No Power Source

A native from a distant mountain village had the opportunity to visit a large modern city.  He was utterly amazed with everything he saw.  There were so many cars, buses, and other forms of transportation.  The roads were wide, smooth, and a strange black color.  The buildings were enormous.  Food, clothing, and other useful items could be bought at almost every store.   But out of everything he saw, the one item that amazed him the most was the light bulb.  He found it fascinating that he could flip a switch and the bulb would produce light.  Though he didn’t have much money, he decided the best purchase would be on light bulbs and switches.

When this man arrived back at his village, he began hanging the light bulbs all over the village.  Many asked him what he was doing, but he told them to wait until it got dark.  Once night came, everyone watched as he flipped on the light switches.  Nothing happened.  Despite his incredible interest in light bulbs, no one in the city had thought to tell the man about a little thing called electricity.

The light bulb is one of the most ingenious inventions, but it’s completely worthless until hooked up to a power source.  In Christianity, God is our power source.  We all have talents and abilities.  You have a skill set unlike anyone else, but if these skills are not used for the Lord, then what good are they?  What good is it to be beautiful, popular, rich, smart, successful, or even to gain everything the world offers, but risk loosing our souls (Matthew 16:26)?  Yes, these qualities may help us succeed in some parts of life, but if our skills aren’t used for the Lord, then they are worthless (Colossians 3:17).  If not used for God, nearly everything we do in life is, as Solomon said, “Vanity and striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:1-18; 12:8).

In the parable of the sower, Jesus clearly taught that we should use what God has given us for His glory (Matthew 13).  Every single person has special abilities that can be used to bring glory to God.  Everyone has something to contribute to God’s kingdom. Talents and abilities not used for God are about as useful as a light bulb disconnected from the power source.  The question is, are you hooked up to the power source?  How will you use your talents and abilities to bring glory to God?

When The World Literally Stands in Your Way

Sometimes it feels like there are days, weeks, and even years filled of problems.  Nothing seems to go right.  We face home repairs, car breakdowns, family arguments, and financial woes.  We have to overcome injuries, sicknesses and other health problems, death, family dysfunction, and separation.  There are just times in life when it feels like the world is literally standing in our way.

Sailing the seas in the 1800s or earlier was a dangerous and daunting task.  These journeys often took a great deal of time and resulted in sickness and sometimes death.  One of the worst voyages was from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.  Even though they are very close together, a little chunk of land called the Sinai Peninsula stood in the way.  So, one would have to sail all the way around Africa.

In 1832, a man by the name of Ferdinand de Lesseps was sailing to Egypt when people in his crew became one of the many ships struck with sickness.  Everyone on the ship was quarantined.  While in quarantine, Ferdinand de Lesseps was sent books by a friend.  These books, combined with his current situation and the tough reality of sailing, sparked an idea.  Ferdinand de Lesseps decided to make a canal in-between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.  By 1869, the Suez Canal was completed.  This canal dramatically reduced the danger and sailing time between the two seas and opened up a whole new world of opportunities (See Picture Below).

I appreciate the sermon Neal gave last night.  He talked about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” and applied to our own difficulties.  Though we don’t know what Paul’s “thorn” was (sickness, temptation, enemies?), the key was how Paul dealt with this.  In Scripture, people like Paul and Job both stood close to God and used the difficulties in their life to mature, grow, and help others.

Sometimes it feels like the world is standing in our way when we face temptations, health problems, and other difficulties.  For Ferdinand de Lesseps, the world literally stood in his way (the Sinai Peninsula), but he used this problem to grow and develop something that has benefited the entire world.

I don’t know what kind of problems you are facing in your life; I only know my own.  But we must ask ourselves, how are we going to respond to our “thorns in the flesh”?  Will we give up and become angry, bitter, and depressed?  Or will we use these problems to grow, mature, and help others?  How we respond to our “thorns” is up to each of us.  How will you respond?

An 11-Year-Old Ordained Minister

How would you feel if an 11-year-old became a preacher for your congregation?  On May 6, the Fullness of Time Pentecostal Church in Temple Hills, MD ordained 11-year-old Ezekiel Stoddard as a minister (where is parents are both ministers as well).  According to Ezekiel, he was motivated to become a minister when God came to him in a dream and told him to read Psalm 23.  In this congregation, Ezekiel preaching the 11 AM services each week.

