Between the Porch and Altar

"Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2Timothy 3:12 NAS95S)

Observation: There is a purity that comes through adversity; a holiness that is forged in the furness of affliction. Yesterday I was reading from the Spirit of Prophecy and challenged by these words:

Some of the servants of God, even ministers, are so easily discouraged, self is so quickly hurt, that they imagine themselves slighted and injured when it is not so. [BEGIN P.130] They think their lot hard. Such realize not how they would feel should the sustaining hand of God be withdrawn, and they pass through anguish of soul. They would then find their lot tenfold harder than it was before, while they were employed in the work of God, suffering trials and privations, yet withal having the Lord's approbation. Some that are laboring in the cause of God know not when they do have an easy time. They have had so few privations and know so little of want or wearing labor or burden of soul that when they have an easy time, when they are favored of God and almost entirely free from anguish of spirit, they know it not and think their trials great. I saw that unless such have a spirit of self-sacrifice, and are ready to labor cheerfully, not sparing themselves, God will release them. He will not acknowledge them as His self-sacrificing servants, but will raise up those who will labor, not slothfully, but in earnest, and will know when they have an easy time. God's servants must feel the burden of souls and weep between the porch and the altar, crying: "Spare Thy people, O Lord" (Testimonies for the Church, Volume 1, p. 129.3).

Application: These words ring true because I have murmured and complained against God. I have bemoaned the fact that our church and district isn't growing fast enough. I have whimpered about not having enough time. I have feared that there is nothing I can do. O how these feelings of self-pity rise up with such ease. And yet what I consider to be difficulty is really not. What I consider to be sacrifice is really simply a meager gift out of the abundance of my comfort. I don't know hardship and I don't know pain. I don't know sacrifice and I don't know strife. God has been good to me.

Prayer: Lord Jesus I'm not asking for persecution today. But I am asking for a burden for souls, for a passion, for a dedication, and for Your Spirit of Self-Sacrifice to take control of my heart, my life, and my ministry. Jesus, I don't know how to pray as I should... Pray through me Jesus. Make my life a vessel of intercession. Pray through me Jesus. Serve through me. Work through me. God whatever You want to do with my life. I'm asking You to do it. However You want to use me Lord Jesus... I'm asking that You would use me. Please take control. Please have Your way. Amen!

A Gastric Prayer

"Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish," (Jonah 2:1 NAS95S)

Observation:  How is it, that from such a stubborn and sinful man, comes a prayer which so powerfully portrays the coming and ultimate mission of the Christ?  

"I called out of my distress to the LORD,

And He answered me.

I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;

You heard my voice. 

"For You had cast me into the deep,

Into the heart of the seas,

And the current engulfed me.

All Your breakers and billows passed over me. 

"So I said, 'I have been expelled from Your sight.

Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.' 

"Water encompassed me to the point of death.

The great deep engulfed me,

Weeds were wrapped around my head. 

"I descended to the roots of the mountains.

The earth with its bars was around me forever,

But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 

"While I was fainting away,

I remembered the LORD,

And my prayer came to You,

Into Your holy temple. 

"Those who regard vain idols

Forsake their faithfulness, 

But I will sacrifice to You

With the voice of thanksgiving.

That which I have vowed I will pay.

Salvation is from the LORD."  (Jonah 2:2-9).

Yea, in this prayer we are transported to Calvary's Cross; transported to the Hill of the Skull, where our Saviour prayed "into Thy hands I commit my spirit," and then breathed his last.

Jesus even spoke of that moment, of that hour of suffering, of that time of desperate pleading with God when the Pharisees (men not unlike Jonah) asked for a sign:

"Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. "The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." (Matthew 12:38-41 NAS95S)

My, o my... How amazing is our God?  That he uses men like Jonah to point to THE MAN, CHRIST.  Men of selfishness to point to the Selfless One.  Men of faithlessness to point to the Faithful One.  Men who run away from God to point to the man who runs to the lost.  Could Jonah not see?  Could He not perceive that in his running, God was running after him?  And in his complaining and critical spirit, the Father was seeking to give Jonah's ornery soul the heart of the Savior?

Application:  Where am I running to?  Selfishness and pride?  My way or the high way?  The highway far from God's call, that is.  Or am I running to the lost with the heart of my Father?  Am I running with a living knowledge that the Lord is a "gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity?" (Jonah 4:2 NAS95S)  Am I glad that He desires to save my enemies and those who have wronged my people?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, give me Your heart.  Forgive me when I have cherished the heart of Jonah.  When I have said with my actions, if not with my words, "let 'em all go to hell."

O please Jesus, change me.  Shape me.  And show me what it means to love the lost.  Bring me back from the dead Jesus.  Bring me back from the belly of the fish.  

And when You raise me up.  Raise me up in the newness of life.  Raise me up with a heart like yours.  Raise me up with a gratitude that will always extend grace to the lost, the broken, and the sinner.  I surrender to You now Jesus.

