Don’t Lie to Me About God

Posted on by
Reply

Sometimes someone says something to you in the body of a letter than jumps out and grabs you by the throat and will not turn you loose. You have to do something and do it soon, otherwise it chokes the life out of you.

Here’s what happened this morning.

A friend whom I may have known many years ago but who is now active in my circle of Facebook friends sent a message concerning a difficult situation she was facing. Toward the end of the letter, as she made her case for straight-shooting from my direction, she said something I will not soon forget.

Pray for me if you like. Send me scripture if you like. Put me on a prayer chain if you want. But please don’t lie to me about God.”

She was not trying to be dramatic, only to convey how strongly she wanted to know the right answer. Even if it hurt, even if it went contrary to everything she was doing and believed. She wanted to know.

You have to respect that.

My impression is that so many of the inquiries we preachers get via the internet about doctrinal issues want us to confirm what they are already doing and seeking someone to endorse all they have previously believed.

Don’t lie to me about God. God help us not to do that.

Continue reading →

Praying All Wrong

Posted on by

Tonight, a realization threw me out of the bed and drove me to my note pad. I was lying there in the post-midnight hour doing what we preachers do, going over my sermon for later this morning.

The sermon is a beginning message for a four-day revival meeting I’ll be preaching for the First Baptist Church of Crowville, Louisiana. This congregation runs 80 to 100 in attendance and is made up largely of farmers and their families. The pastor, Dr. Keith Dowden, and I had dinner tonight and prayed for the Lord to give me the messages and do something special in the hearts and lives of his people.

My text is the parable of the mustard seed, Matthew 13:31-32. It’s a strong insight that a lot of the people in our pews need to hear, that God loves to use small, ordinary things and churches and people and acts and offerings. The mustard seed is a reminder that what God begins to do may be unimpressive on the outside, ordinary to the human eye, and not big by any means. However, being God, He can do amazing things with small beginnings.

I love to encourage small congregations with the assurance Jonathan gave his armorbearer just before the two of them took on a nest of Philistine warriors. “It matters little to the Lord whether He saves by the few or the many.” (I Samuel 14:6)

I like the question the prophet Zechariah raised as he spoke of the rebuilding of an economical version of the Temple and the coming of a Messiah who would ride in on a colt and be pierced for our transgressions: “Who has despised the day of small things?” (Zech. 4:10)

The answer to that is: “We do.” We like big things, dramatic results, impressive crowds, celebrity guests.

However, that happens not to be God’s way. He loves to use the small and the ordinary.

That’s when it hit me that I’m praying all wrong about this revival.

Continue reading →

“Dead Man Walking” — My Easter Sermon

Posted on by
2

Since I’m no longer a pastor, and pastors want to be in their pulpits on Easter Sunday for good reason, I rarely preach an Easter sermon any more. But I love this wonderful day and all it represents.  Here is a message on one aspect of the Lord’s resurrection…

The text is John 12:9-11….

“Now, a great many of the Jews knew that (Jesus) was (in Bethany at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus); and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.”

Title: DEAD MAN WALKING

When the family goes with dad to a convention, they hope it’s in a location like Orlando so there are plenty of activities for everyone. If possible, they like to arrive a couple of days early or stick around after the meeting for fun activities.

It has always been this way.

In the first century, Jewish families traveled long distances for Passover in Jerusalem. This was their big event of the year. The family’s calendar revolved around the Passover Trip. And, lest we misunderstand at this remote distance, the trip–all on foot or by slow animals–was not all drudgery either. Families joined up together and crowds made the trek over several days. Cousins who had not seen each other in a year excitedly hugged and chatted and played. Romances were formed among young people on these annual outings.

Once the families arrived in Jerusalem’s outskirts, they erected makeshift tents and set up housekeeping for a week of religious and social activities. And then they began looking.

The parents were giving in to the cries of their children. “What is there to do here?” “Is there anything for the children!”

And then someone told them.

Over in Bethany–just on the back side of the Mount of Olives–there is a man who was dead for four whole days. And yes, it was Jesus, the Nazarene, who raised him to life.

“Let’s go see!”

Continue reading →

Before you tell them, Christian, SHOW THEM.

Posted on by
3

Show and tell. Sounds simple enough.

Every kindergartner knows the process. You bring something to school and then tell the class what it is. What it means to you. How it works.

A few years ago, I sat at the head table when veteran lineman Frank Warren was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame. His agent paid tribute to his star player.

