SBC HAS A BAND, TOO

Not to take anything away from our military, the great book and series A Band of Brothers, but at Scottsdale Baptist Church, we too, have a band of brothers. Christian brothers dedicated to a bible study with our lead pastor centering on Seeking Him.

We have about 35 men who meet at 6:30 AM or 6:30 PM on Tuesdays to study the Word and help bring revival to us as individuals. As I shared with Pastor Wagner, I had overlooked the line in the old hymn "Lord send a revival, and let it begin with me." Well, at least the first half. It's God who sends revival, along with all the other blessings in our lives. I'd gotten the second part, that I needed to prepare my heart for revival, along with other church members, but I'd skipped over the first part.

Revival, as our book illustrates, means bring back to life. As in reviving one suffering from a physical malady that suppresses breathing or stops a heart from beating normally. If we seek God, we are to let our hearts revive. (Psalm 69:32) And that's our purpose.

But first we have to be restored to a right (righteous) relationship with Him. We must have experienced genuine salvation and accepted Jesus as Lord of our lives. We have to be honest with God. (He knows anyway.) So while confession is good for the soul, it's also necessary to restoration. Forgiveness is another must. Along with being in the Word, not just on a daily basis, but applying scripture to our everyday lives. We are to demonstrate salt and light to the unbelieving world.

And I'm not done. This revival stuff is tough. That's why our study takes 12 weeks. And then we're just ready to begin.

Humility. obedience, purity of heart are next. Then and only then are we ready for an examination of priorites and the place we have plugged God in to our lives. Hint: it better be number one. Like former Chicago Bear running back Gayle Sayers' book, I Am Third-- God is first, my family second, and I am third. Also we need to tithe if God is really first in our lives. At the Promise Keepers conference I attended in July, it was pointed out that 88% of church members do NOT tithe. Whoa! That in itself tells me there needs to be a lot of churches Seeking Him.

Finally (and this is only thumbnail based on Life Action Ministries) we must sacrifice, display spiritual fruits (Gal 5:22), be devoted, serve, pray, be evangelical, and fix our goals on eternity.

It's a big order. That's why we need Christian brothers. I'm not sure a band will be enough--how about an orchestra? And, of course, may God bless.

WIRED

With apologies to the author of the biography of John Belushi's book by the same title. But besides also being a good title for a Starbuck's addict, it's also a good title for a Christian on fire for God.

So what is this blogger writing about today? Well, certainly not all the stuff Belushi chose to put into his body. As much as I like Starbuck's coffee, French roasted, black, two to three cups in the morning and that's it, I'm not talking about anything you put into your body. I'm writing about focus and what we choose to put into our minds.

One of the poet's once wrote, "the world is too much with us". (Oh my, he's off on another topic.) But it's true. Even if we love the Lord passionately, the world will get in our way. There's this to do and that to do, and this distraction and that earthly pleasure, there's this carnal thought and this action of the flesh... and when we look at our watch, only twenty seconds have passed. Yep, there are a lot of things to intercept us, lots of things to disrupt our fellowship with God.

So, Mr. Blogger, you got the answer? For those new reader(s), you'll find I have very few answers. Oh, I have some. None very original. One answer I have that comes from scripture is simple: Love God and love your neighbors. If you do that, you keep the commandments. And, of course, God gave Moses 8 more commands for clarification. As far as how to keep fellowship with God--keep wired. Be wired for God.

A current praise song has the lyric "everything I see is glorious," and credits the Lord as Creator. When we see the beauty in the eyes of a child, the make up of the human body, the perfection in nature, we see what God has done. And we should be in awe.

Oh, we'll still get distracted, even the strongest coffee needs re-filled and warmed up. But if we're wired for God, if our wifi station is available to us 24/7, then our fire can be rekindled.

