Author: E. DeWayne Swann

The Purpose of the Church

Pray for God to Fill our Cup.

What I want to look at for a little bit tonight is basically an introduction to what we’re going to be doing in the coming weeks and the lessons on what the purpose of the Church is- the purpose of this Church! Calvary Baptist Church

Young people, God is preparing you now for years to come! If you’re a believer you’re a member of this church then every sermon is for you no matter your age David was just a kid when he was anointed to the king the Apostle John was just a teenager when he started walking with Christ all the way to Abraham was pushing 100 when he had his son Isaac So it doesn’t matter your age What matters is your availability to serve a living God.

Me in the 70’s Here in this very room in this very Church I was 15. That was some 50 years ago, and everything I went through since has prepared me for tonight, or every time I preach.

First, what is the Church?

The short answer is YOU!

I love a song that our choir used to sing. It’s called “We Are Still the Church.”

Here at Calvary, you are still the Church.

“We Are Still The Church” is a Southern Gospel song focusing on resilience, continuity, and faith despite challenges, with lyrics that emphasize moving forward, and the song talks about enduring through battles. It often highlights that despite changes, the church remains steady. 

Key lines mention having “started out for heaven’s shore” long ago with Jesus as the captain, and despite being tossed by “waves of sin,” the ship remains secure because “the God we serve is sovereign” and “He is still the King of kings.”

Lyrics for the Chorus: We are still the church, We will go forward, We are still the church, We will go on, Let’s forget about the things which are behind us, We are still the church, Keep pressing on. There you go. Keep pressing on.

 Theme: The song emphasizes that despite facing challenges, the church remains steady, as seen in the lyrics: “And still the waves of sin are raging high. Oh, but the God we serve is sovereign… And He will hold us steady. ‘Til we reach the other side.” 

The God I serve is the God who created the universe. I think he can handle this Church and keep this Church afloat.

Matthew 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I heard a preacher say one time that he wants to build a mission right at the gates of hell. He wants to catch them before they are thrown in. That’s not a bad thing

He is not talking about 3988 Powder Springs Rd ., but about Peter, Petra, the Rock, the foundation upon the person.

It’s what he built his assembly on, the Church

We are sitting in the Church building.

What I am looking at is the Church!

The people, you.

The word Jesus used when he said I will build my church has never meant what most Christians think it means, and the mistranslation has shaped Western Christianity for centuries.

Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

 The Greek word for Church is ekklēsia, and it was not a religious word. It existed centuries before Jesus was born in the ancient Greek and Roman world. Ekklēsia
described a called-out assembly of citizens summoned to conduct the governing business of the city, a gathering, not a religious meeting, a governing body.

The word ekklesia is used 115 times in the New Testament, mostly in the Book of Acts and the writings of the apostle Paul and the general epistles. At least 92 times, this word refers to a local congregation. The other references are to the church general, or all believers everywhere, for all ages

 The English word Church comes from a completely different Greek word, keyicon, meaning a building belonging to the Lord

Jesus never used the word for a Church Building; He used ekklesia,

And the moment of the translation shifted from ekklesia to Church, the entire identity of what Jesus was building shifted with it.

In Athens, it was the city’s primary governing assembly.

Citizens were summoned from their daily lives to make decisions affecting the entire city, and not voluntary attendance, a summons, and the business was not religious. It was governmental

 When Jesus said, I will build my ecclesia. It was not describing a weekly gathering. He was describing a called-out governing assembly, carrying his authority into every domain of human life, not just Sunday morning, every domain, every institution, every nation,

Then Matthew 16:19  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Keys, binding, loose, is the language of governmental authority given not to a building, to an ekklesia, the Western church has become a building.

People say Well, I gotta go to church, and you do. I’m all for that, 100 percent for church as we have it, but the way the word reads here in the New Testament, especially in the book of Acts, is the gathering.

We had Church here Thursday at 1:00 with the Operation Christmas Child

A group of us had Church Thursday night in a restaurant up in Villa Rica. It’s the group, it’s the assembly, it’s the Ekklesia

Brian and I have Church every year up at Big Canoe on Lake Pettit

It is the forsaking, not the assembly of yourself together, that assembling assembly is ekklesia. Can you do it here? Yes! And we do.

People attend a place to consume and get. But Jesus never called his people to build a building, but a Relationship with Him and other believers.

He called them to be ekklesia.

Your job, my job, our job is not just to be Pew warmers, not just to show up.

Every one of us has been given gifts from God, and we need to put those gifts into practice, Paul told the Church of Rome.

Romans 12:4-8 ⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality;open-mindedness he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

 You’re never looking anybody in the eye that Christ didn’t die for. How would you treat somebody you’re mad at if you were standing there and Jesus Christ had his arm around them? Would you still be hollering at them and fussing?

God says you gotta love one another. That was my mother’s favorite verse: Love one another because love is of God in 1 John

1 John 4:7-11 (NKJV) ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
⁸  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
⁹  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
¹⁰  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 And then the Church of Corinth;

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NKJV) ⁴ There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. ⁷ But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: ⁸ for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing (Giving) to each one individually as He wills.

As he said to the church of Ephesus;

Ephesians 4:1-8 (NKJV) ¹ I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (1^st John 47 Love one another for love is of God) ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. ⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”

So in the book of Romans, we have encouragement, giving, leadership, mercy, prophecy, service, and teaching in First Corinthians we have administration, discernment, healing, interpretation of language, language, prophecy, wisdom, apostles, faith, helps,(Brian) knowledge, miracles, and teaching and in, Ephesians we have apostles, pastors, teachers, evangelism, prophecy, and then Peter tells us about serving and teaching, we all fall in to one and Probably more than one of these categories.

!!! And Peter said in 1Peter.

1 Peter 4:7-11 (NKJV) ⁷ But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. ⁸ And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” ⁹ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. (Get along, you see that in the first century church in unity in one accord, Calvary, you gotta get along with each other) ¹⁰ As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The spiritual gift that God gives you is not for you.

It’s for others.

It’s for you to give away.

You get them to give them…

 Yes, the Book of Revelation explicitly promises rewards for believers, stating that Jesus will bring His rewards with Him when He returns to repay everyone according to their actions.

The New Testament breaks down these heavenly rewards in detail:

• The Reward of Jesus: In Revelation 22:12, Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to give to each one according to what he has done.”
• The “Crowns”: Throughout Revelation and other epistles, the Bible outlines five specific crowns awarded for faithfulness:
  • The Crown of Life: James 1:12 mentions this crown is for those who endure trials and remain faithful.
  • The Crown of Righteousness: Mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:8, this is for those who eagerly look forward to Christ’s return.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NKJV) ⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (A prime example of keeping the faith is Ceylon Plemmons) ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

• • The Imperishable Crown: Found in 1 Corinthians 9:25, it is awarded for self-discipline and spiritual endurance.
  • The Crown of Glory: 1 Peter 5:4 promises this to church leaders and believers who faithfully shepherd and care for others.
  • The Crown of Rejoicing: Mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 2:19, this is often called the “soul-winner’s crown” for sharing the Gospel.

What are we to do with those Crowns? 

• Casting Crowns: Revelation 4:10 describes elders in heaven casting their crowns before the throne of God, which is often interpreted as believers offering their accomplishments and rewards back to God to give Him all the glory.

 We need to be doing more than just sitting in a Church building.

You need to be going out the door, going into the world, and presenting the gospel with your gifts that God gave you.

I pray in the coming weeks that I will say some stuff that you can take out the door of this church and help the world come to know our Savior, Jesus Christ

My question is, are you giving these gifts away?

Are you doing your job?

It’s up to you if this Church grows; it’s up to you if this Church makes it.

God wants you to do something. You need to help grow this, Church.

I love what Ben Turner used to say:

“Shepherds don’t birth sheep; sheep birth sheep.” It’s the Church’s job; it’s the people’s job to get other people in here.

Not the Pastor’s or Preacher’s job, Our Job is to present the gospel in a way that you can get something out of it and carry it to the world.

As long as we’re doing our job, you should be learning something, and then you should be going out.

You should be bringing others in.

That’s your job.

But we don’t have a pastor.

PASTOR = The feeder, protector, and guide, or shepherd, of a flock of God’s people in New Testament times.

The first-century Church, when Paul sent a letter to the Church of Corinth it didn’t just go to one building, one address.

It went to everybody in Corinth. They didn’t just have one leader of that church or that ekklesia, that gathering, that assembly.

In speaking of spiritual gifts, the apostle Paul wrote that Christ “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Eph 4:11).