"I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD."" (Jonah 2:9 NAS95S)

Mandates for God's Man

"You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier's aim is to please the enlisting officer. And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules. It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things."

(2Tim 2:1-7 NRSV)

Observation:  Stay focused, play fair, and be faithful.  These are the mandates for a honest worker of the Lord.  

Like a soldier, God's man or woman must be true to their mission, focused, and unfaltering.  Daily affairs are not for the warrior of Christ.  Worries about the cares of life, fears about the future must be forsaken.  True, they come at times.  But they cannot be entertained.  Fear must not take focus hostage.  Rather Focus must be the ruler of fear in the warrior's life. 

Like a seasoned athlete, the servant of the Lord must know the rules of life.  They are a good sport.  Their attitude and actions make them a strong team player on and off the field; at church events and in every day life.  They are not concerned with who gets the glory.  They desire team wins.  They will even stop to help an opponent up from the floor or the field.  They understand that the game is about more than just winning, it is also about how you play.  They believe that character is the ultimate fruit of sport:  determination, drive, diligence, and decisiveness; being able to make the right choice at the right time; standing tall under pressure; giving 110% even when you're loosing.

Finally, God's man or woman is like the faithful farmer.  Rain or shine, they are working the field and anticipating a harvest.  They are not deterred by nay-sayers.  They understand their dependance on God's provision.  When the ground is dry and cracked, when hail has reeked havoc, and disease has taken it's tole, they stay true to their calling.  They scrap and they scrape, the plead and they pray, they stay faithful even when faith is gone.  Because they have confidence that one day the harvest will be ripe; one day the ingathering will be great; one day they will partake of the fruit of their faithfulness.   And, in that day, they will give thanks to God; for He truly is the grower and giver of all good things. 

Application:  Focus, Fair-play, and Faithfulness:  Good words for my heart.  Focus because sometimes I forget why I'm serving... I serving for the glory of God and the building up of the body.  

Fair-play because at times I've blamed or been tempted to blame.  God has spoken to my heart of late saying:  "Take responsibility!  When the team wins rejoice, and when the team looses take responsibility."  How can I make my church a stronger team?  How can I entrust responsibility and opportunity to the people around me?  

Faithfulness because "He never said their only be sunshine... and he never said there'd be no rain."  Outcomes are important, but they must not sway attitude and determination.  True faithfulness finds strength in suffering. True faithfulness stands up in hard times.  True faithfulness presses on when all seems hopeless.

Prayer:  Jesus, give me the heart of a warrior.  Lord Jesus fight for me.  Lord Jesus give me the spirit of an athlete.  Lord Jesus pinch hit for me.  Lord Jesus give me the faithfulness of a farmer, Lord Jesus give growth to me.  Both within and without.

Word Wranglers

"If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain." (1Timothy 6:3-5 NAS95S)

Observation: In 1 Timothy, we are warned not to take a morbid interest in controversial questions; not to be sucked into disputes about words. In his second book to Timothy, Paul also writes:

"Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:14-15).

Part of correctly handling the word of the truth is not to get into senseless disputes. We are essentially instructed: "Don't sweat the small stuff..." I.e., don't get caught in debates over minutia; don't major in the minors.

Application: Last night I was at a church member's house and we were having a discussion about truth. They were of the conviction that there is a right interpretation of Scripture and we can find it if we let the Bible interpret itself; along with added insight from Ellen White when needed (And while I believe this is generally true, it does have its limits).

To back up their point they posed the question to me: Who is the bride of Christ? Because I had been in conversation with one their children, I knew the answer they were looking for: The bride of Christ is the New Jerusalem. This is based on Ellen Whites comments in The Great Controversy, p. 426, 427. She refers to the parable of the ten virgins, and the book of Revelation to make the case that the bride of Christ is the New Jerusalem and the church is the five wise virgins. And my friend even pointed me to this portion of The Great Controversy when I suggested that I still believed the bride of Christ could also be the church.

When I got home I was still perplexed by our conversation... Feeling like: "Am I crazy. When Jesus says husband's love your wife as Christ loved the church... does that not make the church his bride..." There is a part of me that felt like... I must be loosing my mind here. I was certainly perplexed by his suggestion that it could only be the New Jerusalem. And I couldn't go to bed until I did a little word query of the terms "Church" and "Bride" in my Ellen White electronic library. And part of what I found was a Review and Herald article dating back to 1899, in which she referenced the same 10 virgins parable. In this article, she says in no uncertain terms: "The bride is the church who is waiting for the second appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (see Review and Herald October 31, 1899 The Parable of the Ten Virgins.)

How can she do both? Well, maybe she wasn't worried about words half as much as we are. Maybe she was more concerned with meaning and message. See, while a message is made of words... It doesn't necessarily hang on one or two words any more than a digital photograph hangs on one or two pixels. It is the sum total of the words that makes the message. So depending on the point trying to be expressed, the bride of Christ might be the New Jerusalem, and in another case might be the church.

