George Whitefield: The Voice of the Great Awakening
One of my earliest understandings of the calling of a preacher came during my first semester during a preaching course in seminary. It was the fall of 1974, and we were given an assignment by Dr. Harold Freeman to seek out and define the words in the Bible that best described the roles and responsibilities of preaching. One of the words I came across was the Greek word, "kerusso." It meant to herald, to be a herald, or to proclaim. It was a word picture of a servant or soldier in the king's service who was given the assignment to ride into the village squares of the realm, to sound the trumpet to gather the people and to deliver faithfully the message sent by the king to his people.
The powerful connection with preaching and the herald of a king is rather obvious. The servant delivering the message focuses solely on what the king had to say, and does not detour from it. Heralds do not mistake the spotlight as an opportunity to tell the listeners what he has on his mind. Regardless of the reception the King's word received, the herald was to deliver it to the people, faithfully, consistently and accurately. His commission required him to overcome every hardship and obstacle to the mission. The herald was then to return and report to the king when his mission had been accomplished. Any honor or reward was not to be sought or received from the listeners to the message. The sender of the message was the one who had the authority to commend or compensate the herald. Preachers speak on behalf of The King. They must answer to Him for their stewardship of The King's message. The King has sent to His people, by means of His heralds, a message of faith, hope and love.
History is filled with the stories of the lives of men who fit this definition of a preacher. Perhaps no one has ever personified this kind of preaching more than the English evangelist, George Whitefield (1714-1770). He was an ordained Anglican minister, a contemporary and a personal friend of John and Charles Wesley. He had grown up in a humble home. His father owned a tavern in a pretty rough neighborhood, and he was frequent attender of bawdy stage shows, plays and theatricals of his day. His plight was not that of a child in abject poverty, but his family background provided him with no pedigree or status. He had to work his way through college as a servant waiting tables and running errands for the wealthier students. He experienced what he referred to has his "new birth" at the age of 21. His keen mind was ripe for learning and he graduated with his Bachelor's Degree from Oxford, and at 22 he was ordained as a minister in the Church of England. He preaching was marked by great power and persuasive oratory.
At the peak of his popularity Whitefield announced his intention to go to Georgia as a missionary. He had been influenced by the spiritual fervor and devotion of Moravian missionaries, who were the contemporary standard barriers for carrying the Gospel around the globe. His own personal call to missions took him to the city of Savannah in the Colony of Georgia. He discovered that many of the settlers that had come to America were unprepared physically or emotionally for the challenges they faced. The early deaths of parents left many children without the means to survive. On his return to England, he set about raising funds from wealthy friends and would later come back to Georgia to build an orphanage for the children of those who had died settling the frontier. The Bethesda orphanage still exists outside the city of Savannah today.
Factor out the voice of George Whitefield, and America might very well be a very different kind of a nation. His impact on America's religious, political and social standards was enormous. His preaching has been credited as a powerful force in unifying the people of the 13 separate British colonies. He moved up and down the eastern seaboard from Georgia to New England, and drew huge crowds everywhere he went. His listeners came together from various denominations and social backgrounds. His egalitarian messages focused on the unity of the Body of Christ that was based upon being adopted into the family of God through a life-changing surrender to the Person of Christ. As thousands of people all over the colonies began to gather at his open air meetings, a transformation took place on another level. They began to recognize they had a great deal in common. Whitefield's preaching did a great deal to help America avoid the religious blood baths that had taken place in Europe between the established church and the dissenters. He was instrumental in contributing to the people of the various colonies the concept that they were all Americans. They began to see that they had more in common with each other than a distant mother country.
Although an ordained Anglican minister, Whitefield opened his arms to preachers of other denominations, and persuasions. His meetings were marked by an openness and acceptance that was quite unusual for the days in which he lived. His powerful voice and exemplary life made him one of the most popular preachers in America. When Whitefield voyage home to England, he would publicly express his friendship for the American cause to the members of parliament, and raise funds for the mission work that he had started in Georgia. The City of Savannah, Georgia still honors his memory today with a beautiful city square that bears his name, and the Bethesda Orphanage that he began upon his second trip to America is still operational.
If Whitefield was the voice of The Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards was the intellect of it. Birth pangs of the The Awakening had broken out in small, isolated parishes in New England as early as the 1720's, but the full force of this movement rolled into his parish church in Northampton, Massachusetts by 1734. Edwards compiled a history of what had happened, and wrote a treatise that was printed and distributed throughout Great Britain. It became the impetus for a prolonged impact of the Great Awakening in the lives of people who read it, and longed to be a part of it.
