hughes

Setting God on Silent

Every once in a while, I look at my cell phone and notice that I have missed two or three calls.  That is an unusual thing, because I carry it with me like it is connected with an umbilical cord.  Then I notice that the little switch on the side that silences the ringer is flipped.  That little switch is an important feature, especially for a Pastor.  If you think it is embarrassing for you when your phone rings in the middle of a service, imagine what it feels like if you are the one preaching.  But when we forget to turn the ringer back on, it makes it difficult for people to get in touch with us. 
I think that sometimes, we do this to God.  We turn off the ringer, and although He tries to speak to our hearts, we never get the message.  Whether it is by filling our lives with worldly distractions or throwing ourselves into our leisure activities or even getting so caught up in the work of God that we neglect the God of the work, we let other things silence His voice. 
When my phone is on silent, it vibrates to let me know that someone is calling.  That feeling is a gentle reminder that just because I can't hear it, doesn't mean that there is no one there.  God uses little things to stir our souls, trying to get our attention again, but sometimes we are so wrapped up in activity that we aren't even aware of that stirring.
I would challenge you today, that maybe it's time to check your messages.  Is God trying to speak to you?  Is He trying to move you to a new place of intimacy with Him?  Or is He just longing to hear your voice?  Take a few minutes today to check your settings.

Political Responsibility

Those of you who know me, know that I don't make a lot of public statements about politics.  I believe that the real hope for America is found in God's people being God's people and obeying the Great Commission.  This is not to say that political action is not necessary, it is.  It is just not the ultimate solution that many seem to think that it is.  That being said, I feel that, as your Pastor, I need to encourage you to take seriously your role in our political process.  Tomorrow, the Oklahoma primary elections will be held.  This is the first opportunity that we, as Christians and as Americans, have to respond to the direction that the present administration is leading our nation.  Often, such elections have very little impact on the moral fabric of our society.  With the gridlock of modern American politics and the present tone of political discourse, it is sometimes hard to tell the difference between one party and another.  But this election, and I would venture to say, the next several elections, will have a great impact on our nation, because of the obvious and publicly stated intention of liberal politicians to take our country as far from it's Judeo-Christian, capitalistic, conservative roots as possible. This is really not an issue of political party.  Both parties have been a party to the moral and philosophical slide of the past several decades.  However, it is an issue of political philosophies and so today, I would ask you to fully consider the difference between the two.
In general, political conservatives stand for personal responsibility, personal initiative, and personal freedom, generally in conjunction with a strong sense of right and wrong that works toward rewards for achievement and consequences for wrong-doing.  Their weaknesses are that sometimes their emphasis on personal responsibility leads them to a lack of compassion, although, more often than not, they are much more generous and giving than their liberal counterparts.  They hold strong morality based positions on issues like abortion, drugs, crime prevention, gay marriage, etc.
Generally, political liberals take a stance based upon the assumption that there is no universally applicable standard of morals and ethics and therefore, to hold someone responsible for the negative impact of their lifestyle is arrogant and judgmental.  They believe that it is government's responsibility to cure the ills of society and that the best way to do this is through government control and the redistribution of resources.  They believe that the moral and ethical boundaries presented by religion in general, but Christianity in particular, are outdated and unnecessary in a pluralistic society.  As a result, they seek to legitimize a broad spectrum of behaviors that to conservatives are morally reprehensible.
The point to all of this is that Christians need to take these things into consideration when casting their votes.  We need to consider the philosophy held by each candidate that we vote for, regardless of political party.
If we truly believe that the freedoms, social and religious, that we have enjoyed for the last two hundred years are bestowed upon us by God, then we must naturally assume that they come with matching responsibilities.  And should we shirk those responsibilities, God would not be pleased.  So let me encourage you to do your homework.  Find out who the candidates are who hold to morally and philosophically conservative principles and then get out and vote for them.  You can begin by voting in tomorrow's Primary election.
P.S. If you think that it is inappropriate for me, as your Pastor to advise you on political matters, then it is likely that you have fallen victim to the liberal philosophy that would separate God from having a place in the public square.  Let me assure you, you won't be hearing me tell you who you should vote for.  But I will not be silent about the biblical principles that you should be considering when making your choices.  Those choices should always be made based on principles not party.
Don't forget, the Bible says, He that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.  It seems to me that God has called us to have an impact on this increasingly godless society, and one way to do that is to be conscientious citizens and fulfill our civic responsibilities.  So be sure to go to the polls tomorrow and vote based upon your principles, not your pocketbook or your party.