HE'S A PROJECT--A LIFELONG PROJECT

ESPN has made a spectacle of the NFL draft in recent years. It's great entertainment for football junkies. Just wondering whom their favorite team will select, trade for, or skip over, makes required viewing. When the selections are made, racuous cheers erupt in the studio; sometimes a chorus of boos resound. Sometimes there's a little hesitation, a little pregnant pause, and that's usually when a project is drafted.

What's a project? Well, it may be one who was injured and played little his senior year. It may be an off- the field problem that lowered the player's draft status. It may be unfulfilled potential. And isn't that a lot like us with the Lord?

Even on our best days, we fall far short of what God expects from us. And what right does He have to hold our feet to the fire? Every right if we are born or begotten of Him. He who sent His Son to die for us. And like projects we get injured, we get our feelings hurt, maybe by the pastor, maybe by someone at church and so we may not play. We may ride the pines, but the pews. Off-field problems, oh yes, we may have those, too. Does that lower our status in God's eyes? Not if we repent, not if we turn from our sin. Unfulfilled potential. Certainly. The song sung by children, "He's Still Working on Me," should not be limited to age. We're lifetime projects for God. But He's a loving God who sees what we don't. When we don't love ourselves very much at all, He does.

Plus, the eye has not seen and the mind cannot conceive of the wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9) In His eyes, we're all Number One on His draft board.

SO DOES SHE REALLY NEED TO PRAY?

If someone thinks he/she needs to pray, I'd say, yes, she needs to pray. Is she guilty of anything? Probably. Does she have sin on her hands? Absolutely.

And that's just the thing that keeps some people from God. They cannot or will not admit their sin. "I'm as good as the next guy."

"I don't cheat on my wife."

"I don't drink or smoke."

"I go to church every Sunday."

"I try to treat people like I want to be treated."

"I don't swear."

Etc., etc., etc. And you know what? It doesn't matter. We're all sinners and we all need God. We all need Jesus Christ in our lives to save us from our sins. When He was nailed to the cross, He took our sins with Him. All our sins--past, present, and future. Yes, we still sin even after we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But it doesn't dominate us. We don't feel good about our sins. We don't want to sin. But like the little girl in prayer, we were born sinners because of Adam and Eve. Only Jesus can take that sin away.

The process goes like this: We sin. We repent. Repent means not only asking for forgiveness, but a desire and effort to change our ways. We're forgiven. It repeats itself. It's not easy. But it's freedom from that sin being in control of our lives, free from sin getting a strong foothold. And we owe that freedom to Jesus, the perfect sacrificial atonement for our sin.

"TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW CREEPS IN THIS PETTY PACE..."

"Here's a simple plan: you be my loving woman; I'll be your loving man." It continues, "Sha La La La La La Live for today/ and don't worry about tomorrow." Of course, it's a song from the 60's. But scripture addresses tomorrow as Shakespeare and the 60's group, but with the proper perspective.

Matthew 6:34 is our daughter's favorite verse in scripture: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." When she was in high school, she had this verse cut out and placed on a card inside her red/black Talon windshield. The preceeding verse "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you," is not just a great hymn. It's a favorite verse of Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner who added the verse to an autograph I obtained once in St. Louis.

So does this mean no one should plan ahead? Just go with the flow? Not at all. The last part of Matt 6:34 states "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," in the King James version, and "each day has enough trouble of its own," in the NIV. Or whatever troubles come our way will be difficult in their own time. There's no reason to worry about them before hand. But if we combine both verses, we see that if we trust God, then what do we have to worry about? If it's our family or finances or future plans, then they become our focus instead of God. As scripture says, first things first. Or as it says in the footnotes of my study bible, don't let the worries of tomorrow affect your relationship with God today.

Do I practice what I preach here? Do I still waste time worrying? Well, I'm progressing. It's seems the more I mature as a Christian, the more I can trust God. Or is it the other way around?

THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT

Manna means "what is it"? It could as easily mean "what God provides. Even after griping."

Sometimes it's hard to know why God loves us. When the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt (Ex 12:31), it wasn't long before the complaints began.

