Follow Me

Christian music has a powerful impact on me. The message that I find in the songs that I listen to often challenge me in unexpected ways.  They are often like mini-sermons.  At times it is little more than a simple phrase or seed thought from a song that God uses to convict me or encourage me or motivate me to do something that He is leading me to do.  As I was heading to the church this morning, my mind was racing over the ups and downs of the past two days.  Dr. Frizzell has been a tremendous blessing to me personally and God has spoken to my heart in several ways through his messages.  But God has also spoken to me through conversations with hurting people and wounded souls inside and outside of our church family. My prayer this morning has been, "Lord, identify for me the first steps that You want me to take in order to make a significant change in my walk with You and in my ministry to Your people."  Within moments of praying that prayer, I heard a song that spoke to my heart in ways that you might not recognize as coming directly from the lyrics, but I had no doubt that it was from Him.  The song said, "You lived among the least of these, the weary and the weak, and it would be a tragedy for me to turn away. All my needs you have supplied.
When I was dead you gave me life. How could I not give it away so freely? And I'll follow you into the homes of the broken. Follow you into the world. Meet the needs of the poor and the needy, God. Follow you into the World. Use my hands, use my feet to make your kingdom come to the corners of the earth until your work is done. 'Cause Faith without works is dead and on the cross your blood was shed so how could I not give it away so freely?"
To me, God was saying, "Follow me and I will take you into the places where there is the most need, whether it be the homes of the broken, the hearts of the offended, or the battlefields of the wounded.  When I feel inadequate to deal with the things I see, God says follow me. 
One of the major lessons I have learned through Dr. Frizzell's teaching this week is that I cannot do it in my own strength.  I must rely on the Spirit of God and in order for Him to work, I must draw close to Him with a daily time of intimate devotion and personal cleansing.  These are things that I have known, but sadly have let slip in my life.  It is my prayer today that I will be able to reestablish these things and lead the people that God has given me to do so as well.  Yes, Lord, I will follow You.

Time for Action

The services yesterday were fantastic and it was evident that the Holy Spirit was doing a great work in the hearts of our people.  The altars were filled and people were getting things right with God.  It is always interesting to see the ways that God speaks during times like this.  My day is full today.  That is not a bad thing,  Part of it is filled with playing golf with the other preachers who are in for our meeting, but the full day required an early start.  I have found that just having a gym membership doesn't help me get in shape.  Knowing where the treadmill is won't help me be ready for that 5k this Saturday.  I tweaked my back a little bit last week, so I hadn't run since last Tuesday, so if I was going to do this 5k I had to get to the gym this morning.  Choices and decisions require that we take action, make sacrifices, endure pain to see them carried out. 

Yesterday, we heard some great preaching.  Our hearts were stirred and decisions were made, but they mean very little until action steps are taken.  A.W. Tozer said, "To expose our hearts to truth and consistently refuse or neglect to obey the impulses it arouses is to stymie the motions of life within us and, if persisted in, to grieve the Holy Spirit into silence."  I don't want the Holy Spirit to be silent in my life.  I want to hear His voice clearly and obey immediately.  So today, I will do what God led me to do yesterday.  I hope that you feel the same way. 

The Motions

As I came across the bridge this morning, Matthew West was on the radio, singing these powerful words, "I don’t wanna go through the motions, I don’t wanna go one more day, Without Your all consuming passion inside of me, I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking, What if I had given everything? Instead of going through the motions"  It made it a little hard for me to see the road, as the emotion of the moment overwhelmed me.  That is exactly the conviction of my heart during these pivotal days in my life.  This morning is the beginning of our Spring Revival with Dr. Greg Frizzell.  The next three weeks will involve a three day revival during which we host the Oklahoma Baptist Bible Fellowship Meeting, a three day trip to Denver with Chelsea that will include a conference about innovative World Missions and my first 5k race, and my first trip to Israel.  Before it even begins, my body and soul are tired, but I can't let these wonderful opportunities pass me by without squeezing every drop of God's intended purpose out of them.  I want to live the abundant life that Christ came to give us.  I don't want to get to heaven and hear Christ say, "Is that all you did with the life I paid so much to provide for you?"  In Francis Chan's powerful book, Crazy Love, he asks a question that has been on my mind ever since I read it. "What are you doing in your life today that really requires faith?"  So much of what we do is safe, controlled, and requires very little from us.  Most of what we do for God could just as easily be accomplished if God did not exist.  It seems to me that the Bible calls us to something greater, a life that demands that God intervene if we are going to succeed.  David ran toward Goliath knowing that if God didn't get involved, he didn't have a chance.  But David had faith that God had called him to this battle and that He would come through.  My prayer for the next three weeks is that God would speak so clearly to my heart that I would have no trouble recognizing His voice and then that I would have the faith to do whatever He asks of me and not just go through the motions.

Cry of My Heart

Since we are preparing for our Spring Revival that is coming up next week, I thought I would share something that the Lord gave me a while back dealing with the subject of personal introspection and repentance.  I call it, "The Cry of My Heart."