Sovereign God

One of the most difficult things to fully understand about the God that we serve is His sovereignty.  How can a God Who is sovereign grant to His children a free will?  How can a sovereign God Who is good, allow evil to happen?  If He is in control, why do tragedies occur and why does His work get thwarted?  It isn't an easy concept to understand. 
I think that sometimes we want God to put Himself into a box that we can understand and even control.  We want this infinitely complex Creator of the unfathomably vast universe, Who has the power to control and the wisdom to maintain all that He has spoken into existence, to make Himself fit into our incredibly finite rational mind.  Hmmmm, that doesn't make a lot of sense does it?
I used to teach Geometry at a Christian High School in Oklahoma City.  Geometry is a fairly complex subject, demanding the student to use his reasoning to take him from the starting point, the given, to a proven destination while justifying every move along the way.  To do this, he applies a long list of postulates and theorems to gradually work his way through the process of proving the given statement.  Geometry demands that the student employ a new kind of thinking that has not been required of him before this point in his education, and for some, it is a difficult transition. 
As I muddled through the dark cloud of confusion that it cast upon many of my students, I developed a statement to help them see their way, "Go from what you know to what you don't know."  There were always elements of the problem that were given to them and these elements implied other facts not in evidence.  They had to hold onto the things that they knew and then systematically progress one by one to the things that they didn't know.  As each new element was proven, it allowed them to show the validity of the next.
The same is true when we try to understand God with our finite, fallen minds.  If we try to master the subject all at once, we are certain to fail.  Many give up seeking after God because they come upon some aspect of His character that they can't rationalize.  The only way to begin to understand our Sovereign Maker is to start with what we know and move to what we don't know.
I know that God is and that He has revealed Himself in His Word.
I know that God is good and that He loves me.
I know that He sees in eternal perspective and understands things that I have no way of comprehending.
I know that He loved me enough to pay a precious price to redeem me.
And I know that He is powerful enough that the puny efforts of wicked men or the stumbling steps of His unfaithful children cannot thwart what He is doing in this world.
I know that He desires to have an intimate relationship with me and that in order to accomplish that, He has taken up residence in my heart.
I know that Satan is a defeated foe and that I have already won the victory through the authority of the name of Christ and the power of His blood.
I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow.
And along with Paul, I know that He will work all things together for my ultimate good.
Whenever I face trials and tribulations, whenever the circumstances of life are hard to understand, whenever people that I have depended on let me down, I simply go back to the things that I know about God and ask Him to take me to a place of understanding about the things that I don't yet know. 
Like Geometry, it demands a new way of thinking.  It also demands a humility that acknowledges two important facts of life: 1. There is a God, and 2. I'm not Him.

Daily Reminders of His Love

Isn't it amazing how quickly we forget how much God has done for us?  It seems like sometimes, as soon as the clouds gather, we forget what the sun looks like.  As I crossed the bridge this morning, I saw the sun coming up over the lake and once again it reminded me of how glorious God really is.  When the psalmist tells us that "His mercies are new every morning...," it should assure us that His love is everlasting, never-failing, and beyond our comprehension. I know that I live a charmed life.  God has blessed me in innumerable ways, yet I tend to get grumpy if I don't sleep well, or if the weather doesn't suit me, or if the price of gas gets too high.  I am well-fed (no comments are necessary here), live in a safe and comfortable home, have more possessions than I deserve, and have a wonderful family around me.  Compared to 95% of the world's population, I am rich, and oh, by the way, so are you.  So why is it that we spend so much of our time and energy worrying or complaining about our lives rather than rejoicing in what God has done for us and sharing it with others?  This is not a new problem. The children of Israel are a prime example of it.  They continually asked God, "What have you done for me lately?"  Instead of being thankful for His provision of manna and quail for them to eat in the wilderness, they acted like spoiled children and longed for the days of bondage. 
I don't want to be like that, so I will just remind myself that life is hard, but God is good. The road is rough, but Heaven awaits. Many are the trials, but they pale in comparison to the price He paid and the glory that is to come. So today, I will rejoice in Him.