We live in Dallas. I’ll never forget the day my five-year-old son took Frank Warren to his school for show-and-tell. Frank flew to Dallas just to do that for my child.

I sat there not quite believing my ears. This football player went to all the trouble of flying from New Orleans to Dallas for no other purpose than accompanying a preschooler to kindergarten for show-and-tell.

No wonder the agent was still speaking of it, years later. Who would not remember that?

A few years back Henry Blackaby spoke to Louisiana Baptists about post-9/11 life for Christians in America.

After 9-11, business as usual would be an affront to God…. So far, we are not being the salt and light God intended…. We have had very little effect on this society.

It should matter to every Christian that the world around us ignores us, that it does not take us seriously, and even scoffs at our faith.

We have no one to blame but ourselves.

Continue reading →

The Apostle Paul’s Gift to Preachers

Posted on by

I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. (I Corinthians 2:3)

For reasons I cannot explain, this line from the great apostle has lodged itself in my heart over the past few days. The more I reflect on it, the more I appreciate Paul’s admitting it.

In this and every other case where Paul mentions some kind of physical infirmity, we wish we had more information. Was he sick? Ailing? Still healing from previous beatings?

John MacArthur writes: Paul came to Corinth after being beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, run out of Thessalonica and Berea, and scoffed at in Athens, so he may have been physically weak. But in that weakness, he was most powerful. There were no theatrics or techniques to manipulate people’s response. His fear and shaking was because of the seriousness of his mission. (The MacArthur Study Bible)

I suppose we preachers are a lot like horses and mules and dogs: hit us often enough and we become “gun shy.” We want to stand and deliver with boldness and power, but we’re ready to duck.

Thank you, Paul, for telling us this. And if you will allow me, I will draw a few inferences from it that I find helpful to all of us who stand to proclaim God’s Word.

Continue reading →

Love Stories (Part 3)

Posted on by
1

The stories some of our friends sent our way have been on my mind the last few days. I’ve promised to share them with our readers. Here are some of them.

A fun love story or two.

An anthropologist asked a Hopi Indian why so many of his people’s songs dealt with rain. He answered, “Because we need it so badly and it’s so scarce.” Then, after a moment, the Hopi said, “Why are so many of your songs about love?”

The young girl brought her guy home to meet her parents. Her mother was terrified on seeing the tattooed, spiked-haired, bearded, earring-wearing, rough-looking young man. She said, “Honey, is he nice?”

The daughter was offended. “Certainly he’s nice,” she said. “If he wasn’t nice, why would he be doing 5,000 hours of community service!”

This woman loved her man.

Pastor E. V. Hill led a church in the Watts section of Los Angeles during some of the worst racial trouble of the sixties and seventies. At one time, the rioting was so bad, an African-American preacher was killed because he associated with the Whites. According to rumor, Dr. Hill was next on the list.

A phone call in the middle of the night woke up Pastor Hill. An anonymous called informed him that his car was a target for bombing. He tried to keep this from his wife, but she would have none of that. She insisted he tell her.

The next morning, Pastor Hill could not find his wife. Then he noticed his car was gone. After a few minutes, the car drove up to the house and she got out.

He asked, “Now, why did you do that?”

She said, “If your car was to be bombed, I wanted to die instead of you.”

Pastor Hill would tell that story and add, “Since that day I have never asked my wife, ‘Do you love me?’ I know.”

He would add, “And since that day two thousand years ago when the Son of God died on that cross, I have not needed to ask God, ‘Do you love me?’ I already know.”

Continue reading →

The Most Potent Kind of Love (Greatest Love Stories–Part 2)

Posted on by

If you could do one thing that would cinch your reward in Heaven, boost your reputation on earth, honor God, please Jesus, liberate the Spirit, infuriate the devil, puzzle your enemies, edify your church, encourage hurting believers, silence the church’s critics, draw outsiders to Jesus, and dissolve any anger inside your heart, wouldn’t you do it?

Then, love your enemies. That will accomplish all this and more.

On Facebook last week, I asked for the greatest love story you know. The ones we received–maybe 15 in all–told almost entirely of romance. There were some good ones, and we ran several in the earlier segment on this theme. More will follow.

However, I’m of the strong conviction that the best, the strongest, the most potent love stories have little or nothing to do with romance.

There are at least four levels of strong, good love, which increase in effectiveness and winsomeness as they intensify.

