GOOD GOD! ARE YOU THERE?

[All quotes are from The Message Bible – unless otherwise noted.]

Reading through the psalms for the first time will likely cause your eyebrows to rise a bit – especially if you use a modern translation!

I believe that when we read many of David’s psalms, we are reading from his personal journal! I seriously doubt that he ever thought that these private thoughts and words would be read by millions of people several thousand years after his death! 

Many of his psalms are very private – even intimate!

Without realizing that he was doing so, this ‘man after God’s heart’ was offering us instruction by giving us such a personal glimpse into his private communication with God! 

AN INTERESTING SIDEBAR:

Obviously, David wrote many of his psalms down so that they could be retrieved at a later time!  Little did he realize the perpetuity of his scribbles!

I do the same. Not every day, but occasionally.  Be assured, no one will be reading my private thoughts years from now! 🤭 But, I do occasionally review them.

We think more thoroughly when we take time to write/type our words! We express ourselves more carefully! Quite possibly we think more deeply as a result of the permanence of this process!

Essentially, what David illustrates for us is that we can openly express ourselves to God without fear or intimidation! Observe some examples:

Listen GOD, I’m calling at the top of my lungs: “Be good to me! Answer me!”

Psalm 27:7 ™

 

Keep your eye on me;
    hide me under your cool wing feathers
From the wicked who are out to get me,
    from mortal enemies closing in.

Their hearts are hard as nails,
    their mouths blast hot air.
They are after me, nipping my heels,
    determined to bring me down,
Lions ready to rip me apart,
    young lions poised to pounce.
Up, God: beard them! break them!
    By your sword, free me from their clutches;
Barehanded, God, break these mortals,
    these flat-earth people who can’t think beyond today.

I’d like to see their bellies
    swollen with famine food,
The weeds they’ve sown
    harvested and baked into famine bread,
With second helpings for their children
    and crusts for their babies to chew on.

Psalm 17:8-14 ™

 

Quick, God, I need your helping hand!
The last decent person just went down,
all the friends I depended on gone.
Everyone talks in lie language;
lies slide off their oily lips.
They doubletalk with forked tongues.

Slice their lips off their faces! 

Pull the braggart tongues from their mouths!”

Psalm 12:1-3 ™

 

If you took the time to read these examples, then you get the idea!  David was blunt and direct when talking with God!

WE CAN BE TOO!

Let’s be realistic! There are times when my prayers are fluent and articulate. I’m typically relaxed and calm in these moments and choose my words artistically and carefully!

However, there are other times when I’m crying out to Him in desperation and my words, tone and volume reflect that! I’m NOT calm! I feel unjustly treated and overwhelmed! I’m angry!

GASP! 😮

 

Did Hal just admit that he prays angry prayers?

 

Yes! I believe he did! 😳

 

LISTEN!

God is not as soft and easily offended as you think! He is NOT waiting to lower the boom on you for speaking to Him inappropriately!

You do remember that Jesus was 100% human and 100% divine – right? He experienced all of the pain, trauma, opposition, cruelty, and injustice that we experience!  And He is – in perfect harmony and unity – part of the Godhead with our Father and the Holy Spirit!

God is NOT shocked or offended at your anger, despair, sense of injustice, bitterness, etc., etc… - ad infinitum…

God can take your feelings – WHATEVER THEY ARE! It’s called GRACE!

God listens and responds! He may choose any number of responses:

§  God may offer you assurance that He is in control.

§  God may simply say: “Trust me, I’ve got this!”

§  God may tell you to hold on – it’s not time for deliverance yet!

§  God may say to you [as He did to the Apostle Paul – I Corinthians 12:7-9], My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” [NASB]

§  God may not say anything! This trial could be a test of your faith! Will you trust Him to see you through?

But be assured, if you are a follower of Christ, GOD HEARS EVERY PRAYER THAT YOU LIFT!

You don’t have to ask: “God, did You hear me?”

HE HEARD YOU!

NOW TRUST HIM!

MORE LESSONS FROM DAVID:

1.    Thank Him!  Your parents tried their best to teach you this! When someone does something for you – thank them!

Psalm 30 is an example of a psalm of thanksgiving! It begins with:

I give you all the credit, GOD – you got me out of that mess!