The water wasn't good. God, through Moses, provided. Then they were hungry and moaned, "if only we had died in Egypt. There we had pots of meat and all the food we wanted." (Ex 16: 3)

Again God provided--at dusk meat, at dawn manna ( bread or cracker with the taste of honey). They were to gather it and eat their fill but were warned not to save any. And, of course, they obeyed. Yeah, right. When they saved the manna, they found it was wormy the next day, so it did them no good to disobey.

And how they learned from that lesson! Again, yeah right. They were told not to collect manna on the Sabbath for there would be none since it was a day of rest. Some tried anyway(s) to see if it was there. And the manna they had collected from the morning before was still fresh on the Sabbath.

The story doesn't end there. But my point does. Don't think that we would have acted any differently on this side of the cross, because too many other times it has been proven we would have acted in the same way. "When will they ever learn?" is a line from a 60's song. It still applies. God provides. All we have to do is trust Him. When we see His provisions, let's hope we don't ask, "What is it?"

"HEY PASTOR, I KNOW I GOT THAT PRIDE THING DOWN NOW"

Dear Pastor,

Thanks so much for the sermon Sunday on humility. You're right: there were a lot of the congregation that needed to hear it. There were so many that act just like Isaiah. They put themselves first. In fact, some of them don't even read the Bible like me because they don't have time. They're fixing meals in the food pantry ministry we started. Then they take time to serve the people who are homebound. That's ok, by me, but I noticed in Sunday School last week that some of those same people didn't have their lessons done. So they needed to hear your excellent sermon.

In fact we have so many at our church who fail all the time. They are in great need of revival. Why, I was just saying the other day how I started this ministry years ago called, "Me First." It was about how to keep pride out of other people's lives. You know, the kind of people who do something for the Lord and then they take the credit. I gave $500 to start the ministry and told others about how "me first" in giving is what the Lord wants. Why it never got off the ground, I don't know. I guess it was just a lack of faith by some people.

You keep up the good work, Pastor. Thank you for helping me better understand about those in our church who need to humble themselves before the Lord. If you need to, feel free to share my letter with the churchgoers on Sunday. You can even tell them who wrote it. It won't bother me to be an example of a humble man. I remain, very truly yours, Justin Mieseff

BUT I'M HURTING BAD
Pain, struggles, anguish, loss--we all experience them. Often times I've commented,"I don't know how people go on without the security of knowing the Lord. " My Teaching Leader in BSF is a pilot. After he has completed his task and left the plane, he takes one walk around the aircraft just to be sure everything looks satisfactory to him. When he recently attended a funeral of an unbeliever and he passed the casket, he said he had the same feeling. Nothing there; just an empty shell. And that, my friends, is a tragedy. But being saved by the grace of God does not ensure us that there will be no more hardships. Count on them. But also count on a loving Lord to help us through those valleys. And if you don't know Him, then who else do you have to turn to?

Our current lead pastor has begun a mens' bible study called Seeking Him. Graciously, he meets with 15 or so men at 6:30 AM and again at 6:30 PM with a similar number. What a blessing to have the pastor in your bible study! He shared a great story this week which I want to share.

As a young boy in Ohio, he found a cocoon. He put it in a jar and punched holes in the lid for air. Nothing happened for a long time. Till one day. The cocoon started to split. He took it outside, holding onto the stick. He had been patient, but when it revealed part of itself, he decided to help it out. He dug away at the cocoon and helped free the moth. Who came out with deformed wings. His eighth grade teacher explained to him that the moth needed to do it on its own. The struggle allowed fluid to be released to strengthen its wings. By lending a helping hand, he had hurt the development of the moth emerging.

And that's the way with God. Sometimes He, in His infinite wisdom, allows us to struggle. In order to grow. He could help. He can do anything. But He wants us to have strong wings. To soar.