The term pastor by this time in church history had not yet become an official title.

The Greek word translated pastors in Eph 4:11 is used elsewhere in the New Testament of sheepherders, literally,  or symbolically (Matt 25:32).

of Jesus, the Good Shepherd (John 10); and of “shepherds,” or leaders, of the church (Eph 4:11). The NKJV uses the word pastor only in this verse. Also compare Jer 23:1-2 (KJV)

(from Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

 Jeremiah 23:1-4 (NKJV) ¹ “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” (He said woe to the that’s interfering with God’s work in this church) says the LORD. ² Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD. ³ “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. (I think you will be fruitful and increase here at Calvary.) ⁴ I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.

 When Peter was being restored by the fire in John 21, Jesus kept telling them Feed my sheep, take care of my sheep, tend to my sheep Being a shepherd, that’s what a pastor does, not just in this pulpit but in life

Being a shepherd, sometimes there’s more than one out there watching over the flock.

You recall when the Angel showed up to reveal that Jesus was just born, and it says they were shepherds keeping watch over the flock by night.

That’s the pastor’s job

The term implied the one that nourishes and cares for God’s people.

So do you have a Pastor?

Yeah, you have that. According to that definition, His name is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Israel just had to have a king, and God said, “They have rejected me as their king” (1 Samuel 8:7).

Jesus said Follow me.

The word followed there doesn’t mean just going in the same direction; it means to do the same way…

It really truly means don’t take the lead; let him have the lead, follow him.

Have you ever followed somebody in front of them?

It’s not an easy task I’ve done it or tried to I worked for discovery investigations part time sometimes and I had to do surveillance and had to follow people I got ahead of a guy one time on a road I didn’t mean to I was weaving in and out trying to keep up with him and not look too suspicious when I ended up passing him it’s really difficult to follow in front so quit putting yourself in front of God.

And this is really hard to do, but wait.

Be patient

Patience is a virtue possess it if you can found seldom in a woman, never in a man!

Follow Him, follow His lead, and through those whom He has put us here right now.

You have men in this Church who are trying their best, and doing their best.

Be still and know that I am the Lord; wait on him. Don’t go looking. He’ll send you the right person at the right time when the time is right!

And be careful who you listen to. When they send somebody, not everybody saying they are helping you is your friend; not everybody who appears to be hurting you is your enemy.

If a preacher is preaching something that’s convicting, it’s not because he’s mad at you; it’s because God told him to. And if I’m coming across a little harsh, I don’t mean to; I love you, and I’m just trying to tell you, and I want to get it out of me because God gave me this for y’all!

Some of the best preaching and leadership I have seen in this Church in years is happening right now.

God’s anointing them to lead this Church.

Who do you have nourishing and caring for you?

You, we, have Ceylon Plemmons, Brian Busby, Alan Clayton, Alan Young, Jeff Hodges, and, as much as it pains me to admit, C.J. Martin. And now, DeWayne Swann, as long as y’all let me, I tell my small group all the time, as long as y’all let me do this, as long as y’all want me to do this, I’ll do it till I take my dying breath.

As long as they are following God, follow them. And if we don’t, don’t follow us, call us on it, don’t let it go on and on and on.

What we’re going to be learning in the next few weeks is your job as part of this Church and what you’re supposed to be doing, and why we are here, and I hope it will help you to grow in the Lord and to serve Him better.

1) The Purpose of the Church- Worship

2) The Purpose of the Church- Prayer

3) The Purpose of The Church- Fellowship

4) The Purpose of the Church- Discipleship

5) The Purpose of The Church- Service

6) The Purpose of The Church- Evangelism

I want to use Acts 2:42-47 for the main text for most of these messages.

In this passage, we can find the essential purposes of the first-century church.
READ ACTS 2:42-47

 Acts 2:42-47  ⁴² And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine (The word of God) and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, (What you’ve done here tonight and every Sunday night) and in prayers. ⁴³ And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. (We’re seeing many wonders and signs being done here:

1) through Operation Christmas Child. Could you have seen doing 209 boxes last year? Can they accomplish that No, but you did it. Because God was in it

 2) through Ceylon’s class, sending thousands of Bibles to Don Rich and him given the word of God to people all over the world)

⁴⁴ And all that believed were together, and had all things common; That’s so important. You need Unity ⁴⁵ And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (This is not socialism; this is survival, which means you will have to sacrifice. There wasn’t a lot of money in this church in the 70s when we built this place; people sacrificed their time. They sacrificed a lot of their money and gave it to God, and it was well worth it. Ex: Charles Spraybeard…)⁴⁶ And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, (I have gladness, singleness of heart when I get to eat meat.)⁴⁷ Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

So what we’re going to be looking at in the coming weeks is;

Purpose of the Church.

What drives the church?

Are we tradition-driven?

Are we personality-driven?

Financially driven?

Program or building driven?

Event-driven?

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish: (Not where there’s no pastor but where there’s no vision) but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Wanna be happy, keep the word of God, is what he’s saying.

Where there is no vision, the people perish:

The verse emphasizes that a lack of divine revelation or spiritual direction (You’ve got Spiritual direction here at the Calvary), but if you don’t, it leads to a lack of restraint as the necessity of God’s word for purpose.

The word vision in context refers to a divine revelation or prophecy, or the revealed word of God, not just a personal goal or dream.

It means where God wants us to go.

The word perish means, in the original, to loosen, cast off restraints, or run wild, suggesting a collapse of a moral order rather than just physical death

Another way of saying the Original Hebrew is;

Proverbs 29:18  When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

My Headstone has this inscribed at the bottom of it:

Psalm 119:112 (NKJV) I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, to the very end.

But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

The starting point for every Church should be the question, “Why do we exist?”

It’s no accident that you’re here, and I mean the Church as a whole. I was here when it started in 1965.

I’ve seen miracles happen on this very ground. I’m one of the largest miracles that God reached down and saved me, that spared me so I could be here tonight.

For what Brian’s preaching on Wednesday nights about the Book of Esther for such a time as this,

It’s not hard to lead the sorry lo life, no good for nothing drunk to the Lord; he knows he needs God.

But it’s hard to lead good people to the Lord. I think the Church is full of lost folks. I think they have head knowledge but not a heart knowledge about who Christ is, and they’re missing out.

And I say that based on my own experience, for over 24 years, I was a part of this church, and I was lost until I was 28 years old.

I was recently told how Roswell Street Baptist Church is redefining itself.

We need to do the same thing here.

Don’t do things just because we always did it that way.

This Sunday night, the way you’re teaching and learning is a prime example, and it works; I know it does, because I’ve seen it work in a Church that I pastored.

This is just doing what we did and do every Thursday night in our small group. That’s the Church.

What we called it was: “Fill Your Cup.” Service.

Understand this: My job is not to fill your cup; my job is to empty mine.

I saw a quote recently that said, “Preaching is simply enjoying the Bible in front of others.”

I’m just pouring out to you what God has shown me.

You’ve got to have an empty cup when you get here for God to fill it.

Listen to me, this sermon was written before I was asked to come and speak it. The day I got through writing this sermon, Brian called and asked if I was serious about filling in on Sunday nights. I told him, yeah, I’ve already got the series, and I’ve already got the first sermon.

And if you don’t come in with a clean, empty cup, you won’t get anything out of these lessons.

Ben Bennett will call me sometimes, and he always starts by asking the question Are you clean? If you’re not clean, don’t bother, but if you are clean, I’ve got a prayer request for you, and then He tells me the request.

2 Timothy 2:21  If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

If you come in with your cup half full of the world and the things that are going on, all you’re gonna get is ½ full cup when you leave. The same applies to every service.

If you come in with your cup full of the whole world and mad at the family and the kids, you’re not gonna get anything out of it.

I ask you, from now on, before you walk in the door of this Church or any Church, pause for a minute and say God cleanse and fill me with your word. I want to hear from you today, and I promise you, He will.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening

If you don’t come into this Church ready to receive the word of God, you’re not going to receive anything or get anything out of it; you’re going to leave here with your cup in the same shape it was in when you got here.

We need to do it the way God wants it, follow the Word, not the man or the men that have come before us, but of God in God’s word, and that alone.

Until we know what our Church exists for,

We have no foundation,

No motivation,

And no direction for the ministry.

Max Lucado said, “From God’s perspective, the ungodly party-goer and the ungodly pew-sitter are alike. Both need the same message—without God, they’re lost.”