 

2.    WORSHIP!

If you read through the psalms you will quickly discover that David LOVED to worship God! His worship was ANIMATED! 

o   He sang!

o   He danced!

o   He yelled!

o   He jumped for joy!

o   He testified!

o   He made music to God! 

I scrub my hands with purest soap,

then join hands with the others in the great circle,

dancing around Your altar, GOD,

Singing God-songs at the top of my lungs,

Telling God-stories.

Psalm 26:6-7 ™

 

I know that I should restrain myself, but I can’t!

I believe David would be escorted out of many of our churches for his outlandish displays of worship!

Worship in many of our churches is so orderly, quiet, and reverent! 

I despise terms that incorrectly label people! Terms like ‘pentecostal’ or ‘charismatic’ carry certain expectations. I don’t find them to be helpful!

I do like the term ‘freedom of expression’.

For the last seven years+, I’ve been worshipping in an evangelical, presbyterian church that maintains a highly liturgical form of worship. I am not a member because of my affiliation [ordination] within the Free Methodist denomination. Debbie is a member! In spite of my somewhat radically different beliefs and orientation, I have frequently been blessed during our worship.  When I get blessed, I tend to giggle or say ‘Amen’! I try to suppress my responses, but they’re SO SPONTANEOUS that they’re often out before I can stop them. I’ve worried about being an offense to people as a result of my responses! But, I have been assured repeatedly by members and even leaders at Bethel – THAT IT’S OK!  Some have even told me that it blesses them to hear my subtle expressions of love for God! 

So, I appreciate Bethel Evangelical Presbyterian Church for allowing me the ‘freedom of expression’!

I hope this blog encourages you to open the book of Psalms and begin reading some of David’s journal!

I also hope you’ll snag a notebook and start writing your own personal notes to God!  😉

UNDERMINING CERTAINTY

There are terms that have sprung into use in recent years that reinforce the realization that authoritative sources are becoming more and more difficult to find! Terms like: ‘misinformation’ or ‘fake news’ cloud our perspective and leave us to our own devices to discern truth.

What exactly is misinformation?

The implication: information that is not truly information!  

‘Fake news’ – a ‘Trumpism’ implies news that has been manufactured with a bias most likely toward a specific political view or party.

We’ve been living with these terms for at least ten years! They seem to have arisen as a result of the ideological split resulting from the presidential election of 2016.

But within the past year, a whole new dynamic has quickly become dominant.

I’m a Facebooker. Is that a term? I’m on Facebook every day. I don’t refer to myself as a ‘digital creator’ as do SO MANY OTHERS!!!!!  Rather, I view myself as an entertaining seed-sower! How’s THAT for a new term?

I use Facebook!  It’s a platform that allows me to attract followers. My bait is humor. I post mostly humorous memes, sayings, quotes and facts throughout the day.  However, I also sprinkle in spiritual information, Biblical stories and quotes, and other thought-provoking articles.

My hope is to be a godly influence through a media-form that is available and popular. I’m not alone in this endeavor! I see many others using the platform in similar ways! 😊

However, I’ve been noticing many posts on Facebook that I find myself wondering about. Is this true?

I frequently flip over to my browser to try to verify the data that I’ve just been exposed to. Like others, I notice certain stories that frequently mention a popular person; but then these stories resurface including a different highly recognizable person. Which is true? Is either the original?

I’ve made it this far in this article before using the cataclysmic term ‘Artificial Information’ – obviously known as ‘AI’.

This new source of information terrifies me!

Now don’t color me as an alarmist! I’ve seen the benefits of this incredible information-gathering system – and have even used AI with remarkable results! But I also experience fear on several levels.

EDUCATION

I’ve occasionally joked about the fact that we had to learn math because we couldn’t carry a calculator around in our pocket.  Well – guess what?  Almost ALL of us now carry a calculator around on our person!

Some years ago, my wife and her siblings oversaw the care for their mother. Deb was sometimes gone from our home for two twenty-four-hour periods every week so that she could stay in the room with her mom. Her other siblings shared in this loving, caring responsibility. In their frequent discussions, Dolores learned that Deb [and, of course, her siblings] carried a phone that enabled them to search for information. She would repeatedly say to Deb: “Get your phone thingy out and look it up.”