KLOV AND JESUS AS THE GATE

KLOV. 89.1 FM in Fountain Hills is the first set on my car and house radios. It's a Christian station that plays modern praise songs. It's comtemporary and hip like me. Yea, right. It is a great station, but I have one complaint.

Why is it that I keep the praise songs I hear going around in my head all day and night long? Is the Lord trying to tell me something? Last week, for the first time I ever remember, I dreamed of a particular bible verse--Gal 22:5. When I went to the Bible I discovered I knew the verse well, and now I know I will never forget it. It's where the spiritual fruits are listed. Why did I dream it? I don't know, but in my Bible study and small group, those verses have been brought to my attention more than once. I know God speaks to us through dreams; I just don't know how. So I think He speaks to us through song as well.

A set of tri-lyrics (?) has been going through my head from KLOV. Here they are

"I wish you could see me now

I wish I could show you how

I'm not who I was."

That really describes me and anyone saved by the grace of God. In a bible study mens' group at our church, we were asked a self-evaluation question--Are you closer to Jesus now than at anytime in your life? And you know what? I could honestly answer, "Yes." I don't share that out of arrogance, but out of the context of the lyric that spoke to me. And I don't see the lyrics as boasting either. Except boasting in the Lord as we're told is the only acceptable way to boast. (Eph 2:9)

Jesus used many metaphors in His preaching. He is a vine, a rock, and a gate. He is the truth, the life, and the way. He is the shepherd who tended His flock and would lie down, serving as a gate to keep them in the pen. He is also the gate to the kingdom of God. So, I've written all that (and omitted a lot of other metaphors) to say this. Here are some more lyrics from KLOV that address eternity in Heaven.

"When I get where I'm going

There'll be only happy tears

Don't cry for me down there."

Wow. I love those sets of lyrics. Along with thousands more. Including my all time favorite, "I Can Only Imagine" and my wife's "That's Where You'll Find Me."

SO WHY IS THIS DOG SMILING?

Maybe he's one of the lucky ones to escape Mike Vick's vicious addiction. Maybe he's heard, "Every dog will have his day." Or maybe he's heard, "All dogs go to Heaven".

While all three would be good reasons for the expansive smile, too bad the last one is not true for humans. Actually, it's not too bad. For if all humans were assured of Heaven, then some may not want the personal relationship with the Savior. And it would nullify the beautiful gift from God and the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus. The two sweetest things we'll ever receive. Well, having the Holy Spirit indwell us is pretty awesome. Well, our ressurection bodies will be pretty special, too. As well as seeing Jesus. As well as no more pain, suffering, or tears. As well as spending eternity with Him. As well as being able to be with the disciples, apostles, saints of old. As well as seeing loved ones again. As well as singing praises to God. As well as worshipping Him forever.

Wow! We should have the happy dog smile, too. All the time, when we stop to think about what's in store for us. Today and tomorrow.

THE MARK OF THE DEVIL

and it comes with a vomit bag. Well, thankfully I never saw this movie; in fact I never heard of this movie. But the devil does exist. How do I know? The Bible tells me so.

Early, in fact. In Genesis 3:1 he came in the form of a serpent to tempt Eve. He been associated with the darkness ever since.

Colossians 1:13 perhaps best gives Christians the assuredness of his counterpart, a loving Lord because "He has rescued us from darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves."

Oh, we do have an on-going battle with him, but by being obedient to God and staying in the Word, Satan cannot harm us spiritually. (John 14:30).

In addition, we are armed (Eph 6:10) with the armor of God. This includes belt, breastplate, footgear, shield, helmet, and sword. The sword is the only weapon for offense, but it stands for the Word of God. And that's all we need to do battle. Brad Stine at Promise Keepers pointed out that we are given the armor and told to put it on. Nowhere in scripture are we told to take it off.

He's powerful all right. But he's not all right. He's just the opposite. But we're stronger when we're in the Word. And the only bag we'll need with God is one huge one. To catch all the blessings He bestows.