Pastor Jim Cymbala, the Pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York recently said on Instagram, “As a minister, I firmly believe that I am not allowed to preach what is not in the Bible. It is an exciting enough book as it stands. It is not something dull that we need to spice up; what we need to teach is all that Jesus did and taught, and no more. We will have plenty of thrills, fresh wind, and fresh fire.

The Church needs to define its purpose; this must start from God’s word.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.

Stedfastly This word is found 10 times in New Testament = continue 4, continue instant 1, and here it is continue steadfastly 1, attend continually 1, give (one’s) self continually 1, wait on 1, wait on continually 1

They stayed on their course

It means you just keep on doing it, you continue on and on and on and on… You stay faithful, and as I said, if you do, you will get just rewards when we get to heaven, and it will be well worth it.

They were in the WORD of God a lot.

We can look at what Jesus said and the examples in the New Testament.

We have the Bible that they were writing at the time.

I believe that there are four basic questions that we have to answer as a church.

1. Why does the Church exist?
2. What are we to be as a Church? (Who and what are we?)
3. What are we to do as a Church? (What does God want done in the world?)
4. How are we to do it?

You do it according to the Word of God!!!

Chuck Swindoll said there are three points to preaching

What does the Bible say

What does the Bible mean and

How does it apply to me

And in the coming weeks, I beg you, I beseech you, I plead with you, whatever word you want to use, get someone else to come with you here on Sunday mornings, on Sunday nights, on Wednesday nights, and God is moving here in a mighty way. I’ve seen more excitement in this church in the last few months than I have in years.

We are not commissioned to go to Church.

We have to have the Church because Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So that’s how you get the word of God by coming to Church.

So, how are you gonna get the word of God if you don’t come to church, if you don’t listen to the word of God, and then we follow the Commission?

The Bible is clear: We need each other.

That is, we are commissioned to go into the world and preach the gospel, present the gospel, present Christ to the world, and if the church is not doing that, then you’re messing up badly. You’re missing the mark!

The way we answer these questions will provide context for how we function as a church.

If we do not answer these questions, we will just stumble around with no true purpose or vision on what God wants this church to do.

Andy Stanley says that’s what builds a hard heart. Not doing anything with what you learn

You come to Church, and you hear, and you hear, and you hear, and you never do anything with it, and you will develop a hard heart.

The definition of a hard heart is simply overexposure and under-response to the Word of God.

It’s like a choir practicing songs over and over and never performing in front of anybody.

It’s like a baseball team practicing and practicing and never playing a game.

You’re coming here, and you’re learning to go out and do something with it, and what you should be doing is bringing others in to learn also.

Try this. Don’t ask people to come to church with you; do as Deon did: call me, and he said Come and sit with me, my friend,

Ask people to come sit with you. Come and be a part of this ekklesia church

Every time I try to come here and hear Brian preach, I call my niece his sister, and I say, Lynn, come sit with me, and she does, and I love it, and I love her. It makes me look so good with her beautiful self and her beautiful daughter sitting there beside me.

I’m sure everyone here knows someone that they love, someone that’s not in Church, that’s not under the word. Even someone who’s not saved.

Ask them to come sit with you; ask them to come here because we need all the help we can get, and that’s how you grow this church.

I saw the Fill Your Cup service go from 4 people to over 40 because the hand of God was there, not because of DeWayne, but because of the Obedience to God.

I got bad news for you- you’ve heard it. You’ve got to do something with it. Because the Bible says you’re held accountable for what you’ve learned, if you don’t do anything with it, you’ve got a problem with God.

After Jesus gave a parable about his coming, He then said this:

Luke 12:47-48  ⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. (Scourging) ⁴⁸ But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

You’re going to be held responsible for what you’ve heard, and I believe if you should be here and hear it and miss it, you’re going to be held responsible for that also.

My prayers for the next few weeks are for me to be able to teach you what I believe God has taught me, and that’s what we need to be in the world, and that is God’s Church.

 Mark 16:15 (KJV) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV) ¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Preach = English Words used in KJV: preach 51, publish 5, proclaim 2, preached 2, preacher 1 [Total Count: 61]

of uncertain affinity; to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel) :- preach (-er), proclaim, publish.

Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.

So, who’s supposed to do this?

You are commissioned to go into the world as a public crier, proclaiming the gospel.

Call out “The Divine Truth,” preach the good Word. Not only in your voice but in your actions

By taking what you learn in these four walls and applying it to what you learn in your own personal study and devotional time.

And taking it to the world.

Out of the forty miracles recorded in the Book of Acts, 39 happened outside the synagogue or church walls.

The Church is to teach you how to live in the world that we’re living in now.

That’s why the Church is so important.

Taking what God has given you through sermons, in Sunday school lessons, and you take it to the world and give it to them so they can know Christ- that’s our job.

The Atlanta Christian Crusoe Movement has a saying: “make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend to Christ.” That’s your job.

Our job as pastors, preachers, and teachers is to tell you how to do it

What does the Bible say?

What does the Bible mean?

And how does it apply to us?   

 PRAY!!!

 

PRAYER Part 4 of 4

How Does God Answer Prayers?

YES.

NO.

Wait, or I have something better.

 

YES!

 When Peter was in prison, a “prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.”
Acts 12:5-17 (HCSB)
⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.
⁶ On the night before Herod was to bring him out ⌊for execution⌋, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” Then the chains fell off his wrists. ⁸ “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did so. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what took place through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.¹⁰ After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and immediately the angel left him.
¹¹ Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.” ¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many had assembled and were praying. ¹³ He knocked at the door in the gateway, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer.¹⁴ She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gateway.
¹⁵ “You’re crazy!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true. Then they said, “It’s his angel!” ¹⁶ Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded.
¹⁷ Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Report these things to James and the brothers,” he said. Then he departed and went to a different place.

 

NO!

Isn’t “No” an Answer?

Amy Carmichael

Just a tiny little child
Three years old,

And a mother with a heart

All of gold.

Often did that mother say,

Jesus hears us when we pray,

For He’s never far away
And He always answers.

Now, that tiny little child

Had brown eyes,

And she wanted blue instead

Like blue skies.

For her mother’s eyes were blue

Like forget-me-nots. She knew

All her mother said was true,

Jesus always answered.

So, she prayed for two blue eyes,

Said “Good night,”

Went to sleep in deep content

And delight.

Woke up early, climbed a chair

By a mirror. W

here, O where

Could the blue eyes be? Not there;

Jesus hadn’t answered.

Hadn’t answered her at all;

Never more

Could she pray; her eyes were brown

As before.

Did a little soft wind blow?

Came a whisper soft and low,

“Jesus answered. He said, No;

Isn’t No an answer?”

The above poem, written by Amy Carmichael, was based on an incident that actually did occur in her life when she was three. It turned out to be in the providence of God for her to have brown eyes.

She became a missionary to India in the late 1890s. At first her ministry was primarily evangelistic. But along the way she became aware that some parents in India sold their daughters to the temple, where they were used for immoral purposes.

God led one such child to her, and through a series of events and a sense of the Lord’s leading, Amy took the child in. Then, more stories of other girls (and later, boys) surfaced, and more opportunities to rescue and provide homes for these children arose.

Amy had to struggle with this because the Lord had seemed to be blessing her evangelistic work. Was it right to turn from that ministry to give herself to housing and raising children? She concluded that that was indeed God’s will for her life.

The ministry grew exponentially and eventually became a whole compound, with housing for children of all ages, the workers who took care of them, and even their own hospital.

As Amy went “undercover” to find details of these children, she would stain her arms with coffee and wear an Indian dress so that she could pass as an Indian woman and move freely in Indian society, where she never could have as an Irish missionary.

This she could not have done with blue eyes — her eyes would have given her away immediately. Neither she nor her mother could have ever known, all those years ago, the Lord’s purpose for her brown eyes, but the lesson of faith stayed with her all her life.

Sometimes I have to thank God for what we call “Unanswered Prayers”

Wait, or I have something better.

We have to trust the God who knows tomorrow, He knows what is best for us.

Sometimes there’s a spiritual battle like we have never seen, and the answer is delayed but right on time. As when Daniel “prayed for all of Israel because they had broken God’s law and turned away, and refused to obey You. The promised curse written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against Him.” Daniel 9:11

And an angel shows up;

Daniel 10:12-14 (HCSB)
…¹² “Don’t be afraid, Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers.¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the last days, for the vision refers to those days.” …

It took a while, but God gave him a prophetic answer, and God says;

Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)
³ ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

“Answer you, and show” you will get an answer, and He will SHOW you things, great and mighty things, not GIVE you things.

As long as God can get the Glory, He will show and, at times, give us exactly what we need, and sometimes things we didn’t know we needed.