Today Edwards is still considered to be one of the greatest preachers, theologians, scientists and philosophers America has ever produced. Both Edwards and Whitefield gave great encouragement to one another and to their followers in recognizing and emphasizing the importance of extraordinary, intercessory prayer in the arena of spiritual awakening. They understood prayer was the best resource a person could have when they came to the end of themselves.
Whitefield made seven trips from England to America. Those 13 crossings of the Atlantic in tiny ships that provided little shelter and comfort from raging storms were long and dangerous journeys. No doubt they did much to break down his body and lead to his early death. Whitefield's seventh journey across the Atlantic became his last trip to America. His exposure to the elements as he traveled by horseback and on leaky vessels from place to place to preach eventually took their toll on his body. He died in 1760 in New England shortly after preaching his last sermon. His body is buried there. No one deserves the title of Honorary American more than he. His prayer journals contain a simple phrase that gave him great confidence in God's provision no matter what trial, test, or triumph came his way. He was fond of saying. "Man's extremity is God's opportunity."
The impact of Whitefield's life on the spiritual climate of America through his mass meetings is well documented. The touch of his life on individual lives requires the use of history's magnifying glass. This intensified glimpse of his ministry reveals some astounding consequences, when it is seen through the lives of just three people who were influenced by this powerful preacher.
Samuel Adams: The Voice of the American Revolution
Adams was raised in Massachusetts in a devout home. Along with Puritan piety, he was immersed in the political activities of his father. From an early age he learned how the system worked and what it took to move the machinery of government to accomplish a task through the body politic. He was also influenced by the piety of his mother and sister. He often had the opportunity to listen to the leading preachers of his day, Cotton Mather, and Jonathan Edwards when they came through town. His sister took copious notes and they would discuss them together at length.
Before Adams headed to Harvard, at the age of 14, he had expressed a desire to be a minister. In his own autobiography, Benjamin Franklin mentions Whitefield made his triumphant way to Philadelphia in 1739. What impressed Franklin the most about Whitefield's preaching was the change that came over the people who heard him. Franklin testified that it was impossible to walk down any street in Philadelphia in the evening without hearing the singing of Psalms ringing out from within every house along the way. He was taken by the fact that a totally irreligious community could talk about nothing but the work of God in their city.
When Whitefield preached on the campus of Harvard in the fall of 1739, Samuel Adams was a student, and he had a life changing encounter. He totally embraced the Puritan piety that Whitefield espoused. He changed the way he dressed to somber Puritan gray, and though he didn't become a minister, he was encouraged to impact audiences the way he saw the great preachers of his day move them. This campus revival spread to Boston Commons and Whitefield preached to over 23,000 people who had come to Boston for the occasion. This crowd was larger than the population of the city of Boston. These days had to be indelibly imprinted on Sam Adam's memory.
After leaving school after the campus revival, Adam's father was brought to a serious financial crisis that evaporated a great deal of his fortune and by implication Samuel's inheritance. Arbitrary decisions from the royal governor and his officers were instrumental in stripping his father of office, land and cash. Samuel Adams never forgot it. While working on his Master's Degree at Harvard, He began to exhibit skills of a man who had an innate comprehension of the art of politics, but an understanding of the need to give those skills a voice that would move the people out of complacent acceptance to courageous action. For the next 40 years his writings, speeches, and personal influence impacted the leading men of his day, and infuriated the British establishment.
Samuel Adams became the voice of the American Revolution to the ears of the British authorities. Their focus on his capture and their obsession with the removal of this thorn in their side empowered Adams to be seen by his contemporaries as the Father of Independence. His keen insight into the needs of the American people stoked his passion to defend their rights with an evangelistic zeal. He understood before many other leaders that America must separate themselves from England. He believed if Americans missed the opportunity that was before them, they would be held in a permanent relationship as the subservient and weaker partner to Great Britain. His insight was not expressed in dry lectures or detailed legal briefs, but with a passionate proclamation that called on the people of America to claim their independence from tyranny by declaring a war of independence. He had been impacted by the voices of Great Awakening preachers who called thousands to accept their chance to be born again. His ministry became one that called them to have the courage to birth a nation. Samuel Adam's legacy is not as well known as some of the founding fathers, even though they made less of a contribution to the birth of America. He appears to have been quite content to pass the leadership baton to younger men who carried on his legacy.