Most of us carry a ‘phone-thingy’ that is capable of giving us information that is limited only by the strength of its battery!!!!

Will the need for education be eclipsed by the fact that we now all carry ‘phone-thingies’ with us everywhere we go?

With information so readily available, do we really need to know anything more than HOW TO READ?

The long-range implication of this is terrifying! In the event of an accidental, weather-related or war-related power failure, we could be left in a dark place in more ways than one! Maybe we should all look for old copies of Encyclopedia Brittanica – just in case?

WHAT IS TRUTH?

But of even greater concern to me is the query of Pilate in John 18:37-38,

…Jesus tells Pilate, “I was born and I have come into the world to testify to the truth… Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”. Pilate then replies, “What is truth?” and immediately goes out to the Jews, saying, “I find no basis for a charge against him” 

[By the way, I used AI to research this response of Pilate to Jesus! 😉]

I fear that TRUTH may be undermined – or redefined - by Artificial Information!

_____________________________

Those who are tuned in to this debate are aware of direct influences that we may have to experience as a result of the egregious growth of the Artificial Information developments.

Already, large farms have been purchased and are being transformed into massive ‘data centers’ across our country. Some of these communities have been afflicted with rolling brown-outs and water shortages as a result of the operation of these data centers. It’s apparent that in order to operate effectively these centers need acreage, a power source and water for cooling their systems. Many communities are now organizing to resist these data centers from invading their space!

HOWEVER, other knowledgeable pundits are telling us that it is essential that the United States lead the development of AI because it will build into the structure moral and appropriate limits that would NOT be present if it was generated by a godless country with no moral foundation!!

So, we are caught in the crosshairs!

We may not like the fallout and the inconveniences that accompany data centers, but we do value the benefits of control and safety for the future!

_________________________

ANOTHER IMPLICATION

It might be wise for us to safely secure a Bible somewhere for the reference and use of future generations.

We know the history of book burning!

In 213 B.C., Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang (more widely remembered for his terracotta army in Xian) ordered a bonfire of books as a way of consolidating power in his new empire. [Imagine the value of these books which would have ALL been handwritten and made!]

 

Perhaps the most infamous book burnings were those staged by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

 

Similarly, when Mao Zedong took power in China and implemented the Cultural Revolution, any book that didn’t conform to party propaganda, like those promoting capitalism or other dangerous ideas, were destroyed.

 

More recently, the Jaffna Public Library of Sri Lanka—home to nearly 100,000 rare books of Tamil history and literature—was burned by Sinhalese Buddhists.

 

When al-Qaida Islamists invaded Mali, and then Timbuktu in 2012, among their targets were priceless manuscripts—books that needed to be burned. 

With the growing dominance of AI, will bookburning inevitably be an image in our future?

If AI takes on god-like proportions, will there be a global attempt to undermine other sources of truth?

_______________________________

Don’t be an alarmist, Hal!

I’m not trying to be negative here – only practical.

I’ve already confessed that I’ve used AI and will continue to do so.

However, somebody somewhere has to place some limits on the growth and use of this contrivance!

As a lifelong pastor, my concern is for the continued spread of the Gospel and the health of the Church!

At this point, I am a cautious proponent of Artificial Information. But when it begins to infringe on our freedom or limit our access to spiritual information-gathering, I will be forced to become an activist!

NEW CONVERTS CATALYZE LUKEWARM BELIEVERS

It was fairly early in my ministry - my second full-time assignment.

The church building had been built from lumber from several old 'company houses', but it was nice and suited our needs well. The parsonage was attached. Deb could come to church by going through a cave-like corridor between the two. 😊 It was in a small village with no stores; just the school buildings, a volunteer fire department and a funeral home.

The congregation generally ran around 70 in attendance and was a mix of coal-miners, teachers, retired couples and a few small business owners. 

The church had purchased some property on a main road to a much larger city, that had been deemed by denominational consultants as an EXCELLENT location for future growth and development! The property was already paid for!