And again, and it is well worth repeating,

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)
¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Pray without ceasing, Pray all the time.

In everything give thanks, Praise Him!

This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. This is the WILL of God!!

 

PRAYER Part 3 of 4

• Prayer of Praise.

1. Adoration (Thanking Him for who He is)

This psalm is a solemn meditation on, and admiration of, the glory and greatness of God, of which we are all concerned to think highly and honorably. It begins and ends with the same acknowledgment of the transcendent excellency of God’s name. It is proposed for proof v. 1 that God’s name is excellent in all the earth, and then it is repeated as proved (with a “quod erat demonstrandum”-which was to be demonstrated) in the last verse. For the proof of God’s glory, the psalmist gives instances of his goodness to man; for God’s goodness is his glory.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Psalm 8:1-9 (HCSB)
¹ Yahweh, our Lord, how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth! You have covered the heavens with Your majesty.
² Because of Your adversaries, You have established a stronghold from the mouths of children and nursing infants to silence the enemy and the avenger.
³ When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place, ⁴ what is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him?
⁵ You made him little less than God and crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You made him lord over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet: ⁷ all the sheep and oxen, as well as the animals in the wild,
⁸ the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea that pass through the currents of the seas.
⁹ Yahweh, our Lord, how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!

Thanking God, Yahweh, for Who He Is, that is Adoration!!!

1. Thanksgiving (Thanking Him for what He has done)

This psalm has something of David in it, but much more of Christ. It begins with such expressions of devotion as may be applied to Christ; but concludes with such confidence of a resurrection (and so timely a one as to prevent corruption) as must be applied to Christ, to him only, and cannot be understood of David, as both St. Peter and St. Paul have observed.

Acts 2:24-25 (NKJV)
²⁴ whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
²⁵ For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

Acts 13:36 (NKJV)
³⁶ “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Psalm 16:1-11 (NKJV)
¹ Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.
² O my soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.”
³ As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”
⁴ Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips.
⁵ O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.
⁷ I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
⁸ I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
¹⁰ For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
¹¹ You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Thanking Him for what He has done, and there is nothing more important than being able to be with God when we die.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NKJV)
⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Pray a prayer of Praise, Thanking Him for who He is, and thanking Him for wat He has done and will do. Those are some of the sweetest prayer times you can have.

Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV)
¹⁵ Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

When you are down, Praise Him

When things aren’t going like you like, Praise Him

When tears are pouring down your face, Praise Him

When things are going great then, Praise Him

When the world seams like it’s falling apart, Praise Him

In all things Praise Him

 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)
¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

And when you do, you are inviting Holy God to come and Sit and spend some beautiful time with Him!

Psalm 22:3 (NKJV)
³ But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

Enthroned means to sit down with, He comes and sits with you when you are Praising Him. That’s really good company to be in. As Lazarus was one setting at the table with Jesus, after being raised from the grave. John 11, and 12 are some of my most favorite passages in the Bible.

 John 12:1-2 (NKJV)
¹ Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.
² There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.

Sitting at the Table with Jesus, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Ezra 3:11 (NKJV)
¹¹ And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

Psalm 7:17 (NKJV)
¹⁷ I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Psalm 9:1 (NKJV)
¹ I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

Psalm 35:18 (NKJV)
¹⁸ I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 13:15-16 (NKJV)
¹⁵ Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
¹⁶ But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

 

PRAYER Part 2 of 4

• Prayer of petition; Asking for something.

We see that Jesus prayed for Himself

It’s okay to pray for yourself. I hear people all the time saying things like, “I know it’s selfish to pray for myself,” and my response is, “It depends on what you are praying for.”

John 17:1-26 (HCSB)

¹ Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You,
² for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him.
³ This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.
⁴ I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.
⁵ Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.

And then we need to pray for the ones closest to us;

Jesus Prayed for The Disciples

⁶ I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
⁷ Now they know that all things You have given to Me are from You,
⁸ because the words that You gave Me, I have given them. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from You. They have believed that You sent Me.
⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those You have given Me, because they are Yours.
¹⁰ Everything I have is Yours, and everything You have is Mine, and I have been glorified in them.
¹¹ I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are one.
¹² While I was with them, I was protecting them by Your name that You have given Me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, (or KJV son of perdition = ruin or loss SOP the bread ) so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

 ¹³ Now I am coming to You, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have My joy completed in them.
¹⁴ I have given them Your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world.
¹⁵ I am not praying that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one.
¹⁶ They are not of the world, as I am not of the world.
¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.
¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
¹⁹ I sanctify Myself for them, so they also may be sanctified by the truth.

And then I say pray as Christ did for new believers!!!

Jesus Prayed for all Believers, All of US!!!

²⁰ I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in Me through their message.
²¹ May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me.
²² I have given them the glory You have given Me. May they be one as We are one.
²³ I am in them and You are in Me. May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.
²⁴ Father, I desire those You have given Me to be with Me where I am. Then they will see My glory, which You have given Me because You loved Me before the world’s foundation.
²⁵ Righteous Father! The world has not known You. However, I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me.
²⁶ I made Your name known to them and will make it known, so the love You have loved Me with may be in them and I may be in them.

And as we can see, God is good at giving answers before we ask.

I saw this story online and had to share it.

A missionary family in Africa years ago had 2 small children. The second being born after they arrived on the mission field. The youngest was sickly and needed much care.

It had to be wrapped in blankets most of the time to ensure that it stayed warm enough. The mother was heard to say, over and over, “I wish we had a hot water bottle.” Her thinking was that with a hot water bottle, she could place it next to the child and provide it with some heat. After a few weeks, a package arrived from England.

In that package were several items that were sent to the family anonymously to help them in their new location. Among the items, there was a hot water bottle. The mother thanked God, but couldn’t recall having prayed for it.

As the last of the items were taken out of the box, the oldest child came to her mother and said, “Where’s my new baby doll?” Her mother responded, “There isn’t a doll in here.” The little girl asked them to look again, and when they did, under all the packing material was a little, new baby doll.

The mother asked the girl how she knew there was a doll in there. She said, “Well, when I asked God to send a hot water bottle for the baby, I asked Him to send me a dolly.”

This story becomes even more remarkable when we stop to consider that this package had to travel to Africa first by ship, then by pack animals, until it reached the family. It began its journey some 6 months before the baby had been born and before the little girl had ever begun to pray for those things!

What a God we serve!

True Prayer

The true spirit of prayer is no other than God’s own Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints. And as this Spirit comes from God, so does it naturally tend to God in holy breathings and panting. It naturally leads to God, to converse with him by prayer. – Jonathan Edwards

PRAYER Part 1 of 4

Three Prayers that we pray, I believe every prayer falls into one of these categories

• Prayer of penance and acceptance; (Salvation) Repent, turn 180 degrees. Confession (acknowledge you have sinned) = verb to feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin.
• Prayer of petition; Asking for something.
• Prayer of Praise. Adoration (Thanking Him for who He is) Thanksgiving (Thanking Him for what He has done)
• Prayer of penance and acceptance; (Salvation)

 

The Sinner’s Prayer is a Christian name relating to any prayer of repentance, prayed by individuals who believe convicted of the presence of sin in their lives and have the desire to establish or renew a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

The Sinner’s Prayer in Scripture

The Sinner’s Prayer is a prayer that is said when someone seeks to repent of their sin, accept God’s forgiveness, and state their belief in the life, death, and saving resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sinner’s prayer is sometimes also known as the “salvation prayer” or “Consecration Prayer.” In scripture, there is a reference to a process of repentance, faith, and salvation in the book of Romans.

The “Romans” Road to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Problem of Sin

Romans 3:10

 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

The Wages of Sin

Romans 5:12

 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 6:23a

“For the wages of sin is death…”

The Love of God

Romans 5:8

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us,

in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Free Gift of Salvation

Romans 6:23b

“But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Accepting the Free Gift

Romans 10:9 & 13

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart

that God has raised Him from the dead,

You will be saved.

 For whoever calls on the name of the LORD

shall be saved.

Millions, if not billions, have established a saving relationship with Jesus Christ through church services, friends, and family, guiding them in a salvation prayer. However, it is not solely the words in a prayer that save us eternally. We are “justified by faith” in Jesus and saved by our genuine belief in Him. J.D. Greerer describes it well – “It’s not the prayer that saves; it’s the repentance and faith behind the prayer that lays hold of salvation. My concern is that over-emphasizing the prayer has often (though unintentionally) obscured the primary instruments for laying hold of salvation: repentance and faith.”

