Now What?

Dan 4:17  "This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men."

 Okay, so it’s time for the tough questions.  Do you believe that the Bible is true?  Do you believe that God is sovereign? Do you believe that God’s plan is always the best plan? Do you understand that outward circumstances do not determine the Christian’s responsibilities, God’s Word does?

Reading the Facebook posts of many of my Christian friends, I get the feeling that they believe that because of the outcome of the elections, it’s all over, there’s no hope for America, and we might as well go hide in a cave.  The morning headlines appear to many to be a national tragedy.  I confess that I am very disappointed, but I think the best thing that we can do now is to take some good advice.

Over the years, as a pastor, I have had the opportunity to minister to a multitude of people who were facing disappointment, loss, and even tragedy in their lives.  The common response among those people has been, “What do I do now?”

We generally have an idea of where we believe the future will take us, the direction that we are headed and the possible and desired outcomes if things go the way we plan.  When faced with sudden disappointment or a drastic change in circumstance, we are often at a loss to know what to do.

The best advice that I can give is this, “Do the next thing.”  When problems appear to be insurmountable, just focus on the next task.  It’s the famous recipe for eating an elephant, first, you cut it into bite-sized pieces.

So as Christians in America, what is the next thing? Well, let’s look at what Scripture has to say.

First, we must acknowledge that God is the one who puts rulers in place, so it must mean that He will ultimately get the most glory by the results of the election being what they are.

Second, Romans 13 tells us that we must honor the king.  Don’t tell me that it couldn’t mean THIS ruler, because Romans 13 was written while Nero was dousing Christians in tar, lighting them on fire and hanging them up as street lights in Rome.  God takes our response to His delegated authorities very seriously.  As a matter of fact, He says that “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft…,”  so let’s keep that in mind.

Third, let’s consider the impact on our nation if God’s people would spend as much time, energy, emotion, and resources, talking about the Good News as they have been talking about politics.   What if we genuinely addressed the problems of this country at the grassroots level where real change takes place anyway?

You want to put an end to abortion?  Teach your children a biblical understanding of sex and marriage and minister compassionately to those who are reaping the harvest of this country’s moral decay.

You want to preserve the sanctity of marriage?  It’s not the homosexuals that have made marriage a mockery in this country, it is the many, many heterosexuals who have totally disregarded their vows “for as long as we both shall live.”

You want to deal with the fiscal problems of this country?  Deal first with the materialism that leads us to so overburden ourselves with debt that we cannot bring ourselves to be obedient in the tithe or in giving to missions or in helping the poor.

For the last few months, there has been a lot of talk about II Chron. 7:14, hoping that if we heeded its warning, we might be able to achieve our desired outcome in these elections.  The need for God’s intervention hasn’t changed in the last 24 hours.  And the course of action that God demands hasn’t changed either.  We still have to humble ourselves.  Political rants about the unfit nature of this President, don’t come from humble hearts.  We still have to pray.  Prayer is a simple acknowledgement that God knows best and is the only one capable of accomplishing real change.  We still have to seek His face.  God is looking for worshippers who will pursue a genuine relationship with Him, not just for what they can get out of it, not just so that they will get their way, but in order to see his will accomplished. And more than ever, His people, called by His name, must turn from their wicked ways.  It is the only way to see real revival and real change.

Our country has faced moral decay and moral degradation a few times in its history.  Twice, God has sent a Great Awakening among His people and revival has swept over our land.  We need to pray for a third Great Awakening, before it is eternally too late.

Is today a bad day for America?  Only if we let it be.  It can be the beginning of a very good day, if we will just simply set out to be the salt and light we are called to be and to be the change that we want to see. 