But the congregation had fallen into complacency - the dreaded plight of many a church!

Just the newness of a newly appointed pastor generates some interest, so attendance picked up slightly upon our arrival. Since Debbie and I were younger, there was an influx of younger couples, people and families that began to attend. Within a year, the church was running over 100 in attendance!

A DISAPPOINTING SIGN:

The leadership of the church remained in the hands of an older group. Unfortunately, it takes years for a congregation to incorporate new people into leadership positions that can make a difference. This is a sad reality that inhibits growth, creativity and risk-taking in churches!

I had been told that a local radio station was interested in broadcasting our Sunday worship service live. I inquired and acquired the details to share with our ‘Official Board’.  They would simply place a transmitting device in our sanctuary and would charge us $20/week for this exposure.  I was over-the-top excited that for such a minimal amount, we would have this opportunity to be heard in our larger community.

But the board found the expense and inconvenience to be too high and rejected my appeal to ‘go live’. We’ll never know what could have happened if we had stretched a bit to gain considerably more listeners.  Sad!

I had made friends with a man a bit younger than me. He was single. We often got together to throw the frisbee and work on odd jobs. We became great friends and I hoped to one day be a spiritual influence in his life. Deb informed me that he was a very good-looking young man!  😉 After a couple of years, he began bringing a beautiful, young girlfriend with him to church. Within a short time, she made a commitment to follow Christ and even began attending our Wednesday night ‘Prayer Meeting’.

I must confess that this was not an exciting meeting. I would present a brief Bible study. Then, considerable time was spent sharing long lists of prayer requests; followed by a time of prayer where most knelt at their pew.

I was shocked when she showed up one Wednesday evening! She was a remarkably forward young woman and during my study, began peppering me with questions. Her presence and participation transformed the course of the evening!  She was SO EXCITED about her new faith! She had hoards of questions! She was hungry to know how to read the Bible! She wanted to know how to please God. She quickly outgrew the limited faith of her boyfriend – who never attended prayer meeting!

As weeks turned into months, her presence totally changed the atmosphere of our Wednesday night meeting! Her vivacious engagement ignited a fresh awareness of genuine faith in the older attenders who had drifted into complacency!

Unfortunately, when they ceased to be a couple, she didn’t feel comfortable continuing to attend.

Complacency quickly returned  -  it usually does.

I pressed the congregation, reminding them of this valuable piece of property that they owned. I tried to cast a vision for a new building less than two miles away towards the nearby larger city! An Assembly of God Church had built a new facility just two miles in the other direction and was already prospering due to the high visibility! 

After four years of investment and persuasion, we set a night for a congregational vote. Essentially, it turned out to be favorable with the equivalent of a 51-49 outcome.

You don’t enter into a fund-raising, hope-building major campaign based on a 51-49 vote. I set things in motion to negotiate a move at the end of that year.

_________________________

I was young and inexperienced!

Looking back, I can now observe that I left several of my appointments prematurely. But being a pastor is a lonely job! You don’t have a lot of built-in accountability. You rarely meet with a conference superintendent; s/he actually knows little to nothing about your specific congregation! Your own initiative is about all that drives you to seek out an accountability partner. You face discouragements and opposition regularly. ‘Church-bosses’ have a deeply entrenched power base that is formidable and rarely - if ever - based on a deep spiritual reputation! The result of this – for a pastor - can be overwhelming!

I knew – even in my youth and inexperience – that this could have exploded with impact for God! But I didn’t have the patience, experience and support to see it through! Regrettably, I moved on and the church still meets in that same old building today.

WORHIP PLANNING

All of my adult life, I lived for Sundays!

I know – sounds kind of strange, unless you’re a pastor!

Not all, but much of my energy was directed toward Sunday when the crowd got together to worship the Lord!

When Sunday was over, I enjoyed Mondays off! I usually would hit the woods for several hours where I spent all my time enjoying nature and talking with the Lord! It was good physical exertion, too! Then, I’d go home and hang out with Debbie and enjoy my family!

Tuesday morning: start planning for the next Sunday! 