The Sinner’s Prayer: Examples

A Simple Sinner’s Prayer

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.

I believe that your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.

You said in the bible that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.

Right now, I confess Jesus as my Lord. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment, I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior, and according to His Word, right now I am saved. Amen.

Prayer of Salvation

Dear Lord, I admit that I am a sinner and have done many things that don’t please you. I have lived my life for myself only. I am sorry, and I repent. I ask you to forgive me.

I believe that you died on the cross for me, to save me. You did what I could not do for myself. I come to you now and ask you to take control of my life; I give it to you. From this day forward, help me to live every day for you and in a way that pleases you.

I love you, Lord, and I thank you that I will spend all eternity with you. Amen.

Sinner’s Prayer for Children

Jesus – I know that you made me and want me to obey you with all my heart. I know I have disobeyed and wanted to be my own boss. I have thought and done things against your directions. For this, I am sorry. I know that you gave up his life to save me from these sins and make me your child again. I accept your promises and ask you to please save me now and forever. Amen.

Or

All you have to do is Pray and say something like this, but in your own words. “God, thank you for sending Jesus to take my place and forgiving me of my wrongdoings, so please I accept that forgiveness and help me to live a better life, so He won’t have so much more to pay for, and come and live in my heart, so I can be with you in Heaven someday, Amen””.

Sinner’s Prayer from Scripture

“Have mercy on me, O God,
According to Your unfailing love;
According to Your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight,
so that You are proved right when You speak
and justified when You judge.
Surely I have been a sinner from birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me…
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me and I will be whiter than snow…
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
Then will I teach transgressors Your ways,
and sinners will turn back to You.”

– (Psalm 51, King David)

The Sinner’s Prayer (by Dr. Ray Pritchard)

Lord Jesus, for too long I’ve kept you out of my life. I know that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. No longer will I close the door when I hear you knocking. By faith, I gratefully receive your gift of salvation. I am ready to trust you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to earth. I believe you are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead on the third day. Thank you for bearing my sins and giving me the gift of eternal life. I believe your words are true. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and be my Savior. Amen.

Clean

Many years ago, while working at a Christian retreat in Indian Springs Campgrounds in Georgia. I was fortunate enough to work with and to get to know a little better a member of our Church, Ben.

My job that weekend was to ensure that the candidates were taken care of, that they all got up on time and to the Chapel, and that they all got in bed, while also conducting a head count to verify that none of them had decided to go AWOL (absent without leave). For the rest of the day, I assisted where needed and stayed out of the way as best I could.

Ben’s job was to tend to and take care of the three Pastors who were leading the weekend. He made sure that they had above and beyond what they needed, so they could focus all their attention on ministering to those in need. Ben took his job seriously, and well he should have. He brought them all kinds of snacks and drinks so they would lack nothing. He had coffee ready when they arose each morning and tended to their every beck and call.

For the most part, we had very little to do during the day, except when there were break times, and then we went into action. He was taking care of the pastors, and I was making sure the other workers didn’t need any help whatsoever while ministering to the candidates.

During the slow times, we found ourselves sitting outside the conference room listening to the talks and buying our time to do our jobs. While sitting, we would talk and joke, and we got to know each other better with every passing minute. Until (until you know I love conjunctions the way they bring more life to the story). A man came walking by looking for something wrong, you know the type, no one thing anyone could do to suit this guy. All weekend, we heard “That’s not how we have done it in the past,” or “We have a schedule to keep,” and my favorite, “You can’t do that, that way, because we didn’t ask the council.”

And then the best was when he objected to the Pastors Baptizing one young man after accepting Christ during the morning Chapel service. The pastors used the text in Acts about the Ethiopian eunuch’s conversion and wanting to be baptized.

Acts 8:36-37 (HCSB)
 As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water! What would keep me from being baptized?” [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

“Look, there’s water! What would keep him from being baptized?” There was a lake there, and the schedule was so far off by now it did not matter too much what went down as long as God was in it. And He was!!! But the man did not like it because we were not a Church and we were not a denomination. So, if the young man was baptized, what “Church” would he be a member of? Was the question he asked. And the answer from the lead pastor was “God’s Church.” And the young man was baptized that very hour.

Well, as the man came walking by, after causing as much havoc as possible, Ben looked up and said his name, and said in a condescending voice, “He looks like a mullet. (A mullet is a saltwater fish.) And he did somewhat, and I started laughing and couldn’t stop. It was a combination of lack of sleep and the way the man acted, and it was just plain funny to me; I just couldn’t stop laughing. I was laughing so much that they came out of the conference room and asked us to go somewhere else because we were being disruptive. So off we went.

Ben and DeWayne were walking through the forest laughing back and forth at what the other had to say, laughing at this and that, having such a good time, and as the song says from Disney’s animated movie Robin Hood, Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly what a day.  (Got to love me some Roger Miller)

As we were walking along, I said I needed something to munch on, and Ben said Come with me, I put all kinds of stuff in the pastor’s cabin. When we arrived, the cabin was locked, and I didn’t have my pick kit with me. We started walking around the cabin and found an open window. So, we pushed the window up and I gave Ben a boost, so much of a boost that through the window Ben went, and out of sight.

I yelled, “Ben, Ben? Are you okay?” and nothing, “BEN”! and again nothing. A few moments passed, and Ben popped up in the window with two hands full of chips, cookies, and candy. And then he said Look what I got, Mullet. I got food. I started laughing and said Throw it out, and I will help you down. He threw the food out and again disappeared. Then he popped back up this time with us a cold drink apiece. I said Come on out, Mullet. I will help you down. Why he didn’t use the door is really beyond me to this day.

We found a shade and sat and enjoyed our spoils. To this day, we call each other Mullet, or Ben calls me Big Fish, and I call him Little Fish. He is one of my prayer partners and a dear friend. Whenever I am preaching somewhere or working at the very same Christian Retreat (the last two times I was one of the Pastors), I give him a call. And whenever he has a prayer request, he gives me a call and it goes something like this: “Hey Big Fish, are you clean?” And then he says, “If you are not clean, then don’t bother, but if you are, would you pray for…”

The Jewish customs are all about being clean; the rituals used are all through the Bible, and most are still used today, one being the washing of the feet as a visitor comes into your home.

It is not hard to see how the custom of foot-washing arose in the Ancient Middle East. People walking barefoot or in sandals on dry, dusty earth must have had perpetually dirty feet, so washing them before entering a building was a compelling matter of housekeeping.

It also became a ritual, however, with a host honoring his guests by washing their feet. The most famous example of this is in John 13 when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper.

John 13:1-5 (NKJV)
 Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

The spiritual meaning of washing is purification – cleaning the mind spiritually, much as water cleans the body naturally. “Feet” represents our lives on the natural level – the day-to-day outward thoughts and actions that absorb so much of our time. Washing the feet, then, symbolizes purifying the natural level of our lives, applying what the Lord teaches us to our outward, ordinary actions.

I believe this passage is a great example of eternal security. We all get our feet dirty in day-to-day activity, and we all need our feet cleaned daily. But as we see in this passage, Jesus himself says:

John 13:6-10a (NKJV)

⁶ Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, …

Then Jesus refers to Judas again and says that not all are clean in the group.

John 13:10b-11 (NKJV)

…but not all of you.”
 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore, He said, “You are not all clean.”

It always amazed me that He, Jesus, washed Judas’ feet as he did for the other disciples.

So, as Jesus said, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, …” we don’t have to get saved over and over, but we do have to restore the fellowship daily. And the way we do that is to get our feet washed by Christ Himself.

Remember, “The difference between Jesus and religion: Religion shames people for having dirty feet. Jesus kneels down and washes them.” As we should be doing.

We need all to be Clean, or accept the forgiveness of sins from our dear Savior Jesus Christ. And those of us who are clean need to be willing to go to Jesus with our dirty feet as often as needed. I know, as far as I go, it is a regular task to come to Jesus and ask for my feet to be cleaned, and knowing the price that was paid for me to have that freedom is humbling and convicting.

And if you ask daily for Christ to wash your feet, and picture in your mind Jesus rising and laying aside His garments, taking a towel and tightening it around Himself. And then, you see Him pouring water into a basin and beginning to wash your feet and to wipe your feet with the towel with which He was girded. You see the pierced brow from the crown of thorns, you see the nail-pierced hands as they wring out the towel, and the humbling of Himself as he kneels and washes your feet.