Anyway, what I think I hear God saying to me this morning is...

You didn't need to send an email last night to your church member showing them what You found... You didn't need to have the last word about the words "the bride of Christ."

I mean I really wonder if that was the best thing to do because... Was I starting to wrangle over words? Was I really trying to help my friend? Or did I just want to be right?

Prayer: O God, save me, save us from being right just for the sake of saying we're right. This is a right that can end up going so wrong. Lord, let us pursue righteousness; which can mean silence at times; i.e. avoiding controversial questions and disputes about words...

Wow... I need Your Spirit Jesus. I need Your presence. How am I going to be humble around people who feel they are right if I don't have the righteous presence of Your Holy Spirit? I don't need to be right as much as I need to be right with You Lord God. I don't need to have the last word as much as I need the Word who became flesh to indwell me, guide me, and minister through me. Lord Jesus please... Be The Last Word in my life. A Word who will often lead me to keep silence. A Word which will often lead me to be righteous rather than just being right. And O what a difference there can be between the two. Yes, You are my righteousness Jesus. That is what I need a hundred, yea a thousand times more than being right!

Other texts about wrangling over words:

But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness."" (2Timothy 2:16-19 NAS95S)

"But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned."

(2Timothy 2:23-26; Titus 3:9-11 NAS95S)

Only Believe

"While He was still speaking, someone *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore." But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, "Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well." 

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened." (Luke 8:49-50, 56 NAS95S)

Observation:  There are times in our lives when we hear the message "do not trouble the Teacher anymore."  Maybe it's the death of a loved one, maybe it's a moral fall, maybe it's a lack of faith.  But at some point we come to a place where we feel all our efforts have failed... even our efforts to seek help from the Almighty.

Why He may even be walking by our side, and for whatever reason, we come to the place were that message seems so clear and so clarion that in must be true:  "Don't trouble the teacher anymore!"

Ah, but in that moment of utter despair, in that moment when all seems lost, in that moment when our worst fears seem to be coming true, Jesus says to us:  "Do not be afraid, Only Believe."

When Hope seems lost, Only Believe!  When uncertainty is certain, Only Believe!  When you loose your job and don't know how you will provide for your family, Only Believe!  When your spouse walks out on you, Only Believe!  When your home is destroyed by a natural disaster, Only Believe.  When you get the news that your child was killed while on active duty, Only Believe.

There are moments in life where the only thing we can do is Believe.

More Than Words

"Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting." (Romans 16:17-18 NAS95S)

Observation:  When I was in academy there was a college student who used to come over and sit in the commons and engage students in conversations about God.  He even got involved in helping with one of my Bible classes.  Initially he seemed like a well intentioned guy.  

But sometimes I wonder if he and his group didn't caused dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching of Scripture.  I can remember sitting around their living room and discussing Scripture and Ellen White.  It always seemed as if they would create theological straw men and then knock them down.  

It would be said in the group that the larger church taught thus and such and that is why they were wrong.  This kind of thinking and teaching eventually wore me down.  It made me feel inferior.  It didn't really seem to be instructive as much as it was destructive; destructive in a subtle sort of a way.  Mmmm... I'm glad the Lord brought me through this experience.

Application:  I think a spirit of dissension was born in this group that at times I have found in myself.  It is the same spirit I felt when I was arguing with a peer over theology at Broadview Academy one summer when I was selling books in the Chicago area.  It is the same spirit of I hear of and sometimes witnessed within the church.  It is the spirit that my wife spoke of being present when she was in a small church in her early teaching years where a man would ask new visitors what they believed about the nature of Christ.  And if they didn't agree with his view?  Oh boy... watch out!

Mmmm... is this not the spirit that led to war in heaven?  Is it not the spirit that led to the fall of man?  Wrangling over words and casting confusion on the clear word of God has quite a history.  And I don't want to be a part of writing that history.  I want to lift up Jesus.  I want to point people to the cross.  I want to communicate that even if they don't understand exactly how it works, that the act of Christ living, dying, rising again, reigning on high, and coming in the clouds of glory is sufficient for our salvation.  Yes... He is an all sufficient Savior.  Whether we completely understand how it works doesn't matter...  What matters is, are we surrendered to the One who surrendered Himself to the will of the Father.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus forgive me the times when I have wrangled over words rather than repenting of my sin.  Forgive me for when my focus has been being right rather than being covered in Your righteousness.  Forgive me for when I have sought a better explanation rather than an inner transformation.  

Jesus teach me the simplicity of the gospel.  Teach me to interact with others not for the purpose of discussion alone, but for the purpose of discerning Your will and Your ways.  Let my relationships not be full of empty words and arguments, but let Your Holy Spirit be present in all my interactions with others.  With whoever I find myself in dialogue, may Your presence enter into that conversation and make it a conversional and transforming experience.  I don't just want to talk with my brothers, but I want to walk with them to the foot of the cross.