• How can I make this passage relevant and understandable to our people?
• What songs will lead us to a right place to be able to communicate our love for God?
• Can I write a drama that would help illustrate this message?
• Is there some way to respectfully use humor to get this point across?
• Who can help with worship this week?
• Who would be just right to read this passage?
• Don’t forget to visit worship team practice and encourage those who help to lead our people in their worship!
• What’s the best way to order things up this week to prevent boredom and keep anticipation high?
• Is there anybody who can illustrate this message because of some circumstances in their life recently?

Staff members were repeatedly instructed about several things:

1. You can have my time anytime during the week, but not on Sunday! This is my time to be with ALL the people!

2. We do NOT evaluate anything we do on Sunday! Bring it to the Tuesday staff meeting. We’ll evaluate it then.

3. Be friendly! Look for new people and model a warm welcome for all our people to see!

4. Pray! Pray! Pray! That people will come to faith in Christ!  That people might be healed!  That relationships will be strengthened. That we will experience the presence of God in worship today!

And do you know what?

God honored all this over and over and over again! I have such amazing memories of rich and meaningful worship throughout the forty-plus years God gave me to lead the church! Many came to faith in Christ! Congregations doubled – even tripled in size! We repeatedly experienced the presence of God! Leaders multiplied and grew in phenomenal ways! Marriages were healed! Prayers were answered! Relationships grew! People came with a spirit of expectation! If I’m really honest, I have to confess that I HAVE MISSED  IT! TERRIBLY! It was my life! Oh, there were tensions and occasional problems, but they were FAR OUTWEIGHED by the rewards and benefits!

But God is always good! Since my retirement in 2017, I have been invited to serve several area Free Methodist Churches for brief seasons.

•          Monacrest – during a pastor’s sabbatical.
•          First FMC, ELO – while waiting for a new pastor to become available.
•          Hookstown FMC – also while waiting for a new pastor to be able to move.
•          The Foundery – an 8-month interim appointment, and
•          Currently serving the Oakland FMC, ELO for a year - where I previously served for thirteen years.

Planning and leading worship throughout these years has been a GREAT PLEASURE!  To God be the glory!  I'm already anticipating the worship in Heaven! 

EXPERIENCING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

John 14:21

He who has My commandments and keeps them,

it is he who loves Me,

and He who loves Me will be loved by My Father,

I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

That’s what our text for today promises us.   

This verse is important because it assures us that if we love Jesus and live the way He has instructed us to live, then He will make Himself known to us! 

Experiencing the presence of God is something very special, and it’s not always the same.  When you experience the presence of God, you are fully conscious of what is happening and want it to be sustained.  You don’t want it to end. 

Some of those moments are described for us in scripture:

•      Adam and Eve had the privilege of taking a walk with God every evening during the cool of the day!
•      Jacob experienced the presence of God when he dreamed and saw a stairway into heaven.  It was such a special time for him that he built an altar and gave the place a special name.
•      Moses talked with God on the mountaintop and in the tabernacle and on one occasion was allowed to look on the back of the very presence of God while he was tucked safely into the crevice of a great rock.
•       Elijah experienced the presence of God when he was in a cave in the wilderness.  God was not present in the fire, or the storm or the earthquake; rather, God made Himself known through a still, small voice!
•       Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego experienced the presence of God when they were thrown into the fiery furnace!  He walked with them there as He assured them of their coming deliverance.
•       John the Baptist experienced the presence of God as he baptized Jesus and saw the Spirit descend like a dove.  Then, he heard God speak from the heavens:  "This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
•       Peter, James and John experienced the presence of God on a mountaintop when Jesus was glorified in their presence.  They got to see Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah; and they also heard God speak from the heavens: “This is My Son; Listen to Him!”
•      A Roman soldier experienced the presence of God during an earthquake that occurred while Jesus hung on His cross.  He exclaimed: “Surely, this was the Son of God!”
•      Eleven apostles experienced the presence of God when the resurrected Jesus suddenly appeared in their locked room.  He breathed on them and said: “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” 
•      120 people experienced the presence of God after ten days of praying together in an upper room in Jerusalem fifty days after His resurrection!  They were filled with the Holy Spirit and broke into the streets miraculously sharing the Good News in many different languages!
•      A Catholic priest named Martin Luther experienced the presence of God as he studied.  God opened the meaning of Romans 1:17 to him and showed him that the righteous are saved by faith and faith alone!
•      On May 24th, 1738 an Anglican priest named John Wesley opened his Bible at about five in the morning and came across these words, "There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers of the divine nature."  That evening he reluctantly attended a meeting in Aldersgate. Someone read from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to Romans. About 8:45 p.m. "while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Let’s review Jesus’ promise again:

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me, and He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

In John 14:15, Jesus was spending His last evening with His followers when He said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

This makes it perfectly clear that our love for Christ must be necessarily backed up by obedience to His teachings!  Here’s the simplicity of this teaching:

1.      Love Jesus by

2.      Keeping His commands.

3.      As a result, God will love you, and

4.      Jesus will love you, and

5.      Jesus will manifest Himself to you through His Holy Spirit!

What does ‘manifest’ mean?

CEV -                   “I will show Myself to them.”

The VOICE -        “I will love you and reveal My heart, will and nature to you.”

LB -                      “I will reveal Myself to him.”

Amplified -           “I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.”

I think we’re on safe ground to say that if we love Jesus and keep His commands, we will experience His presence in similar ways to those we listed above!

Having been born and raised in a Christian home, I have experienced the presence of God in many ways over the years. It often occurred during worship times.  I’ve written about many of these times on my blog.  It has happened when I’ve been alone, when I’ve been in small groups, and when I’ve been with large crowds – such as 50,000 men at a Promise Keepers rally!

When Jesus makes Himself known to us, it certainly makes a memorable moment.

I wish it happened more often, don’t you?  I’m not in control of these occurrences – He is! 

When they occur, I’m like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration when he said:

“Lord, it is good for us to be here.

If you wish, I will put up three shelters –

one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

[Matthew 17:4]

Peter didn’t want the experience to end! Can you blame him?

Actually, I think this story reveals one of the reasons that Jesus manifests Himself to us.  He is giving us a glimpse – however short – of what it will be like for us when we get to Heaven!

Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn-writer, wrote about this:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;

Angels, descending, bring from above

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,

I in my Savior am happy and blest,

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Those transcendent moments when we experience the presence of God – even if only for a fleeting moment - are a foretaste of what it will be like to be in Heaven where we will experience His presence eternally!

Revelation 22:3-5 (NIV)

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

I have come to believe and am laying out evidence to convince you to believe that these moments when we experience the presence of God are intended as encouragements for us to continue to walk with Him and to be obedient to His Word, so that someday, we will be with those who inherit the New Heaven and the New Earth that has just been described.  Then, and only then, we will know His presence and His love fully and with unending enjoyment! 

_______________________________

I would suggest that there are many people in our world today who have NEVER experienced the presence of God!  As churched people, we may be familiar with holy moments when God visits and blesses. But there are many who have not been raised in an environment of worship.

For six years, I served as the Lead Associate Pastor at a very unusual church in Akron, OH.  At the time, it was a Free Methodist Church that had formerly been led by Charles Young. When he was elected superintendent of the Ohio conference, his wife – Brenda Young – was appointed as the Lead Pastor.

Now Charlie had grown the church to over two hundred and had guided them to buy property and build a modern worship, fellowship and educational facility. While doing this he had also planted a new church in Dalton, Ohio and helped rescue another conference church that had experienced a traumatic disruption in its ministry!

However, under Brenda’s leadership, Cornerstone Church grew to four hundred in two years time. That’s when Debbie and I and our family arrived in Akron and started to attend the church. Over the next six years the church would grow to over seven-hundred with a Saturday downtown outreach to the homeless that included anywhere from 100 – 300 people with hot food, clothing distribution and live worship on the streets of Akron!

I know of no other church like Cornerstone! 75% of its people were [at the time] ‘first-time-believers’!  We largely reached two or three specific groups: those with addiction problems and those struggling with marriage problems and/or divorce issues.  Brenda and I were both counselors. We also operated a low-cost counseling center out of the church!

By the time I left Cornerstone, we were packing three Sunday morning services while also running an active children’s and youth ministry and classes for adults!