After picturing Jesus doing this for you, maybe it will help you to stay a little cleaner. I know ALL sins are forgiven and ALL sins are nailed to the Cross—past, present, and future. We don’t need forgiveness for these sins, as they have already been taken care of. We need cleansing from them, we need to see the cost of what was paid for us, and then we would try to sin less. The relationship is never changed, but the fellowship is broken on our part, and then comes the cleaning of our feet.

Think of it this way: Are you nice to the cashier at the grocery store? Can you forgive someone who accidentally cuts you off in traffic? Do you hold the door for strangers? Such small things may be signs of good, clean feet.

We see Abraham being kind to the servants of the Lord; Genesis 18:4, Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree;

And as they said, a year later, they would return, and he would have a son. And he did. When you do as the Bible says, it always comes with a reward, some here and some on the other side.

We see a woman willing to and loving Jesus enough to weep over His feet and then dry them with her hair; Luke 7:44. Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

We can see that Jesus scolds Simon because he himself did not try to wash Jesus’ feet, but a “Sinful” woman did. Be careful of how we see others; we need to see them as Christ sees them.

Back to our text in John 13

John 13:12-17 (NKJV)
¹² So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Jesus is willing to be obedient to come here and cleanse us with His action on the Cross. The question is, are we willing to get clean so God can use you? Are you willing to help others get clean so they, too, can be witness for the cause of Christ? Because the Bible says in Mark 10, “and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” And in Luke, “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For whom is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”

1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

So, the question is, do you have a clean heart?

Are you Clean? Not just dirty feet but a dirty heart. Do you hate or despise someone because of their social standing, the color of their skin, the job they have, or what they do not have? The amount of money they have, or again, maybe what they do not have? The kind of house they live in. Are you clean enough to come to the Lord on behalf of those individuals? We are commanded to do just that.

Can you, at any moment of the day, get on your face and enter into the throne room of grace and know that God is hearing your petition? Are you Clean? Not on the outside but on the inside. No more than you would drink out of a dirty cup, eat off a dirty plate, or cook in a dirty pot. God is not or will not use you or even hear you if you have a dirty heart,

Psalm 66:16-20 (NKJV)

16      Come and hear, all you who fear God,

And I will declare what He has done for my soul.

17      I cried to Him with my mouth,

And He was extolled (Praised) with my tongue.

18      If I regard iniquity in my heart,

The Lord will not hear.

19      But certainly God has heard me;

He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20      Blessed be God,

Who has not turned away my prayer,

Nor His mercy from me!

Did you see verse 18? It says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” God does hear those with Iniquity in their heart, which means to have malice or even anger in one’s heart.

It is so important to get clean, be clean, and stay clean. So that any given time, because you never know when someone who is counting on you for God to hear you and use you, that one may call and say I need you to pray. And because there is a dying world that is counting on you, you need to be clean!

So, as my friend Ben asks me, I am asking you;

Are You Clean?

Prayer:

Abba God, I simply come to you asking that you do for me as you did for Peter and even Judas, and wash my feet daily so I can boldly come clean into your presence, so I can write this book for you to receive the Glory, and that those reading this may have a closer walk with You and You may show Yourself mighty in their lives. And we know the only way to accomplish that is to be clean. Thank you, LORD, in the name of Your dear Son and our Savior,  and our Brother Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Let Your Light So Shine

The Lit Cross

Years ago, at my home Church in Powder Springs, Georgia. On the front of the Church building, there was a huge Cross that stayed lit up all night. They say you could see it from miles away in the air.

I was there late one night with my prayer partner, Chuck Sprayberry, standing in front of the cross around 12:30 a.m., when a man came pulling into the Church parking lot. One could tell that this man had been drinking, but not to the point of intoxication. He said he needed to talk to someone, and when he saw the cross, he knew that this was the place to stop.

We began to witness to him and share the gospel.  Then he asks a few questions of his own, the first of which is whether he has to give up drinking alcohol. And before Chuck could answer, I blurted out NO!

You could almost hear Chucks jaw hit the concrete, then the man ask how about smoking I again said NO, you don’t have to give that up either, Chuck later told me at that point he thought I had lost prospective, and he was about to take over, but he (Chuck) knew me and trusted I knew what I was saying, then the grand finale he asked if he had to give up going to nude bars? And again, I said NO!

No, you don’t have to give up anything to follow Christ, I told him, as my buddy Chuck stood there with the look of confusion on his face. But then I said that if he met the Jesus that I knew, he would be willing to give up whatever God led him to give up in time. And it would not be difficult.

The man recognized his condition and said he couldn’t make a decision at this time, but promised that he would come back when he hadn’t been drinking. I offered to get his number, and we even offered ours. But he refused.

We never saw him again.

See, we often sing at the invitation in a church service:

Just as I Am:

1. Just as I am, without one plea,

but that thy blood was shed for me,

and that thou bidst me come to thee,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

2. Just as I am, and waiting not

to rid my soul of one dark blot,

to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

3. Just as I am, though tossed about

with many a conflict, many a doubt,

fighting and fears within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

4. Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;

sight, riches, healing of the mind,

yea, all I need in thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

5. Just as I am, thou wilt receive,

wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

because thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

6. Just as I am, thy love unknown

hath broken every barrier down;

now, to be thine, yea thine alone,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Text: Charlotte Elliott, 1789-1871

Music: William B. Bradbury, 1816-1868

The problem is that we don’t want people just as they are; we want them just as I am. See, we want them changed to suit us before they come to church.

We want them to be what we think Christians should be, to many times we let the lost, needy, hurting, tattooed, pierced, drunkard, drug addict, dirty, non-suit-wearing person walk right out the door and straight to HELL just because they don’t fit OUR way of thinking.

 

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” NKJV

 

Well, that’s the Old Testament, well then look at this.

John 7:24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. NKJV

2 Corinthians 10:7 Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s.  NKJV

Jesus said Himself in Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.  NKJV

 

Did you get that “and my burden is light”? “Take my yoke,” my is Jesus’ not the Church “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Don’t get me wrong, Accepting Jesus costs you nothing, following Jesus can cost you everything, but it is well worth it.

A friend of mine was a pilot and said his instruments went out one night, and he was trying to find his way back home to McCollum Airport in Kennesaw, Georgia. His fuel was getting low, and he was starting to panic when he saw the Cross. That big Cross on front of the Church. And then he knew where he was, and he found his way back home. Isn’t that what we all need to do? Look for the Cross and follow it Home.

 

I will glory in the Cross

By Dottie Rambo.

I boast not of works or tell of good deeds

For naught have I done to merit his grace

All glory and praise shall rest upon him

So willing to die in my place.

My trophies and crowns, my robe stained with sin

Twas all that I had to lay at his feet

Unworthy to eat from the table of life

Till love made provision for me.

I will glory in the cross

In the cross

Lest his suffering all be in vain

I will weep no more for the cross that he bore

I will glory in the cross.

Well, they boarded over the lit cross, it doesn’t shine for all to see, the day that they did that it broke my heart, I remembered the night at the Cross and the story of the pilot, and I can’t help but wonder how many more people was led to that Big Old Lit Cross in search of hope, peace and rest. Just understand all that can be found at the foot of the Old Rugged Cross.

Matt 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  NKJV

Please don’t board up your Lit Cross, don’t put your light under a basket, do what you do for the glory of God.

Again, I promise you, people are watching you.

Oh, when in tough times, let your Light Shine Bright.

Shine, shine for all to see, not just the church crowd.

Let the neighbors see God shine through you.

Let the waiter and waitress see the light shine through you.

Let the guy who cut you off on the interstate see the light shine through you.

In everything let God’s glory shine through you.

Ever Lose Something?

In the movie “Medicine Man,” Richard Campbell, played by Sean Connery, after living for six years in the Amazon jungle, has possibly discovered a cure for cancer. However, they cannot reproduce the results, so Dr. Rae Crane, played by Lorraine Bracco, is sent by the pharmaceutical company they both work for to investigate the matter. Upon arrival, she contends with Campbell’s reluctance to work with a woman. Then the story progresses, and he says he has something that could help the whole world. She asked him, “What is it you think you got?” his reply was, “I don’t think I know.” It was the cure for cancer, and then he says that he lost it, and she questions how he lost it, and his reply is, “Have you ever lost anything, your purse, your car keys, well it’s rather like that, now you have something and now you don’t.”

Some years ago, a few of us Sunday School teachers at my home Church decided to meet and have a time of prayer before the services of the day were to start. We had to be at the Church by 9:00 am to get at least 30 minutes of prayer time in. The choir would practice at around 9:30, and Sunday School would start at 10:00.

