Up, Up and Away! (Waiting for the right fuel supply)

Please read Acts 1:1-14

Can you imagine the thoughts that were going through Jesus’ disciples those forty days after His resurrection?  Just think about it.  The foundations of their understanding, their culture, and their whole world were shaken.  Some beliefs were even crushed by this God-man, Jesus.  He proclaimed that to lead you must serve, to be first you must be last.  Love your enemies.  Pray for those who harm you.  All of these dichotomous thoughts and actions were now amplified by Him who was once dead but now lives.  I don’t know about you, but if He said “Do not leave…in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”, I’d stay right where I was when He said it.  I’d likely set up camp right there where He flew up, up and away, just to make sure I wouldn’t miss Him or His Holy Spirit when they appeared.

That’s where today’s scripture puts us, watching Jesus ascending to His Father while we contemplate all that He has said, all He’s shown, and hoping in all that He has promised.  He said to ‘wait here’, and yet He doesn’t want us to be idle.  He longs for us to commune with the Father and each other in prayer.  He wants us to individually and corporately purpose in our hearts and minds to “Seek first the kingdom of God.”  He has shown us that when we do wait, and when we do seek, we will receive a gift greater than anything we’ve experienced yet, His Holy Spirit.

Is there an area of your life, a time in your schedule that has become so busy that there’s no room for the Holy Spirit?  Even ministry schedules and activities can steal our focus and time.  We edge the Holy Spirit out of the place He longs to be, not to mention where we need Him to be by “doing God’s work”.  Sometimes we just need to “wait” in order to move ahead.

Coming Soon to a monitor near you…

We will continue our journey with the apostle Paul in a few days.  My focus has been on caring for my wife for a few days. Now I’m playing catch-up.  Thus today I offer you something off schedule.

The Shadow of Words Spoken

I begin by sharing a story from my past.  I share it with you because this incident has had long lasting effects on me and how I interact and who I am today.  I have no idea the influence for the negative or positive I had on all of the others present at this incident.  What I do know is that I am a changed because of what I said.

Back when I was probably fourteen years old, I loved going to camp.  Being the son of an evangelist I got to go to quite a few camps but there were a few that were really special to me.  One of those was the district camp meeting of my home state.  Nothing compared to the spirit in the air at denominational district family camp.  There were always the best speakers, the best music, not to mention all of the beautiful girls from the district in one place at the same time.  I thought it was almost like being in Heaven, especially if one or two of those girls liked me.

This particular summer I had my eye set on Barb.  She was a pastor’s daughter, attractive and fun to be around.  Because of her appearance and great personality Barb attracted a following of friends who just liked being around her, and several of which were guys like me who wanted to get to be even better friends with her than the rest of the crowd.

I tell you all of this to help set the stage for my life altering event.  You see, one day there was a group of us gathered outside the dining hall.  The guys all were doing their best to look and act the coolest so that Barb, or one of the other girls would affirm some value in them.  I’m guessing the girls were doing the same thing to attract the guys.  Anyway, it’s in this setting that one of the guys swiped the baseball cap off of my head.  At first I tried to act all nonchalant and cool and simply said, “Alright, give it back.”  He just smiled and tossed it from his right hand to his left hand.  With slightly more force I said, “Come on.  Give me my hat.”  He laughed and tossed it up above his head to taunt or mock me.  I got off my seat and said, “Will you please give my hat back?” And he responded, “Come and get it.”  I started to pursue him and then stopped and said the words that have hung like curtains over happy camp memories.  I said, “It’s just like a (insert offensive racial slur here) to steal my hat.”  He dropped my hat as if it were diseased and walked away.  I had crushed him with one word.  The rest of the “cool” crowd quickly disbursed, leaving me to my own thoughts and my precious little hat.

Even writing of this horrible and embarrassing incident sends shivers down my spine.  I was taught to love all people, short & tall, big and small, Christian and not-yet-Christian, and from the whole spectrum of pigmentation.  I knew better than to say what I had, but I said it anyway.  If my parents had heard me, you can bet I’d have been chewing on a bar of soap, not to mention experiencing the heating of my back side, and that’s after they’d had me find the fellow I’d crushed and apologize to him.  Needless to say, they didn’t hear me, thus I didn’t apologize.  I’ve also never been afforded the opportunity to repent and reconcile with any of the kids who were there.

It’s been over twenty years since that incident and my heart still aches for the pain my words have caused.  You see, in one simple moment I changed the perspective of everyone who was witness to this incident.  The guy who was playing with my hat probably thinks the whole crowd thought the same thing about him.  The crowd, by their silence justified or condoned my words.  And me, because I am a Christ follower I feel remorse over how my focus on myself and what I wanted led to the corruption of a time of great fun, great fellowship, not to mention a time of spiritual awakening or renewal.

In James, chapter 3, the Bible talks about how when you control your tongue you control your whole body.  On the other hand, if you don’t control your tongue it brings trouble.  In fact, Solomon wrote in Proverbs 10:19 “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” And says even more in Ecclesiastes 5:2-3.