Patrick Henry: The Voice of Liberty
Patrick Henry is best remembered for his famous statement before the Virginia House of Burgesses when he announced, "Give me liberty or give me death."
However, his life was impacted by the Great Awakening that swept through America as a result of the preaching of George Whitefield. The birth of the Great Awakening took place in Northampton in 1734, but its height came in 1740-1743. Although its greatest work took place in New England, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, it did reach Virginia as early as 1739 when Patrick Henry was only three years old. Samuel Morris, a brick layer, was concerned with the lack of spiritual devotion in the Anglican Church. Whitefield had made his way to Williamsburg by 1739, but the sermons of the era's great itinerant Anglican preacher were not embraced by the Anglican establishment. They saw him as a radical and a dangerous influence to the status quo. "Whitefield had recently captivated both Britain and America with his passionate rhetoric and open air meetings. In 1745 Whitefield came to Hanover and expressed his desire to preach in the Anglican church pastored by Patrick Henry's uncle'. When Whitefield arrived at the church followed by a large crowd, he had great reservations regarding Whitefield's motives, but he could see by the size of the crowd that he was powerless to stop him. Patrick Henry's mother joined a Presbyterian congregation sympathetic to the great evangelists preaching, and would take little Patrick with her each Sunday. After each sermon, she would ask him to recite the passage of Scripture used by the preacher and to give her a summary of that morning's message. The preaching of the Great Awakening was instrumental in removing the unchallenged authority from the hands of the politicians and the parsons, and placing it in the hands of the people. This is the climate in which Patrick Henry was raised. He grew up breathing the fresh air of religious liberty, and he never got over it.
Although he never left the Anglican church, as a young lawyer he took a case against an Anglican minister who was suing the local people for his salary. The government had assigned him to them, and they refused to pay someone they had not hired. His argument won the case, and was another sign of the broke grip the established powers had on the purse strings of the people, when they exercised their liberty.
As a representative of the frontier people who had no voice in the House of Burgesses, he began to stand firm for less government intrusion into the lives of ordinary citizens. He championed their rights for more personal freedom. He became a spokesman for those who believed that more government control would always lead to tyranny. It is probably safe to say, Patrick Henry would not recognize the United States as the one that he helped birth.
Benjamin Franklin: The Voice of History
Benjamin Franklin is often portrayed as a non religious scientist, an agnostic politician or at the very best a benign Deist. It turns out that Franklin was a man who was aware of the importance, the impact and the implications of the Great Awakening more than some of the contemporary clergy of his day.
In his autobiography, Franklin mentions his friendship with George Whitefield. He was very impressed with his preaching, and took pains to note that when Whitefield arrived in Philadelphia in 1739 that the local pastors closed their doors to him and would not let him preach from their pulpits. This probably raised Whitefield's stock in the eyes of Franklin. He was not known to suffer fools gladly, and had no great love for the clergy as a rule.
Franklin enlisted Whitefield's help in raising money to build a large preaching hall so that the crowds who wanted to hear him could be accommodated. Later this hall was deeded to trustees who chartered what became the University of Pennsylvania. Today there is a statue dedicated to Whitefield on the campus of the university paying tribute to his investment in its founding.
What impacted Franklin the most about Whitefield was the immediate, and widespread influence Whitefield's preaching had on the citizens of the city of Philadelphia. His proof of the impact of Whitefield's ministry can be described his own words. In his autobiography he recalled the scene,
"One could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street."
Always the shrewd businessman, Franklin contracted with Whitefield to print all of his messages and pamphlets, and he saw that they were distributed as well in the newspapers that covered the news of the city and surrounding colonies. He would often attend his open air meetings, and as a scientist took the challenge to verify the power and the range of Whitefield's voice. Franklin chose to place himself in the crowd of an open air meeting and pace from the platform to the edge of the crowd, and then measure the circumference of the audience, granting a two square feet allotment to those standing in the street. He determined by his own calculations that Whitefield's voice could be heard by 30,000 people until the sounds of a busy street began to interfere with a clear reception of his message. Franklin attributed this to the powerful voice of the man, his use of clear and precise diction, and the rapt attention of the audience. It gave him confidence to know that what he had read of king's and generals addressing large crowds of people or vast armies was indeed possible to achieve.