We did this for quite a few months, as we met week after week, we would share personal spiritual battles we each were facing, the three of us that met were new at preaching, and I was the only one who had been teaching for more than a year and not yet surrendered to the call to preach. We grew close in those prayer times and even grew closer to God as we shared each other’s burdens.

But, as time went on, and doing the same thing week after week, it sort of just became routine, to me anyway. As I watched my brothers in the faith come in Sunday after Sunday, excited to face the day, and to bring their lessons. I felt as if I was just going through the motions.

One Sunday, as we met, I said I felt as if I had left my first Love somewhere along the way, as the Apostle John was told to write to the Church of Ephesus in Revelation.

Revelation 2:4 “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…– unless you repent.” NKJV

To me, my Christian honeymoon, if you will, was over. It was not the same as it was when I first accepted Christ, and in no way was I happy about the situation. I was seeing people happy about their walk with the Lord, and getting excited about serving Him, and I was getting to the point of not feeling anything, and I was not happy about my situation, even a little.

I had gone through a divorce, I had to give up a job that I loved, My pay was cut by thousands, I had seen a young girl that I adored in our Church pass away and had to help with her funeral, I had seen problem after problem and still kept the faith, I lost my happiness, not my Joy in Christ, but my happiness in serving Him was gone. So, have you ever lost anything, your purse, your car keys, well, it’s rather like that, now you have something and now you don’t?

Please don’t get me wrong, it was not the “fake it till I make it” sort of thing. I truly believed everything that I was teaching, and even at that time, I was filling the pulpit regularly. I didn’t lose my belief in Christ, or even believing in His ability to answer prayers. What I seem to have misplaced is my thrill to do these things like I once had.

And as the song by U2 says, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”:

I have climbed the highest mountains; I have run through the fields

Only to be with you. Only to be with you

I have run, I have crawled; I have scaled these city walls

These city walls. Only to be with you,

But I still haven’t found. What I’m looking for

But I still haven’t found. What I’m looking for

He will lift you. Higher and higher

He will pick you up when you fall. He’ll be the shelter from the storm

I believe that he will come. Then all the colors will bleed into one

Bleed into one. But yes, I’m still running

You broke the bonds. Loosened the chains

Carried the cross. Of my shame

Of my shame. You know, I believed it.

But I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, where could it be?

Then on February 13-16, 1996. As I sat in the Georgia Dome attending the “Promise Keepers Pastor Conference” with my dear friend, Pastor, and mentor Snyder Turner as we heard from such pastors as Tony Evans, Jack Hayford, Wellington Boone, John Maxwell, Chuck Swindoll, and one of my all-time favorite authors Max Lucado and was closed out by the late E. V. Hill.

The title of the meetings was “Fan into Flames,” and each speaker from one to the next talked about reigniting the fire that is within us. It was just what I needed at the time, and as the services progressed to the next day, Valentine’s Day 1996, I sat with some other 39,000 men who were all pastors and preachers from literally all over the world. And at the time, I was just a “speaker”. I got that title from Snyder because he used it for years before surrendering the call to preach, and I figured if it worked for him, why not me?

And then Pastor Chuck Swindoll took the podium and began to preach, and he preached exactly what I needed at the time. The title of his sermon was “Brokenness: The Fruit of Repentance.” Do you remember our verse in Revelation?

Revelation 2:4 “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…– unless you repent.” NKJV

I didn’t lose my first love, I LEFT it. But where and how? And I thought at the time I was a pretty good man. I was working in the Church Choir as their sound man, I was speaking in whatever pulpit I was asked to fill, I ran a Thursday night prayer time for all to attend, I had just finished a three-year run, running Sweet Spirit Bands sound and meeting with them weekly praying and practicing and going all over the state of Georgia to the Youth Detention Centers and seeing hundreds of young people accepting Christ as their Savior.

How, oh how could I have left or even lost my love for Christ? I was doing everything I could to serve him. What else did He want? I was nearly given out from serving Him.

Then, as Chuck Swindoll finished his sermon on repentance, I asked God what I needed to repent of. And then he told me. The song the praise band started singing was “I Surrender All”.

I Surrender All by Judson W. Van DeVenter

All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

Refrain: I surrender all, I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow;

Worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender, make me, Savior, wholly Thine;

Let me feel the Holy Spirit, truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender, Now I feel the sacred flame;

Oh, the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory, to His Name!

Did you get that tag at the end? All to Jesus I surrender, Now I feel the sacred flame;

“Fan into Flame” is the name of the conference. I wanted to feel that sacred flame. I then held my hands up singing All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me. I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all. And the palm of my hands was facing heaven as I was surrendering, and then just like that, my hands turned as if to receive something, and receive I did. Just like that, God said you give Me your time, and you give me your ability, and you give me Praise, and even at times you truly Worship Me, (back to my love for conjunctions) but, I WANT YOU.

Me, what else can I do, in my heart right then God said you must surrender to the call to Preach. Why? I think this speaking thing has been working, or has it? So, during that song, I turned to Snyder and asked why I had to announce a call to preach. Why do I have to tell people? Why can’t I keep going like I have been? And he responded, you know in your heart, but everyone else doesn’t. He said I had to let them know so everyone would know.

E.V. Hill closed the meetings on February 16, 1996, with a sermon titled “The Cross of Christ and the Call,” and I knew, I just knew on that Valentine’s Day that I did surrender all and a call to preach.

A few weeks later, on Wednesday, February 28, 1996, in the Wednesday night service, we were preparing for a revival the next week with the preacher, pastor Reverend Charles Mustion, and on that night, we had well over a hundred people at the service. God really blessed that night, so much so that during the altar call, everyone who was able went down front to pray for God to bless the approaching revival.

And as I stayed at my post in the sound room, making sure everything went smoothly, I felt such a draw of the Holy Spirit to go down front and tell everyone of Valentine’s Day surrender to the call to preach. But I just sat in the sound room, and then I was standing, and then I was pacing, and I prayed to Father God if I should go down, then have them sing one more verse, and much to my surprise, they did. And I didn’t move, then I said Father God, if I should go down, then have them sing just one more verse.

Pastor Snyder then said someone needs to do something, and I can’t get the freedom to close until they do it. And they did, and I went down, and I was standing in the back of the crowd next to my prayer partner Chuck Sprayberry, and he turned and said What are you doing down here? He knew I never left my post unless asked to come down. I said I couldn’t hear, and he said You are the sound man, turn the sound up, as he was laughing.

As I was standing their Pastor Snyder said I am sorry I just can’t close the service because I feel the Spirit saying someone needs to do something, so as they were about to sing another verse of a song, he was looking over the crowd and his eyes locked in on mine, and he just dropped his head and looked at me like, well?

And then he said Well, as he was looking at me, and people started turning to see what he was looking at, and he just held his hands out as to invite me up to the pulpit, and I said Snyder how do you announce a call to preach and I heard my dear friend Margie Sprayberry say it’s about time. And then Snyder said Son, I think you just did. He said that was what we were waiting for.

“I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

And at that moment, I found what I was looking for. I found what I left, I found what I lost.

I surrendered all of myself to the Lord that day. I had all the Holy Spirit I could get when I accepted Christ as my Savior, but he did not have all of me.

“Have you ever lost anything, your purse, your car keys, well it’s rather like that, now you have something and now you don’t”.

Well, have you? Have you ever lost that happiness in serving the Lord? Ever got so caught up serving Him that you forgot to search for Him in prayer and for his will? Ever got so caught working for Him that you just left Him behind? I hold to what my friend and Pastor Eddie T Rogers used to tell us in prayer meetings for the Sweet Spirit Band:

You have to Search for Him before you can serve Him.

You have to Worship Him before you can work for Him.

 

From my next book, “More To Ponder”

Dusty Roads and Strong Shoulders

At times, I get reminiscent about my youth and simpler times in my life.

When I was just a child, two or three times a year, my family would go to Fort Payne, Alabama, to visit my Grandmother and then up to Lookout Mountain to visit my step-grandparents there. My step-grandfather never showed any difference between me and his natural grandchildren, my brothers and my sister.

On every visit, we (the grandkids) would go for a walk up the old dusty dirt road he lived on and go to the local store at the end of the road.

As we ventured down that dusty, rocky road, I began to get tired, and the rocks were beginning to take their toll on my feet. So, Granddaddy threw me up on his shoulders. Granddaddy was one of the kindest and most humble people I had ever met. He was very trustworthy and highly respected, a great mentor and role model to emulate as much as possible.