Reading about this story brings both negative and positive feelings.  On the negative side, it is unwise and ridiculous to put an 11-year-old in charge of preaching to the souls of a congregation.  How would you feel if an 11-year-old surgeon, lawyer, police officer, or firefighter walked through the door to help you?  Someone of this age may not even be accountable for his sins before God yet, let alone ready to lead a congregation.  There are just some positions in this world that require a higher level of maturity, knowledge, training, and experience.  Church leadership is one of these positions.  Surely there are several other negatives we could point out as well (like his alleged “dream from God).

On the positive side, this is all about developing leadership.  Even though they are going about it all wrong, their intentions are admirable.  They are trying to ensure strong leadership for the future.  We have the same struggle in our congregations as well.  Good, sound leadership is becoming uncommon in the Lord’s Church today.  Many congregations are struggling without qualified elders and deacons, and may go for years without a preacher.  Why is this happening?  Because many congregations are not training and encouraging young people to be leaders.

For this reason, I have come to realize one more of the many reasons I am blessed to be part of this congregation.  We have taken considerable steps into training men and women to become leaders and active members in the church.  Some of our works include:

Young Lions (2-6 grades): Our young boys are taught the fundamentals of public speaking and trained how to publically read Scripture, lead singing, lead prayers, and even prepare a short sermon.

God’s Precious Daughters (2-6 grades): Our young girls are taught what Christian women do.  They are taught about being a servant, hospitality, and other godly attributes.  They participate in service projects, visiting shut-ins and the elderly, preparing meals, writing encouraging letters, as well as planning the annual Ladies Tea and devotional.

Future Preacher’s Training Camp (Ages 13-18):  Young men from all over the US come for a week of spiritual training.  They prepare sermons, devotionals, and engage in many leadership and character building activities.  The goal is to teach and encourage these young men to become preachers, teachers, and leaders in church.

Higher Ground Girls Camp (Ages 13-18):  Teen girls from all over the US come for a week of spiritual teaching and fellowship.  There is a strong emphasis on teaching the girls how to better study their Bibles.  They are also taught qualities of Christian women and how to be active in their congregations.

Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver:  BVBID is an incredibly intense two-year college program dedicated to training men and women for full time ministry.  The goal is to ground faithful men in God’s word and prepare them to preach, teach, and become leaders in the church.

Please understand that the list above is not given in a boastful, prideful, or arrogant way.  All that is done is for the glory of God.  Beyond this, many of these ideas are not original with us but created by others.  However, I wanted to share them so that you too can use these works, or other great ideas you might have, and implement them in your congregations.

One of the greatest leaders to ever live was Moses.  Moses took huge steps to ensure that a great leader would follow after him (Deuteronomy 34; Joshua 1).  As a result, Joshua also became an incredible leader in Israel and brought the nation into the Promise Land.  We too must take action and build up tomorrow’s leaders.  What steps are you taking to grow and train the next generation of leaders?

Well That’s Inconvenient!

Several months ago, Neal and I were traveling from one hospital visit to another.  Several events happened throughout the day which put us in a bit of a rush.  As you might expect, this is usually when something goes wrong.  On this day, we hit very slow moving traffic.  We looked around for flashing lights and for any sign of the problem ahead of us.  Eventually we made it up to a man whose car was in the middle of the road, with flashers on, and his hood up.  As we passed by the man and his broken down vehicle, Neal said something I won’t soon forget.  He simply stated, “No one is more inconvenienced than him.”

Far too often we get focused on our own little world.  We come across an accident and think, “Perfect…now I’m going to be late,” “I can’t believe this is happening to me” or, “Well this is terribly inconvenient for me.”  We need to change our perspective.  What we forget is that, while it poses a slight problem for us, not a single person is more inconvenienced than the person in trouble.  That person might have had some very important event or appointment to keep as well!  Instead of thinking of the other person, though, we think only of ourselves.

In situations like these, our lives become inconvenienced and we respond with grumbling and complaining.  Have we really become people who fuss and complain when things don’t go our way?  Today, we label people who fit this mold “spoiled brats.”

Philippians 2:14 clearly states, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.”