New attenders at Cornerstone often came to either me or Brenda asking: “Why do I weep so much when I attend church here?” Over and over we had to explain to them that they were experiencing the presence of God!  

•          They sensed His presence during the vibrant worship!
•          They sensed God’s presence when people gathered for prayer around the altar – sometimes four or five people deep!
•          They sensed God’s presence when people responded to the altar call at the end of the service!

People were overwhelmed with the realization that God was actually present in the worship of this church!

Lost people don’t care about liturgy!

They don’t even care about the beauty of the sanctuary.

They’re not drawn by great teachers or preachers – although they can have considerable influence!

But lost people will be deeply moved and drawn to a church where the presence of God is regularly experienced!

This is our challenge!

It is reasonable to believe that God will take anything that we offer Him and multiply it for His purposes – IF WE’RE SINCERE! 

 Kind and Gracious God,

Thank You for loving us!   And Jesus, thank You for loving us!

 

Holy Spirit, help us – as You live and work within us – to obey Jesus’ commands! 

We need help to do this! 

We acknowledge that we are prone to wander;  prone to leave the God we love. 

We can’t do this on our own!  We need Your holy help to live lives of obedience!

 

Triune God, we thank You that You occasionally reveal Yourself to us! 

We love those transcendent moments when we sense Your holy presence! 

We long for them to occur more frequently and for them to last longer! 

Being in Your presence is so comfortable and freeing and it affects our whole being!

 

And we realize better now that these moments are Your way of keeping us on track so that someday we can come to be with You for all eternity! 

On that day, we will not only be reunited with loved ones and friends who have preceded us,

but more important, we will begin to experience Your holy presence in a perfect, sin-free environment forever!  We can hardly imagine it, but we wholeheartedly look forward to it!

 

In the meantime, we have work to do to extend Your love to those

·         who surround our church and

·         live in our communities!

 

So many are confused and lost!

Many have become disillusioned!

The chaos and rage in our culture has caused many to give up hope!

 

Help us to hold Your light up for others to see!

Make our churches an entry point for many to come to know You – or be renewed with You!

Enable us to be a safe place for people to come with their:

doubts,

pain,

anger,

questions,

and bitterness!

 

Help us to be Your welcoming arms to a life of faith and growth!

Do something remarkable in our presence!

Transform us!

Release us!

Compel us to serve the lost!

 

And give us great rewards as we trust You for a fruitful future!

For Your Kingdom’s sake.

I’M NOT BEING FED!

It is reasonable for us to realize that new believers have a long walk of obedience to learn about their new-found faith! It is not fair to expect new followers of Jesus to walk, speak, respond, and act in the same manner of an experienced follower. Maturing takes time, but not time alone! It also involves study, growth, feedback, patience, and perhaps a teacher or mentor.

Most churches have no plan for maturing new believers. It they do, it is often a class led by the pastor that is primarily focused on attaining membership in the church.  Lay people rarely play any role in this developmental process, although Jesus’ expectations were clearly that WE WOULD ALL BE INVOLVED IN HELPING NEW CONVERTS GET GROUNDED IN THEIR FAITH!

Remember Matthew 28:19-20 [NASB]?

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

There’s a considerable difference between making converts and making disciples!

A convert is a person who has faced a crisis of belief and has consequently decided to recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

A disciple is a person who has engaged in a learning, growing process of

·         incorporating God’s Word into their lives,

·         actively becoming part of the fellowship of the “body of Christ”, and

·         growing into the responsibilities of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment!

The latter is NOT a process that can be hurried or completed in a short period of time. It is best illustrated in the way that Jesus facilitated growth and maturity in the apostles’ lives during His three years of ministry! If you recall His interactions with them, it involved:

• teaching
• daily contact
• dialogue
• modeling
• correction
• practical experience
• retreat
• public ministry
• prayer
• rebukes
• living in community
• danger

And even on His last night with these men, they began to argue between themselves – this must have been so discouraging for Jesus!

Luke 22:24-27 [NASB]

…there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 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 who 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.

