POLAR VORTEX WORSHIP

Snow…and more snow!  The Polar Vortex has once again shocked us with…c...c..c.cold and snow! And, from what the weather station predicts…it looks like more is on the way!  More of remembering to open the cabinet doors under the kitchen sink, and keeping the water dripping on all the faucets just to make sure that the pipes don’t freeze and end up waterless in the morning.   Oh, the joys of winter in central Illinois!

 

I don’t know about you, but cold does something to me emotionally.  It makes me cautious.  I find I am more careful about where and how I drive, just in case I get stranded in the cold.  I am careful how long I stay outside, how far I walk, and what I wear.  People living in the country have to make sure they have enough propane in the tank or whatever they use to heat their homes. It is not the type of weather to run out of heating fuel.  The cold makes me very aware of my vulnerability and mortality. It makes me more prayerful. I pray just before I turn the key in the ignition that the car will start.  I prayed for others on the road when it turns bad out. When we woke up the next morning and find our pipes intact, the furnace running and the light switches working, it’s a good place for a prayer of gratitude.

 

The cold brings to mind my dependence on God, and I cannot help but be thankful to Him.  I realize that if I lived here a couple of hundred years ago, then the cold could have killed me. I am thankful I live with all the conveniences of modern times to keep me warm and protected from the cold.  Many of the sicknesses and diseases that the cold brought on by cold are treatable now. That wasn’t the case in centuries past. When transportation was horse and wagon, and not a comfortably heated automobile, one risked one’s life to travel.

 

You could say that the cold is good for my soul. It makes me very thankful to God. It makes me grateful for what I have. It makes me more appreciative of friends. The cold even fosters community.  There is nothing like finding occasions to get together for meals and fellowship when it’s too cold out to do anything else.  It can be a great time for the church.  Cabin fever can be a real malady. The cure is fellowship. It is community with one another.  It is “koinonia”.  The cold also encourages fellowship with God. Not for everyone of course. It keeps many away from church rather than bringing them out. But the cold has the opposite effect on me. It melts my heart and softens my soul. It strengthens my spiritual bond with God and others.

 

Don’t get me wrong!  I will be glad to see the spring come!  I will be thanking God for the muddy roads!  But, for the season, I will practice the spiritual discipline of cold weather spirituality.  With a covering of snow on the ground and more c…c…cold weather predicted for this Sunday…it sounds like perfect worship weather!  

CAN WE GET A LITTLE CRAZY?

The greatest story ever told is that “God so loved the world that that He gave His only Son that anyone who believes in Jesus should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That is God’s story. But, there is another important story that needs to be told…it’s YOUR story. It’s the story that says, “Jesus loves me… and He changed my life.” It is through stories like yours that people see Jesus in our lives.

So, what do you think that it is that keeps people from seeing God in us? I believe it is a lack of passion. But, not just any kind of passion. I’m talking about a “crazy” kind of passion…the kind of passion for a “with God” life that plunges us into His love, His grace, and His mercy! It is a crazy passion that trusts God with a faith that says, “With God, I cannot fail.” 

Francis Chan said this in his book, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God, “…when we love God, we naturally run to Him-frequently and zealously. Jesus didn't command that we have a regular time with Him each day. Rather, He tells us to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' He called this the 'first and greatest commandment' (Matthew 22:37-38). The results are intimate prayer and study of His Word. Our motivation changes from guilt to love.” That is the kind of “crazy” passion for God that shows in our lives!

One of the sports I really enjoy is college basketball. I like the fast pace and excitement of the game. But, have you ever been to a basketball game when the home team was behind by 15 points. Everybody’s head is just sort of going from side to side…watching the ball move up and down the court…no excitement. But the moment the other team…makes a few sloppy plays…and your team scores on a few quick turnovers…and hits three 3 point shots in a row,…all of a sudden the entire side comes alive with a passion that you can feel! Everybody is of one mind… cheering the team on! People who were quietly sitting down, all of sudden are jumping up and down. They have passion, …a “crazy” passion…because they have a story to tell! Their story is “Look where we WERE, …. but now, look where we ARE!” They are expecting to win!