This applies across the board in all situations.  It doesn’t say “some things” or even “most things,” but it says, “all things.”  Christians are to be people who aren’t complainers.  This is a difficult thing to do.  If I am honest with myself, and if you are honest with yourself, I think we could all say that we need to improve ourselves in this area.  We complain too often and too easily.

This life is not about having everything convenient for us.  It’s about God’s will and what makes Him happy.  God doesn’t want us to be a bunch of complainers like the nation of Israel (Numbers 11:1-4).   Let’s change the way we think, act, and respond to situations that are inconvenient to us.

Emergency Contact Numbers

If any of the follow situations are happening in your life, please dial the appropriate numbers.

If you are unsure that God loves you, DIAL: John 3:16.

If you need faith, DIAL: Hebrews 11

If you need comfort, DIAL: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

If you are worried, DIAL: Mathew 6:25-34

If you feel depressed, DIAL: 1 Peter 5:6-7

If you hear gossip, DIAL: Proverbs 26:22-25

If you feel overwhelmed by some force, DIAL: 1 John 4:4

If you are unsure about your current friends, DIAL: 1 Corinthians 15:33

If you love worldly things in life, DIAL: 1 John 2:15

If you love money, DIAL: 1 Timothy 6:10.

If you are focused on succeeding in this life, DIAL: Matthew 16:26

If you want to be fruitful in life, DIAL: John 15:1-11

If you want advice with your investments, DIAL: Matthew 6:19-21.

If you aren’t sure about participating in something, DIAL: Philippians 4:8           

If you are experiencing sorrow or pain, DIAL: Revelation 21:4

If you are being persecuting, DIAL: Matthew 5:10-12

If you are being tempted to sin, DIAL: 1 Corinthians 10:13

If you have sinned, DIAL: 1 John 1:9

If you feel you can’t be forgiven and saved, DIAL: Isaiah 59:1-2.

If you are in trouble and need to be saved, DIAL: 1 Peter 3:21

All numbers can be dialed directly.  If you need to speak with someone directly, please bow your head in prayer now.  God is standing by.

 

(Idea was inspired by an article by an unknown writer)

Woman Gets Married to Herself

The bride, Nadine Schweigert, walked down the isle at a chapel in Fargo, North Dakota.  She was wearing a teal blue satin dress and clutched a bouquet of white roses.  Forty of her closest friends and family watched as she made her way up to the front where she stood there all alone.  Typically, people would have been concerned by the absence of the groom, but not for this ceremony.  On this day, Nadine was getting married to herself.

Nadine had an interview with TV host Anderson Cooper about the ceremony.  Here was her explanation for her actions, “It was me standing up for myself and owning that I’m responsible for my happiness.  There would have been a time that I would have placed that on others, to change myself to make them happy, or expecting them to change to make me happy and that really wasn’t working, not at all.  I was very unhappy.  I started discovering that all the love I need, it’s in here [gesturing to her herself]. No one else can give it to me…I did this to celebrate the progress I’ve made in my life.  Six years ago I would have handled a problem by going out and drinking.  I smoked, I was 50 lbs overweight.  This is just celebrating how far I’ve come in my life.”  Sticking with this commitment, Nadine also takes herself on dates, as she explained, “to be married to myself means I have to invest in this relationship.”

To be honest, this entire situation is strange and uncomfortable.  It is completely understandable that we should learn to love and be happy with who we are.  But actually planning a formal wedding ceremony for herself and taking herself on dates just takes it to an awkward level.

Beyond this, two main problems really stood out to me with this situation.  First, this boils down to selfishness.  I understand she is celebrating how far she has come through adversity, but that is just it, it is all about her.  She is focused on herself and now married to herself.  We might even call this the ultimate form of selfishness.  Everything in her future is now about what makes her happy.  Second, she is completely reliant on herself.  There is no focus or reliance on God.  Several times Nadine talked about how she is all that she needs and no one else can make her happy.  What she is really saying is, “true happiness is only found in yourself.”  No one else, especially God, is seen in this picture.

This kind of mindset is completely opposed in Scripture (Psalm 119:36; Proverbs 18:1; Matthew 22:37-39; etc).  Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

While there is nothing wrong with learning to love and be happy with ourselves, we can most definitely take that too far.  Our culture has become focused on self and situations like Nadine’s are simply products of this focus.  The more we focus on ourselves, the faster we will lose focus on God.  Let’s make sure we always focus on what is really important, God.