The discipling process has many similarities to the parenting process! A young child has so much to learn! Pinnacles are achieved when they can feed themselves, dress themselves and put themselves to bed. They must learn appropriate language and appropriate expressions of joy, pain, anger and sadness. They must grow in understanding that in order to get along with others, you must balance give-and-take. You must respect elders. You are compelled to become effective at communication. All of this is accomplished through day-to-day exposure to and teaching by parents who love them and want them to succeed in life and have many friends!

New followers of Christ must learn:

ü  how to confess and seek God’s forgiveness for sinful thoughts, words or actions.

ü  how to use God’s Word and become familiar enough with it to be able to find help in times of specific need.

ü  how to fit into the “body of Christ” by loving and accepting others.

ü  about their unique spiritual gifts and how to use them for the benefit of the body!

ü  how to let their light shine so that they can influence others to follow Christ.

ü  about respecting authorities and loving your neighbor.

ü  about liturgy and the purpose and flow of worship.

They will need personalized guidance to answer the many questions that come up in between Sundays! A Sunday school class or pastor’s class could NEVER completely scratch where they itch! They need a DISCIPLER – one who disciples - [mentor, coach, travelling companion]!  Availability is the key to effective disciple-making! 

_______________________________

If this process is not initiated and continued, then we can expect the new follower of Christ to be stunted in their growth.

Instead of exploring God’s Word regularly, they depend on others to do the work of study and deliver it to them in a Sunday School class or a Bible study group.

Without the full, rounded experience of discipleship, they may find it difficult to fit in and contribute to the goals of the whole body of believers.

It is reasonable to assume that vast numbers of American Christians have never been properly through a discipleship process. They consider themselves ‘believers’, but it is probably inappropriate to refer to them as 'followers of Christ'.

As harsh as it sounds, they exemplify immaturity. They quickly become discontent and dissatisfied. They hop from church to church looking for a rewarding experience that scintillates and entertains. They leave churches because they “aren’t being fed”. They do this unapologetically – never seeming to realize that in doing so, they are admitting to immaturity  -  “I need someone to feed me!”

It’s a sad reality for many today. The church has failed them! It simply didn’t provide the kind of follow-up training that allows/encourages the new convert to press forward and mature in their faith! It is also a key reason why so many ‘believers’ are fruitless! They have never led a single person to faith in Christ! Why? They were never taught that influencing others is an essential part of following Jesus! They were not trained to go, make disciples, baptize and teach…[Matthew 28:19-20] which were among the final words that Jesus spoke to His followers!

Many American churches have a steep, upward climb to reclaim the lost ground of decades of ignored discipleship training!

The core of the church is experiencing natural attrition as lifelong members die or move to assisted living centers. I have led a couple of churches that lost their children to the faith. Consequently, older leaders have had to continue to lead well past their prime because a generation or two have simply been lost! And eventually the church must close its doors because it can no longer pay its bills! Such is the plight of the American Church in many cases and places.

________________________________________

LORD OF THE CHURCH:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

While You revel in the growth of the body of believers in so many places around our globe,

You must disparage at the plight of Your Church here in America.

Our numbers are rapidly going in the wrong direction,

and we seem helpless in reversing this decades-long trend!

We need to remind ourselves that You are as available to us as You are the Church around the world!

Our reality is not a result of the shortening of Your arm or Your disinterest.

Rather, it is a long pattern of deterioration within the Church!

We have failed to cultivate genuine worship!

We have lost our passion for spiritual renewal!

We have ignored our responsibility to train disciples.

We have allowed ourselves to become distracted by wealth, comfort and forms of worship!

But we have lost the power of Your Holy Spirit!

We have come to think that we can order worship!

We have failed to cultivate meaningful, spiritual relationships!

We’ve become comfortable going for long periods of time without experiencing Your presence!

We have ceased loving our neighbor and sacrificing for their benefit!

WE NEED YOU!

WE NEED YOUR SPIRIT!

WE NEED CONNECTION!

AND YOU HAVE WHAT WE NEED!

MAY WE ONCE AGAIN BECOME SEEKERS!

Ask, and it will be given to you;

seek, and you will find; 

knock, and it will be opened to you. 

For everyone who asks receives,

and he who seeks finds,

and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8  [NASB]