There are very few things that have hurt the greatest story ever told MORE…than people telling it, or trying to live it….with no passion. I read a recent survey on churches that said,…75% of churches are declining or dying….24% of churches are growing, but they’re basically getting members (stealing sheep) from other churches…sort of a like a saint's musical chairs. The sobering statistic is that only 1% of all churches are growing by reaching people who have never heard of having a relationship with Christ.

Jesus said He came to “seek and to save those who were lost.” The challenge before us today is,… do we want to be a part of the 1% that’s doing what Jesus commanded His church to do? Because in order to do it,…. we are going to need a passion for God. A “CRAZY” kind of a passion.

So, what is it that you feel passionate about? What really grips at your heart so much that you’re passionate about it?  Is it Jesus?  Are you crazy passionate for Jesus?   There are some things in life that we are going to have to be passionate about if God is to be popping out of our lives so Jesus Christ can be seen. The question for us is…Can you get a little crazy for Jesus?   Can you have a “crazy passion” for Him… the kind that holds nothing back?   Why not talk to him about it… and ask Him to light that fire of passion in you.

OUR FREEDOM'S NAME IS JESUS

Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women, our patriotic heroes, who sacrificed their lives while serving in our Armed Forces to help us breathe the air of freedom.  We are blessed to live in such a great country abounding with so many freedoms. We speak about, and even argue a lot about our freedoms in the United States; freedom of speech; freedom of expression; freedom of the press; freedom to assemble; freedom to petition; and freedom of religion. We even have etched into our memories of the great patriot’s quotations of the early days of our nation’s founding like Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty, or give me death” speech. Or, the quote by John Adams in a letter to his wife, Abigail Adams, on July 3, 1776, when he said, “Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, ‘That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.” Freedom is indeed important to us.

There was an old television show that has been one of my all time favorites. The Andy Griffith show was great family comedy with the variety of characters living in the fictional town of Mayberry. Maybe one of the greatest characters was the town drunk named Otis. We would be treated often times to episodes in which Otis was arrested for public drunkenness, and lovable Deputy, Barney Fife. would lock him up until he sobered up. After sleeping it off, Otis would then stick his hand through the bars of his personal cell, and take the key hanging on a nail on the wall, and let himself out. It was as simple as that. There were other times that Otis would just stumble into the jail and lock himself into the cell, and place the key back on the nail on the wall. What good stuff!

But, while that was all great comedy…it reminds me also of the jail we can sometimes lock ourselves in when we become a slave to our past. There is another quote about the greatest freedom of all that kind of speaks to that self imposed slavery. It was from the Apostle Paul, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, who wrote in Galatians 5:1..."It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

God has set us free, but sometimes we lock ourselves up in the prison of shame and guilt. And, our key to freedom isn't hanging by from a nail on a jailhouse wall,…it was hung by nails on an old rugged cross. See, our greatest freedom of all is not the many freedoms we enjoy in this great land. Our greatest freedom’s name is Jesus. He came to set the prisoner free...for good. The great thing is…the key is always in reach, and we never have to be locked up in the prison of shame and guilt again.

Father in Heaven, we remember and give thanks for the patriots who have given their lives in the service of this country. When the need was the greatest, they stepped forward and did their duty to defend the freedoms we enjoy today. And, we thank you for our greatest gift of freedom given to us in Jesus who truly set us free! Please forgive us when we stumble back into out jail cells of guilt and shame. Help us to know that You paid an incredible price for our freedom. Help us to walk in it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

GOD'S GREATER PURPOSE

Isn’t it true that sometimes we just need to back up a step or two in order to see the bigger picture…you know, to get a little better perspective? It’s something I certainly need to do more often. I have this tendency to get too self-centered and maybe even too close in my approach to life. I don’t know about you but I have to confess that in all my self-confidence and self reliance, I can forget that God has a larger plan and purpose than just me. I might be 64 years old, but I still struggle with that childish thinking that mistakenly believes the entire universe revolves around me. It is true I am a part of the world, but I am not the world. It is also true that God cares about me…and, it’s not just that He cares about me, but He indeed loves me! But, He also loves the other 6.9 billion people who call this planet their home. And yes, He has plans for me, but in the end, those plans are a part of His larger plan for all of humanity as a whole. That is a truth which I need to remember a lot better.