As little children we’re taught a simple little song that, if taken to heart and practice, will help us along.  It goes,

“Oh, be careful little mouth what you say

Oh, be careful little mouth what you say

For the Father, up above, is listening with love

Oh, be careful little mouth what you say”

I guess it’s all summed up in Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Take it from me, glorify God with your words by encouraging, challenging and building others up and you’ll never look back and wish you could change things.  The world does enough “trash talking”.  Let’s do better, be better.  It’s what He’s called us to do.

Yanking the band-aid off

Please read Acts 21:1-14

Sometimes you just have to do it.

Today we read of warnings to Paul that he should not go to Jerusalem, and in today’s passage we even read prophesy of his capture.  Most people will take an umbrella if rain is forecast, or wear heavier clothes or a coat if the temperature is to be low.  Yet Paul tells the people that regardless of the warnings and prophesies, he is ready and willing to be captured, persecuted, and killed for the good of the kingdom.

Why wouldn’t a person heed the warnings put before them?  Why would they proceed in the face of imminent danger?  Some may ask these questions but to one who is at peace in the hand of God, there is no alternative but to do what He has purposed in your heart to do.  If you go against His will you will only experience the loneliness of having lost your Dearest Friend, knowing that it was you who drove Him away.  More than likely you will still face dangers in your life, but now you’ll face them alone.

I enjoy driving.  I have heard reports of people who have driven into a deer that was in their path causing substantial damage to the vehicle and great bodily harm to those within the vehicle.  I have seen the “Deer Crossing” signs.  I continue to drive nonetheless.  I know that there is risk.  I have seen the signs and heard the warnings.  Never the less I must proceed in order to complete my task.  I will do my best to avoid the deer, but if I should encounter one, I will do so knowing that I was doing what I had to do.  Often times it is only in taking risks for my God that I see fulfillment.  Sometimes you just have to do it. Live in His Way in spite of the warnings from naysayers. It’s what Jesus did.

Do miracles still happen?

Read Acts 19:11-20

Today’s passage tells of things that would be hard to believe if I didn’t already believe that these Scriptures are Holy and infallible, the written words of God through divine inspiration by His Holy Spirit.  After all, who could believe in healing and evil-spirit exorcising handkerchiefs?  Who’s ever heard of such a thing?  How could it be possible?  Oh, and then there are the frauds or shams, you know, the ones who are “bandwagon” healers and exorcists.  They had heard of this popular new way to “get attention” and jumped on board, hoping no one would notice that they didn’t know the Truth, that they were great pretenders.

It’s not something I’m proud of, but today’s passage brought back memories of a day when I was a pretender, similar to Heath Ledger’s Will Thatcher of A Knight’s Tale.  It wasn’t all that hard to be one.  I had gone to church all of my life.  I knew the lingo.  I knew the motions, the facial expressions, and the “presence”.  I might have gotten a Grammy, or more likely a Daytime Emmy for my performance.  All it took was one person with the discernment of even the demons mentioned in today’s passage to question me for my “patents of nobility”, asking for my “spiritual birth certificate” proving that I was no more a child of God than I was Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein from Gelderland.  I was guilty of impersonating a child of God and now I was exposed.  In retrospect, I’m glad it was only my pride that was stripped and beaten.  This incident challenged me to become more than I was.  I had been “weighed on the scales and found wanting“, tested and found lacking.

Under which category do you find yourself today?  Are you a Spirit filled follower of Christ willing to obey in miraculous ways, or are you a pretender and a fraud?  Have you ever experienced the miracle working power of the Holy Spirit in and through you?  Or instead, do you put on a front so others won’t know the truth?  Take a moment to ask the Spirit to search you and know you, to see if there is any wickedness within.  Seek Him earnestly today.  Submit to His reformation of your heart and Will (Knight’s Tale pun intended).  I’ll look for you on the field of battle to see if you’re wearing and wielding the full Armor of God.

Simply sign right here and this could all be yours

We are so conditioned by media today that if God were to “appear” to us and tell us of a covenant He has for us, we might say, “What’s the catch?”  Yet here, in Genesis 17: 1-7 &15-16, Abram finds himself in the presence of God and God is indeed offering some pretty spectacular stuff.  I mean, “increase your numbers” and “make you a nation”, and “give you a son”, are all some amazing things for a ninety year old guy to hear.  I try to imagine what went through his mind at a moment like that, but I’m tainted by today’s infomercials.  I’d wait for the tag line regarding Ginsu knives or some other bargain.

The interesting thing about God and His covenants is that He always holds up His end of any bargain.  When you read through all of the accounts of Abraham’s (Abram transformed) family line, God kept every promise.  It was the family line that repeatedly broke the covenant.  In fact, our belief that “Obedience brings blessing, disobedience bring punishment.” is drawn from the account immediately following today’s scripture.  God is pleased with His servant.  His servant is given a promise by God.  God blesses, fulfills, honors, and more.  Man obeys sometimes, listens, agrees (usually in self-interest), and then fails when it gets too hard, or it isn’t popular, or some other lame excuse.  Nevertheless, God reminds us of His promise and gives us the opportunity to pick the covenant back up.  He invites us once more into His good graces and says something like, “If you stick with me, Kid, we’ll go places.”

He doesn’t need us.  He wants us.  He actually wants to partner with us in this thing called life.  All we have to do is “call now”.  I don’t know about you, but I’m buying now.  This is one deal I can’t live without.