The Cry of My Heart

Awaken me, Lord. My spirit has been lulled to sleep by the constant droning of this world’s enticements. The hypnotic vibe of my everyday life saps my strength and pulls me toward a life lived in slow motion, where all that is eternal is crowded into insignificance. Your still, small voice is drowned out by the urgent cries of lesser things, so please Lord, let me hear You shout. Awaken me.
Crush me, Lord. I hardly know what I am asking. But this I do know, my pride, my desires, my dogged refusal to surrender all I am, my petty sins that rob me of Your power, these must be crushed in order for the sweet fragrance of Your Spirit to flow from my life. My hardened heart will never fully know Your love until it is broken and contrite in Your presence. And so I ask not that You would spare me the pain, but that You would be with me through all that is required to mold me into Your likeness. Crush me.
Purge me, Lord. Fill me up with Your precious Word so that all that rises against You will be washed out like the tide. Fill my mind with Your thoughts. Fill my heart with Your love. Fill my hopes and dreams with Your plans for me. And fill my days with unexplainable joy and an expectant hope for all that You have in store for me. Purge me.
Cleanse me, Lord. By the washing of Your Word, wipe away every spot and every stain that my daily trek through the sewer that is this world deposit on my soul and spirit. Avert my eyes from those things that taint my spirit and sully my character and fill me daily with the clean, pure, refreshing elixir of Your grace. Cleanse me.
Revive me, Lord. My spirit is faint. My passion has faded. The fire in my soul seems but an ember. I long for the fresh wind of Your spirit to fan these dying coals once more into raging intensity. Rebuke my half-hearted, casual, feeble praying and remind me that a moment in Your presence will bring more power than a lifetime of fleshly effort. Renew my love for You and Your people, my hatred for sin, and my hunger for Your Word. Revive me.
Fill me, Lord. I’m tired of serving You out of habit and duty. I am sick of self-dependence and arrogant self-determination. I have followed my own way, and it has led me down a deadly path. Now I want to know the leadership of Your Spirit. I want to feel the breath of Heaven and see Your Spirit moving in my life and my ministry. I understand that to be filled with You, I must be emptied of me. I choose with Paul to die daily, so that Your life can now be lived in and through me. Fill me.
Use me, Lord. I would not arrogantly contend that I have anything of value to offer You, but now that I am purchased with Your blood, cleansed with Your Word, and filled with Your Spirit, I am a vessel in Your hand. As the chisel lays no claim to the sculptor’s artistry, I simply desire to be a part of Your great work in these perilous times. Use me.
And Lord, when my work is done, come get me. I’m ready to come home. This pilgrim land in which I’ve traveled no longer holds a fascination for me. With each passing year, more of my loved ones see Jordan from Heaven’s side. I know that there is still work for me to do, and I know that the timing of Your coming is in the Father’s hand, but I am longing for the day when I can see You face to face. Even so Lord, come quickly.

New Mercy - Lam. 3:22-23

The view crossing Honey Creek this morning reminded me that even when the clouds roll in, God's mercies are new every morning.  This week, we are preparing for our Spring Revival with Dr. Greg Frizzell, author of such powerful books as Returning To Holiness, Iceberg Dead Ahead, and Releasing the Revival Flood. Dr. Frizzell's writings have had a powerful influence on my life personally and I am looking forward to having him here with us next week.  Whenever we schedule revival services, I try to focus my heart on what God might want to say to me.  I know that if my life, as pastor, is not right with God, then it will be hard for Him to work in the hearts and lives of my people.  This has been particularly evident to me in the past few months.  I recently finished doing a study with my daughter, Chelsea, based on the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan.  In it, the author asks, "Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus Christ? Or do the words halfhearted, lukewarm, and partially committed fit better?"  I had to admit that I had let distractions, disappointments, wounds, and frustration rob me of the one thing that a pastor cannot do without, an all-consuming love for God.  Over the last several days, God has put me through the fire, burning out of me some of those things that my heart had held on to so dearly that only served to dilute my love for Him.  And the fire is never pleasant.  It is painful and the flesh resists it, but then it seems that God does something to remind me of His mercy and His love and it helps me to see that He is committed to using me for His glory and honor. 

More than anything in the world, I want to be a vessel of honor unto the Lord.  I want to be used by God to impact the lives of His people for eternity.  I want to lead His church, by example, into a more passionate love for God and selfless, dedicated service to Him.

I don't know what God wants to say to us during our revival services next week, but I do know this.  If we are going to hear from Him, we are going to have to clear away some of the rubble and prepare our hearts to be touched by His Spirit.  How we prepare ourselves this week may determine how effectively God's Spirit is able to work in us next week. 
Aren't you glad that God's mercies never run out?  Aren't you thankful that God is faithful? Let's not take that faithfulness for granted.  Let's open our hearts to the work that He wants to do in us.