My name is Marty Hughes, and I approved this message. :0)

Clean and Shiny World

I was awakened early this morning by the sound of thunder and rain and hail hitting my bedroom window.  It seemed that the spigot had been opened full blast and that any surplus "April showers" that hadn't fallen, decided to all come at once before the dawning of May 1st.  The first impression of my groggy mind was, "Great! It's going to be a gray and rainy day."
But when I got up and around and headed down to the Hickory for discipleship with one of my guys, the rain had stopped, the clouds had passed, and the sun was shining from a blue sky that looked like it had been washed clean and bright by last night's downpour.
It reminded me of the impact that repentance has on the heart of a believer.  When we do wrong and the Holy Spirit brings conviction, we often find ourselves troubled over sin, crying tears of remorse, and crying out to God for forgiveness.  The devil often convinces us that God is distant and uncaring.  But Paul assures us that when conviction brings about Godly sorrow and that sorrow brings about repentance, that the end result is forgiveness, restoration, and lasting joy. 
So, as "April showers bring May flowers," so godly sorrow that leads to repentance, brings color and life back to our walk with God.

An Extra Day

February 29th! It almost never happens.  Well, I guess it does happen on a regular basis, but a day that only appears on the calendar once every four years, is decidedly rare.  So what do you do with an extra day?  Do you relax, escape the humdrum demands of your overfilled calendar, or do you use the time to catch up on those things that have spilled over from yesterday's To-Do List?
Realistically, an extra day in a month that is shorter than the rest doesn't really seem to impact us that much.  An extra day in an over-packed week, now that would be a blessing! Or even a couple of extra hours in a day that is so full that it seems impossible to get it all done, might be nice.
I guess the moral of the story is that we could all use a little more time.  The Bible encourages us to "number our days" so that our hearts can apply themselves to wisdom.  Translation? Examine our lives so that we can learn to use our time wisely and for those things that have the most eternal benefit.  I've heard it said that no one has ever said as they were lying on their deathbed, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."  Time, invested in our family and friends, in our relationship with God, and in enjoying the fruits of our labors, is never wasted.  So let's decide to use wisely ever second, minute, day, week, month and year that God has blessed us with in order to love and serve Him.  And who knows, maybe every once in a while, He'll give us an extra day.

I Live In The Country

Isn’t it amazing how one little thing can change your whole perspective?  I love being a small town pastor.  My schedule is pretty flexible, I get to have personal interaction with a wide variety of people and I get to witness the splendor of God’s creation every morning as I make my way across Honey Creek bridge.  This week has been fun.  Monday and Tuesday, my day started early with breakfast and discipleship with two of the young guys in our church.  Last night, Shelley and Chelsea and I had dinner with a family that is considering joining and had a wonderful time of fellowship. This morning, I had an early breakfast meeting at the Hospital with the director of the Volunteer Chaplaincy Program, so as I left the house, the sky was just beginning to get lighter, but the sun wasn’t close to cresting the horizon yet.  As I stepped out of my front door into the early morning calm, I heard it faintly in the distance, a rooster crowing.  For the first time in the two years that we have lived in our house, I heard the sound that identifies for me that I really do live in the country.  I just had the discussion last night about how much I love where we live because it is far enough out of Grove to be peaceful and quiet, and yet we can still get to WalMart in about three and a half minutes.

But this morning, I realized that I do live IN THE COUNTRY. 

Okay, so this might not be such an earth-shaking fact to most of you, but to me it was an eye-opener.  In my mind, ‘the country’ has always brought to mind peaceful feelings, calm, a slower pace, the joys of childhood memories at my grandparents house in East Texas.  My everyday life, even at the slower pace that a small town pastorate offers compared to pastoring a church in Oklahoma City, still seems pretty hectic.  I get to the office and fill out my To Do List for the day and wonder how I am going to get it all done.  But just hearing that simple, far-off sound as I left my front door this morning reminded me that peace and calm are not that far away.  As a matter of fact, I can find them on my own front porch.

I think that sometimes we get so focused on the swirling of the waters all around us that we forget to take a few moments to peacefully float down the river and take in the scenery.  At this moment, two hours later, I find myself in my office, To Do List all filled out for the day, ready to get started on what this day requires.  But the memory of that brief moment in the still of the morning, gives me assurance that I can handle whatever comes, and when the day is over, I can make my way back out to my home in the country and the peace and calm that it brings. Thank you, Lord.