Dog Days

We are certainly in the 'dog days' of summer right now.  It is so hot here in Grove that I saw a dog chasing a cat and both of them were walking.  People don't like to get out in this heat unless it involves going to the lake or some other refreshing water-related activity.  I guess that is one reason (excuse) for what is traditionally known as the 'Summer Slump' in churches.  Many people decide to take a vacation from God during the summer.  But I am thankful that God is blessing our church in an unusual way this summer.  We are seeing souls saved, visitors in our services, and a refreshing spirit of cooperation and excitement as we prepare for our Vacation Bible School.  This morning, I would like to encourage you to think about ways that you can be more faithful to church during the summer.  Little things like waiting to go to the lake until after the services or leaving earlier on Friday so that you can be back by Sunday.  Everyone needs a vacation and God wants us to be a witness for Him wherever we go.  But when we are in town, we ought to be in church.  Hebrews says that we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  It doesn't say, "Except during June, July, and August..." 
I hope I am not sounding grumpy here, because in reality, I'm only thinking of you.  We have had great attendances and wonderful services for the last several weeks.  We are really experiencing a 'Summer Surge' rather than a Summer Slump.  But there are many of our faithful regulars who are missing out on what God is doing, and I hate that.  My heart says, " Wow, that was such a blessing! I wish so-and-so could have been here for that.  They would have loved it." 
So let me encourage you to be here this Sunday and every chance you get for the rest of the summer.  We have three installments left in our Summer Sermon Series, "Running Toward Goliath" as well as a special guest on August 1st and our Church's 45th Anniversary on August 8th.  We have seen the altars full and lots of decisions being made over the last few weeks and I believe that God is getting ready to pour out his blessings on our church as we surrender to Him in new and exciting ways.
So if it's too hot on Sunday morning and you are tempted to stay home, just remember the church has Air Conditioning.

Remembering a Life of Service and Sacrifice

I have been given an awesome privilege today.  I get to sing at the Memorial Service for Pioneer Missionary Ike Foster, who went home to be with the Lord recently after 62 years on the mission field.  The Foster's legacy of passionate service for Christ is one that I have admired for years.  Their son, Paul is a good friend of mine and pastor's in Jenks, OK.  He asked me to sing a song that I sang at a fellowship meeting in our church a few years ago.  It is called Faces, by Greater Vision, and it speaks of those who have served faithfully, not always seeing the fruit of their labors, but when they stand before God, they will see the faces of those who have come to Christ because of their efforts.  I will also be singing, Thank You For Giving to The Lord.  While I sing, there will be a PowerPoint of pictures from the life and ministry of Ike Foster and his wife Jane, who graduated to heaven in 2006. 
This honor is very special to me, because it was at a service very much like this that God did a major work in my own heart in my early formative years.  Two days after I arrived on campus as a freshman at Baptist Bible College in 1976, they held a memorial service for Missionary Bob Hughes, one of my foremost heroes in the faith.  The powerful testimonies of those that Bob had won to Christ and the impassioned preaching of his sending pastor planted in my heart a fervor for service to God and for reaching the world for Christ that has never subsided.  I can still remember like it was yesterday the preacher saying, "And though he be dead, yet he speaketh..." and they turned on a tape of Bro. Hughes's famous missionary sermon, "I Sat Where They Sat," and he was proclaiming, "Why do you need a call when you have a command?  Why do you need a voice when you have a verse?  You want a call?  I'll give you a call,  There's a call comes ringing oer the restless wave, Send the Light! Send the Light!..."  I am sitting here now typing through the tears as I remember the impact of that day on my life and ministry.  Over 170 people surrendered their lives to the mission field during that memorial service, many of them serving God all around the world today.
I hope that the service today will touch someone in the same way that I was touched so many years ago.
At the very least, I know that it will be a challenge to my heart not to let that passion die.
I was blessed to visit camp last night and see our young people making decisions for the Lord.  We have had four receive Christ this week and several surrender their lives to serve Him in one way or another.  It was exciting to me to see how God is working in the hearts of our workers as well.  I hope that these kids can come home fired up and that the rest of us will catch the passion instead of extinguishing it. I believe that God is preparing to do great things among us.  I hope that you will be a part of what He is doing.

