Monthly Archives: April 2013

I’ve Been Hurt

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530231_179581688856994_333658795_n“No one is likely to experience real church life without times of hurt, disappointment, or rejection. Those who overcome these by growing in love, patience, forgiveness, etc., can make huge strides forward in their spiritual lives. Those who allow hurt, frustrations, or disappointments to dictate their courses will likely go from defeat to defeat, shipwreck to shipwreck, until they resolve to be over-comers instead of being overcome by these things.”  – Rick Joyner

If you are in a local church, and I hope you are, you will experience both joy and pain at the hands of other believers.  Raise your hand if you have been blessed by others in your church.  Now, raise your hand if you have been hurt by or disillusioned with others in your church.   When we experience the hurt part, there is a tendency to run and never darken the door again!

I know many people who have turned away from the church after painful experiences.  I understand, more than I wish I did!   Yes the church is filled with brokenness and imperfection, but I  am still  convinced that the local  church is the primary means of forming believers and setting them on a pathway to spiritual maturity.

I must admit that I have been hurt by the church and I have hurt people in the church.  I’ve tried to learn from my mistakes and be a healer and not a “hurter”.

Be careful about assigning to God the “mess-ups” of His children.  God did nothing to you, people did!  Don’t give up on the church!  Please don’t.  I think there are many grace-filled, caring, loving and forgiving people in most churches. Seek them out. Spend time with them. If you have really made an effort, and cannot find them, then find another church.   God thought the church was a good idea.  I want to be a part of anything that has been blessed and created by Him.  Don’t give up on the Church!  Even God is often pained by its behavior yet He doesn’t give up on His  Church and for that I am grateful!

It Might Be Time For A RE-MINDER

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166730_182789265202903_1206918220_nI love dividing words to really grasp their meaning.  Words like nothing, NO THING.  Nothing is impossible with God – and NO THING is impossible with God.  Today I am focused on remind, RE-MIND.  Our thoughts lives can wreak havoc on so many levels.   As a child of God, when our minds are bombarded by thoughts that do not line up with the Word of God, we must RE-MIND.

When someone or the devil puts the thought in your mind that, you are nobody, it’s time to RE-MIND with what God says. God says you are His child and none of His children are nobodies.   1 John 3:1 (NIV) “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

When you are tormented with the thought that you are not going to make it, it’s time to RE-MIND:   Philippians 1:6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

When your head is saying you have sinned so badly, God is finished with you, it’s time for a RE-MIND-er:  Psalm 103:  “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons ALL your iniquities…”

When your mind is saying, the doctor can’t do anything else, RE-MIND with Psalm 103:”Bless the LORD, O my soul,  And forget none of His benefits; Who heals all your diseases.”When your thoughts are filled with, “God does not hear my prayers.”  Let’s do a RE-MIND:  Jeremiah 29:12: (NIV) “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”

What is your mind saying to you today?  The Word is filled with RE-MIND-ers.  It might be time to get the Word of God out and RE-MIND yourself who God is and who you are!

Set The Tone

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A young man stepped to the podium to sing a solo in the morning service.   I sat there on the front row, and along with the congregation, awaited a song that would cause us to look heavenward.  Oh boy!  The music was in one key and he was in another.  He left the music way behind and nothing fit together. Instead of causing up to be lifted heavenward, we all wished he would hurry and finish,which he did, way before the background music!

In a conversation I learned that the man loved to sing but was tone death.  He wanted us to be receptive but the wrong tone killed the whole thing.    The problem was not the message but the tone.  Tone has to do with using different elements: volume, speed, pitch of voice, body language and gestures, etc., to name a few.

We are in a time when we have to boldly stand for truth.  BOLDLY!   I refuse to accept what the Bible does not accept.  I understand everyone is not going to like my stand or agree with me. What I don’t want to do is add fuel to the fire by my tone.    We live in a time of too much anger and hostility.  Couples scream and yell at each other.  Politicians berate one another.   Christians “tell each other off”.   Facebook posts are often rudely stated.  People are quick to give the middle finger of fellowship.  Parents declare that the only way their children will listen is if they yell.   (By the way, that is only true if you conditioned them that way.)   God is saying to sing in one key and we sing in whatever key we want.  We have a tone problem.

I don’t want to be an angry, ugly, red-faced, condescending, name-calling, arrogant child of God.  I want to stand boldly for God.  I want to have the best relationships I can.  I want to be a good communicator of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I might be rejected but I don’t want it to be because of my tone.    I want to set the right tone.  How about you?

SELAH

“A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.” – Proverbs 15:1

EN-couragement

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I recently spent three nights in a motel in Columbus, OH.  My schedule made it necessary to arise and shine early each morning!  I would go down to the breakfast room at 5:30 to get my anointed cup of coffee and read over my message.  There were two women who stocked the breakfast area, and they told me their day started at 4:30.   As I watched hotel guests eating breakfast, very little thought seemed to be given to these women.  It was not a “limelight” job.  God spoke to me to bless them daily with words of thanksgiving and praise and I did.  The last morning I felt God leading me to bring them a gift of thanksgiving.  As I placed it in their hands, I thanked them for a job well done.  I thanked them that I had fresh coffee so early in the morning.  They begin to grin and you could almost see their shoulders lift up.  I could see them in the back room, and as we say in the south, “they were tickled pink!”   I honestly think I was more blessed than they were.

We often think of great ministries or ministers as those who stand up front, those in the limelight.  I have certainly known great men and women of God who have gifts requiring them to stand in the limelight.  But, there is a ministry that is so needed in life today, and it’s a great ministry that all of us can do.  Don’t even take a spiritual gift test to see if you have it!  It is the ministry of EN-couragement!

Everyone, from babes to senior citizens, needs EN-couragement. To EN-courage is to put courage into someone. To DIS-courage is to take courage out of them.   You don’t have to go to seminary to have a great ministry!  Be an EN-courager!  Today speak a kind word; tell someone you appreciate them; say thank you to your boss; tell that nurse how much you appreciate her care;  tell a child how glad you are God made them; post on someone’s Facebook  complimenting them.  If you will look around today, you will have many opportunities to have a great ministry – the ministry of EN-couragement.

Show the love of God by being an EN-courager.  Make a point of putting courage into your spouse, your children, your friends, the clerk checking you out at the grocery store, the teller at the bank, the single parent and countless others.  Be a blessing today through .  Go out of your way to do it, and one wonderful thing that happens, is that in blessing others you will be blessed yourself.

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life …”  Proverbs 10:11

What we receive from scripture is like this:

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A famous actor was once the guest of honor at a social gathering where he was asked to recite favorite excerpts from various literary works. An old preacher who happened to be there asked the actor to recite the twenty-third Psalm. The actor agreed on the condition that the preacher would also recite it.

The actor’s recitation was beautifully intoned with great dramatic emphasis for which he received lengthy applause. The preacher’s voice was rough and broken from many years of preaching, and his diction was anything but polished. But when he finished, there was not a dry eye in the room. When someone asked the actor what made the difference, he replied, “I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.”