I was just 5 or 6 years old, but I remember him carrying me on his shoulder, as if it were last week. I don’t recall ever saying anything about the walk, but he looked down and saw me struggling, and up on his shoulders I went.

I wonder how often in our struggles, without saying a word, God just grabs us up and places us on his mighty shoulders, and we go. The Bible says over and over how God guides and carries us:

Deuteronomy 33:12 Of Benjamin, he said:

“The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders.” NKJV

Psalms 17:5 Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip. NKJV

Psalms 119:117 Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes continually. NKJV

Psalms 139:10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me;

12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.  NKJV

Again, that got me thinking about the nature of God.

There is a poem about footprints in the sand. How, when there was only one set of tracks that He carried us. I think that is what He wants to do the whole time. I truly believe that if there are ever two sets of tracks, it’s when we are trying to do things on our own.

Now if Jesus is in my heart in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is in the Father, so how many tracks should we see?

Someone once likened God to a Father teaching a child how to ride a bike. He runs along behind holding the bike and making sure that it doesn’t fall over, then when the time is right, He lets go and off we go on our own.

However, the more I read the scriptures, the more I believe that God does not want to ever let go,

He never intends for us to make it on our own,

He is always there, and only when we try to do it on our own are we left to do just that, on our own.

Why would we want it on our own if we didn’t want to do something we shouldn’t be doing anyway?

I can make it on my own, but it is so much easier to do it God’s way and stop pulling away, because He will let you leave. In Luke 15:1-7, we see “The Parable of the Lost Sheep”, then in Luke 15:8-10 we see “The Parable of the Lost Coin.”

Then, Luke 15:11 The story of “The Parable of the Lost Son” reads:

Luke 15:11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.  12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So, he divided to them his livelihood”.

 

The Father will let you go even though He knows that is not what is best for you, and as the saying goes:

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

As we see in this story;

13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

“Keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.”

17 But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”

“But when he came to himself,” when he realized that things were better off at home, and the rules were not that bad after all,

20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”

See, the Father is looking for your return every day.

21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

The sin is already forgiven!

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. NKJV

 

Treated the son as if he had never left. Understand that the fellowship may change with God, but the relationship never changes if you are his child.

I believe He always carries us, if we let Him. We have seen that in “The Parable of the Lost Sheep”.

Luke 15:4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  NKJV

There are those shoulders again. So, happily, He carries us.

Notice this, even though I was on my Granddaddy’s shoulders, I was still on the dusty rocky road.

The circumstance didn’t change,

where I was had not changed,

my destination did not alter.

What changed was that instead of me taking the steps, it was Granddaddy.

Instead of me facing the rocky road, he took it on himself.

Instead of my weight on my feet, they are on his.

Remember who is carrying you!

 

What Was Wrong with Cain’s Offering?

This question comes from Genesis 4:3-7, where Cain, the firstborn of Eve and Adam, takes an offering of his crops to the Lord, and Abel takes a firstborn lamb. God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. In the course of the story, Cain becomes angry and is apparently saddened, but God offers no explanation of why the offering wasn’t accepted. Instead, God says to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:6-7). In the end, Cain’s anger and jealousy get the best of him, and he murders his brother Abel.

So, why was Cain’s offering not acceptable?

We turn to both the Old and the New Testaments to find our answer. Cain and his deed are mentioned three other times in the Bible, outside of the Genesis story. The writer of Hebrews attributes Cain’s lack of faith as the reason for God’s rejection of the offering (11.4).

John attributes Cain’s acts as a result of his evil disposition (1 John 3.12).

Finally, Jude implies the offering was rejected because Cain’s motivation was greed (1.11).

The complete answer is alluded to in the Genesis passage. In Genesis 4:3-4, we read, “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel, for his part, brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions.” Here, Abel brings an offering of what would later be called “first fruits,” while Cain brings a simple “offering of the fruit of the ground.” It is implied here that Abel obeyed the yet non-existent law, while Cain did not.

The laws of giving a first fruit offering are outlined in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The essence of the law is that the first fruits of any harvest, whether it be grain, fruit, or animal, are to be offered to God and brought to the priests (Deuteronomy 18.4).

The law is clear that the first fruits are just that, the very first born, first harvested, etc. They are considered the best of the best (Numbers 18:8-14).

Apparently, Abel brought this sort of offering, since he brought the “firstlings of his flock”; however, Cain did not. This is likely what made Cain’s offering unacceptable he brought God the “left-overs” instead of the first and the best.

But wait, how was Cain to know what God required, since Moses hadn’t been born and there was no law yet?

Two answers. One: God deserves the best period. Cain should have known that, as should we all.

But there’s a second answer that takes into account the history of our scriptures. First, we need to recall that the majority of the books of the Old Testament weren’t put into writing until the Babylonian exile, some 400 years before Christ. During that time, the institution and the study of the Torah, the law, had become important, and many of our biblical stories were written to illustrate the importance and/or the origins of individual laws. These stories are called etiologies. It is likely the Cain and Abel story is an etiology illustrating the consequences of not giving God the required first-fruits offering. And though the laws of the Torah were not available to Cain, for the sake of the illustration, this point was irrelevant.

Perhaps Cain’s offering wasn’t accepted because he had a lack of faith (Hebrews 11.4), for certainly his “faith” wasn’t in full practice with his disregard for giving God the best. Perhaps his offering wasn’t accepted because he was filled with greed (Jude 1.11) or because he had evil intentions (1 John 3.12).

Whatever his motivations, the story of God’s rejection of Cain’s offering is probably written because the writer wanted to show the consequences for disregarding the laws of God, especially the law of offering to God what belongs to God (Matthew 22.21).

The Ultimate Answer

We don’t absolutely know that God required a blood sacrifice of Cain.

Can we even be clear that either Cain or Abel knew exactly what would be pleasing to God as a sacrifice ahead of time? Even with all this circumstantial evidence, we don’t absolutely know that God required a blood sacrifice of Cain. We can’t say for certain that the quality of Cain’s offering was inferior. And we can’t prove Cain’s heart was in the wrong during the sacrifice itself. Although the scriptural account does seem to point to each of these reasons, we can’t be emphatic about any of them. So, what’s the ultimate answer to God preferring Abel’s offering?

We must come to grips with one thing: God, as Creator, is sovereign over His creation. While there are proximate reasons for God’s decrees, what ultimately makes “right” right and “wrong” wrong? God’s sovereign choice. This does not mean God is unpredictable, or arbitrary; God is always reasonable because He is the creator of reason. If God’s actions seem to conflict with or transcend man’s sense of “reason,” that doesn’t mean God is wrong; it means His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).

He respects one offering and rejects another, ultimately, for His own reasons and pleasure—and isn’t that the Creator’s prerogative? Again, this isn’t to say He is arbitrary; His Word gives us all the knowledge of Him and the reasoning we need to understand and obey.

And since the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what was required of Cain and Abel (like we see clearly expressed in the Levitical laws), we can’t know for sure which of the reasons explain why God respected Abel’s offering and not Cain’s, or if this was just God’s way of informing them of what was acceptable. But, ultimately, does it matter? As Abraham rhetorically asks in Genesis 18:25, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

And as God rhetorically asks Job, “Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?” (Job 40:8).

Our duty is to make sure that our actions are right and that our hearts are in the right place. In the case of offerings, that includes humbly giving from the first fruits (does God deserve any less?) of our labor with a cheerful heart, understanding that such works themselves do not save us, and gladly accepting instruction, correction, and even rebuke from the hand of the Almighty. The lesson of Cain is that sin and rebellion run through our attitudes and our actions, and that the two ultimately cannot be divorced.

Finally, remember to start with Scripture when interpreting Scripture. That’s always the right answer!

In Christ,

Leviticus 2:14 “If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh fears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain.

Deut 18:1-5 1 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.

2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.

3 And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.

4 The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.

5 For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever. KJV

OT:4503 minchah (min-khaw’); from an unused root meaning to apportion, i.e. bestow; a donation; euphemistically, tribute; specifically a sacrificial offering (usually bloodless and voluntary):

KJV – gift, oblation, (meat) offering, present, sacrifice.

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

First time used

Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. KJV

OT:2077 zebach (zeh’-bakh); from OT:2076; properly, a slaughter, i.e. the flesh of an animal; by implication, a sacrifice (the victim or the act):

KJV – offer (-ing), sacrifice.

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

First time used

Gen 31:54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.   KJV

OT:5930 `olah (o-law’); or `owlah (o-law’); feminine active participle of OT:5927; a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke):

KJV – ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to. See also OT:5766.

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

First time

Gen 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  KJV