One of my favorite examples of this is Joseph. Do you remember how Joseph was so favored by his father? And, then he was betrayed by his brothers, and sold into slavery. If that weren’t enough, he was falsely accused of rape and imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. But, eventually God frees Joseph from his Egyptian prison and in the way only God can do, He positions Joseph as the second most powerful man in the world. It’s a great story of redemption. Often we make Joseph’s personal tragedies and experiences the emphasis of that story. But, in Genesis 50, when he is speaking to his brothers who sold him into slavery, Joseph points us to God’s true purpose with regard to all the events that had come his way. Joseph declares, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Joseph understood that God had a much greater purpose in mind than Joseph’s own personal deliverance from his own personal problems. God knew famine was coming to the world, and in His compassion He set things in motion that guaranteed the survival of His people.

In Psalm 46:10, God reminds us all that the time is coming when He will be exalted. He says through the Psalmist, “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” All those who oppose Him will eventually bow before Him! The very same tongues that curse His name will one day declare that He is Lord! There may be all sorts of trouble flooding the landscape of this world… but, HIS glory will fill eternity! Our present pain, problems, trials, testing, and temptation will not change this promised outcome. It is going to happen! As sure as the sun rises in the morning….Our God will be exalted!

So, what does this mean for you and me? Just this…All things are subject to His plans and purposes. In Ephesians 5:11, Paul says it this way, “…according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” This planet?… It’s subject to His counsel. Every nation?…. Subject to His counsel. Every life threatening problem or sickness we can imagine?… All subject to His counsel. The worst that life has to offer cannot undo His promises and His purposes. No matter what may happen He will be exalted!

Now that encourages me and it should encourage you! Knowing you are a part of His greater purposes! No matter what may happen in your life… He will be exalted! Your recent cancer diagnosis?…It’s subject to His counsel! Your child’s disease or injury?… It’s subject to His counsel! The adversities and difficulties that seem to endlessly plague our personal lives? The daily wrestling with sin? All of them are subject to His counsel! No matter how much I may think the universe revolves around me…my life will not be the one exception…Everything is subject to His counsel! Troubles may come in all their ugliness, but He is causing all things to work together for the good! And more importantly, no matter the situation, no matter how desperate the need… He will be glorified! In my life God has the final word….He will be exalted!

WORSHIPPERS OR MOCKERS?

The Gospel of John, chapter 19, has been the source of my devotions over the past couple of weeks. It is without a doubt one of the most sobering chapters of the New Testament as we witness the brutality thrust upon our Lord. But, as I read the passage carefully, I noticed in Verses 2 and 5, the descriptions of the items that were put on Christ by those who were mocking him. The first item was the crown of thorns. The other was the purple robe. Both items were specifically designed to mock His "kingship." There was a mocking of His “Lordship.” And, as I read those verses, I couldn’t help but wonder: When we declare the kingship or Lordship of Jesus…Are we mocking Him or worshipping Him?

I believe mocking Jesus when we crown Him is something that both lost and saved people are capable of. Lost people do it more overtly. Saved people who aren't walking in the Spirit do it more subtly. Lost people openly blaspheme the name of Jesus. And, there are those we might call “carnal Christians” who say that Jesus is Lord, but don't truly live like it.

John 19 gives us some distinct characteristics of the person who mockingly crowns Jesus Christ. In verse one, we see that those who mockingly crown Him cause Him pain. In verse two, we find that their worship is false and cheap…it is not fitting worship for the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Verse 5 finds those who mock Jesus’ kingship think less of Him than He really is. Verses 6 and 7, shows us they are Pharisaical…they have placed themselves in the seat of judgment as to who is righteous and who is not. Verses 8 and 9 point to their lack of real faith and confidence. And, in verse 10, those who mockingly crown Jesus think they're in charge.

How do you crown Jesus? Is He Lord…or, are you mocking Him? If one or more of these characteristics describes you, you might want to prayerfully take inventory as to whether or not Jesus is truly the Lord of your life.  There is no time better than right now to bow before Him as your King and worship Him as your Lord and Savior.