Five Smooth Stones

A shepherd boy with a lowly sling, kneeling by the brook
Carefully he made his choice, as five smooth stones he took
The giant fumed and cursed his God, and threatened him with harm,
But David knew that he would win, so he was not alarmed.

The first stone that he chose would be the hammer in God's hand
To bring Goliath to the ground, and vanquish all his band
The second stone would set to flight the enemy's dark horde
And show them that they could not beat the armies of the Lord.

The third stone held there in the scrip, was chosen for another
For David knew that one day he would face Goliath's brother
This enemy, the Philistines, would fight another day
And David might be called upon to keep them all at bay.

The fourth and fifth stones in the bag were kept there to remind him
That those who rise against the Lord would always seek to find him
The enemies of good and right will never, never rest.
So we must always be prepared to handle every test.

When facing giants in my life, I follow David's pattern
I face the foe with confidence because it's God that matters
I know that there will always be another battle brewing
But I can face it without fear because it is God's doing.

And so as I, as David did, kneel down beside the brook
I choose with care my five smooth stones and confidently look
Unto the One who guides my hand and joins me in the fight
Because I know that I can't lose when trusting in His might.

A Prayer For America

My prayer for America on this, her 234th birthday.

A Prayer for America

Once she stood tall, her goodness acclaimed,

Men flocked to her shores, for freedom from chains.

She offered them hope and a chance to breathe free

And all who came to her knew her to be

A bastion of liberty, a fortress of faith,

Where God's Word was law, and His Name was raised

In prayer for her safety, prosperity, might,

And even her government sought Its pure light.

But oh, what a mystery! Has she lost her way?

To the sins of humanity has she fallen prey?

For now in her courtrooms, His Word is scorned,

And from safe in the womb unborn babies are torn,

And schoolrooms have vanquished His very name

Leading to anarchy, scandal, and shame.

Leading the Christian to sadly surmise

Before very long we will see her demise.

But wait, there is hope, if only she'll turn

Away from her idols, and seek to relearn

The lessons once taught her by strong, fiery men

Who awakened our country when last she gave in

To greed and to passion, to sensual lust

And turned their hearts back to "In God is our Trust”

Like Edwards, and Whitfield, Moody, and Hamm,

Sunday, and Riley, and Norris, and Graham.

She needs the help of a few willing men,

Who'll give up their comfort in order to win

Her heart back to Jesus, and back to His Word,

Please God spare our country, may our prayer be heard.

Pastor Marty Hughes

Craving God

Paul said, "All things are lawful unto me, but I will not be brought  under the power of any."  I Cor. 6:12  There is a power in addiction that is hard to break.  No matter what your mind is telling you, no matter how much your conscience is screaming, your body begins to crave the relief of one more moment of surrender to the drug, or the drink, or the baked fudge.  We live in an addictive and addicted world.  We are constantly bombarded with sights, sounds, and sensations that tug on our flesh and seduce our hearts drawing us into the quicksand of spiritual bondage.  Drugs, alchohol, pornography, promiscuity, gambling all send out their siren call.  More socially acceptable, yet just as addictive, television, internet, social networking sites, career pursuits, materialism, sports and leisure all clamor for our attention and once they have it, they slowly wrap their tentacles around our hearts and suck the spiritual passion out of us.  In I Cor. 16:15, Paul talks about the house of Stephanas, and how they had addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.  David spoke of his soul following hard after God, of panting after Him.  What would it look like in our lives if we were addicted to God, if the cravings of our hearts were for a deeper walk with Him, if we couldn't bear to be apart from Him for an hour?  What if the first thing that we thought of when we woke up in the morning was God and His Word?  What if the first question we asked any time we faced a decision was, "What will God think about this?"  I hear Christians talk about their hobbies, their sports teams, their favorite TV shows or movie series like the outcome of these things will determine whether they are going to be happy in their daily lives.  The Bible promises us that if we will delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts.  So let me ask you, Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness?  Do you crave intimacy with God?  Does a day without time spent in His Word leave you shaky and weak, hungering for another opportunity to hear from him?  If not, then maybe you are addicted to the wrong things.  Maybe we all need to examine our hearts and determine which of the many things that have begun to clutter our lives have begun to rule us.  Then we need to pursue that intimate walk with God that is the only way to true happiness and satisfaction.