First level: You love someone who loves you back. This is the way all love should operate, we think. Sweethearts fall in love and marry and all is well. Grandparents love the kid and the child thinks the world of them. Best friends are BFF.

Second level: You love someone who does not know you exist. The person ignores you completely. Half the songs on the country music hit parade are fueled by this kind of pain.

Third level: You love someone who is unable to return your love. This variety is far stronger and infinitely more admirable. A parent cares for a handicapped child, a husband nurses a comatose wife, an adult looks after a parent with Alzheimers. Day after day, year after year, the love flows one way only.

Fourth level: You love someone who throws it back in your face. This is what Jesus had in mind when He said, “Love your enemy” (Luke 6:27). This is the finest example of Godly love, Christlike love, to be found.

Continue reading →

The Greatest Love Stories (1)

Posted on by
1

A great love is one that overcomes all obstacles.

The greatest love story is not one in which a wonderful man finds a terrific woman, they fall in love, they get married, and they live a blissful life thereafter. It’s a good love story, but not the best.

The best story–the kind I’m calling the greatest love story–involves overcoming obstacles of time or rejection or distance or heartbreak. Such a story tells of devotion in the face of discouragement, determination in the face of opposition, and the triumph of hope over despair.

A couple of days ago, I invited Facebook friends to tell me their best love story. I expect three or four. I received a dozen and more are still coming in.

Now, what I’m actually doing is working on a sermon about “the greatest love” which I will preach in two churches, and a Valentine’s banquet program for a third church. The thought occurred to me that, even though I know some great love stories, there are plenty of others out there that need to be told.

Here are some of the ones that have come in. Most are abbreviated since some were four pages long. I’ll use first names only.

Continue reading →

Avoiding Extremism

Posted on by
Reply

One of the best ways to gauge your mental health is by what you do with the teachings of Scripture.

A few instances….

Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34). Bad mental health takes that to mean that long range plans, insurance programs, and concerns about the future of one’s loved ones is sinful. Good mental health keeps it in the perspective of the entire Bible’s teachings on the subject.

Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:20). Bad mental health takes this as a license to inspect the lives and productivity of anyone claiming to follow Christ. Good mental health sees it in context, that one’s works will generally speaking tell the tale on who we really are.

Jesus said, “As you have believed, so let it be done for you” (Matthew 8:13). Bad mental health interprets this (and similar scriptures) as carte blanche promises that we get what we believe God for, and if we are not getting, it’s because we are not believing strongly enough. Good mental health knows that there is far more to this issue than some isolated scriptures or instances of the Lord’s healing.

The shooter in Tucson from a few weeks back provided one more lesson that we seem to keep getting in this country again and again: The person with poor mental health can look at anything and make it into something bad.

Three texts in I Corinthians impressed this upon me during my reading this morning.

Continue reading →

If You’ve Got a Story. I Have One.

Posted on by
7

I do love a good story.

The only thing I love more is being the one telling it.

I’m clearly not alone in my devotion to the story. It forms the outline of every television soap opera, sitcom and cop show and most of the movies. It fells forests to supply paper for an unending outpouring of novels, all with a story to tell. It connects with people as nothing else does.

In “My Reading Life,” novelist Pat Conroy drops story upon story upon the reader, supplying me with more writing-or-sermon illustrations than any single book I’ve read in a year.

Last night, I came across Conroy’s tale of the time an agent for his publisher took him as a young, up-and-coming writer as he called on booksellers to market their latest line. On the third day out, the agent suddenly turned to Pat and said, “You’ve seen me do this. Now, let’s see if you’ve got what it takes…. We know you can write a book; now let’s see if you can sell one.”

Conroy was game. He gave it a try. Addressing the bookseller, he launched into the chatter he’d heard from the agent, making the case for each of the new works coming from the publisher. Then he came to his own book, “The Water is Wide.” He described it.

The store owner said, “Who gives a d–n?”

Conroy was stunned. The man said, “What should my readers care what happened to a bunch of black kids on an island no one’s ever heard of?”

Conroy said, “Well, the book is well written.”

But the owner was not swallowing that. “I don’t want to order a single copy of the book. It’s not for me. I can’t think of a soul who’d buy it.”

Conroy says, “I finished selling the list in a barely controlled rage…. By the time I left that bookstore, I was ready to whack the living daylights out of that smug, hostile bookseller who had taken such grotesque pleasure in my humiliation.”

Later, over dinner with the agent, he found out what had happened.

Continue reading →