Franklin remained a friend of Whitefield until his untimely death and never forgot what he had seen happen through the life of the evangelist. He states in his autobiography that although Whitefield often prayed for his conversion, he was never given the satisfaction of knowing that his prayers were answered. After the American Revolution, Franklin was called as an elder statesman to attend a convention that commissioned to amend the Articles of Confederation. For several years the independent states had attempted to unite themselves under this document, but it had not resulted in a unified nation. The convention in Philadelphia became a quagmire of division. It seemed that every delegate was filled with suspicion and driven by personal or regional ambition. At one point the convention was close to dissolving into chaos, and concluding in disaster, Franklin begged to be heard. Although he had never professed a personal faith in Christ to Whitefield, or ever identified with a specific church or denomination, Franklin revealed that he had been paying attention to those who had placed their faith in God as their Guide and Christ as their Savior. He expected more of them. It took the oldest man in the room to remind them of what he had seen during those crucial and crisis filled days. He said,
"How has it happened, Sir that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly of applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding. In the beginning of our Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers sir were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have engaged frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid, We have been assured,Sir, in the sacred writings that ' except the Lord build the house they labor in vain who build it. ' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. ...I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on our deliberations to be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate. "
In spite of the opposition of Alexander Hamilton, Franklin's motion carried the day. As a side note, Hamilton feared that word would get out that it had come to this. His pride kept him from admitting that they were at an empasse, and that they were forced to call on God to intervene. As the discussion raged, opposition voiced concern that the people of the United States would lose confidence in the Assembly if they admitted they didn't know what to do, and sought God's counsel for the next step.
Preachers have tremendous opportunity to impact the lives of those who hear them. They may not always see what God is doing in the lives of those who sit in the pews. They may not have the satisfaction of knowing that the hand of God is using them at that very moment to bring about change in the life of another person. They may often times be discouraged that someone they have often prayed for and preached to remains resistant and unmoved by their message. It may be when they are least hopeful that they are being heard that their voices are being used by God as a catalytic converter to inspire the heart of someone that He will use in His way and in His time. Franklin's own words in his autobiography do not give us an indication of his acceptance of Christ as his Savior. However, Franklin certainly expected more of those who had given their hearts to God. He called on them to lean on Him for the direction, protection and correction, that he had personally seen provided to them in direct answer to their prayers.
The Convention did meet to pray, and in short order they came together in agreement on a founding document that they could present to the States. I was ratified by the various states, and as they say, the rest is history. To this day the Congress of the United States is called to order and a prayer is offered for the guidance of the business of the day. Sometimes it is those outside of the family of faith that God uses to call His children back to the promises He has given to them. Franklin was certainly used by God to implement the will of God for the Assembly that had come to the end of themselves. One can't help but wonder if Franklin recalled the very words or perhaps the passion of his young preacher friend, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity."
Preaching differs from politicking. The preacher is a herald with a message. The politician is an actor with a script. The preacher delivers a message to the audience sent to them from the King. The politician is an actor on a stage reading from a script written by the audience. He must become what the people want him to be or be replaced by someone who will. The preacher is a servant who has been given a message to deliver from his King, regardless of the reception to it or rejection of it. The audience does not dictate to the preacher what they want to hear. The King communicates to His people through His messenger. When the preacher takes his cues from the audience, he has become a politician, and forfeited his primary role as herald of the king. Preachers are not cheerleaders waving political pom poms for any political party. They are messengers of God who dare not flinch at the mission of delivering His Word to His people.
Thank God for a faithful preacher who had a lasting impact on the lives of these three men. George Whitefield was the voice God used to influence them, and they were used in a very special way to impact the birth and direction of a new country. The questions comes to mind, "What if?" What if Whitefield had listened to the voices of the audience, or compromised with the climate of his culture. If he had been driven to please the crowd rather than faithfully deliver the message of His King, the very unique history of this nation may have turned out to be very different from what it is today.
It is always a wonderful thing to see what a difference one life can make on the life of another person. Today use your voice to encourage someone to seize the moment and listen to the direction God has for their life through the Person of Jesus Christ. One voice really can make a difference. Let it be your voice today.
Praying for preachers today to...Sound the trumpet. Gather the people and...PREACH IT!
The Heart
"This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." Isaiah 15:8
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Say it loud! Say it proud. I never get tired of hearing or saying these two small words. For me and millions of other people they carry a great deal of meaning. For years I have been on a one man mission to remove the use of the auto response mechanism, "You too!"
There is a reason why "YOU TOO!" is not emblazoned upon Hallmark Christmas cards. It will never become a best seller.
It's not too much to expect another Christian to celebrate the meaning of the season and to simply repeat, "Merry Christmas!" It may be a bit of a stretch to hold a high expectation for a person who doesn't hold any meaning to the birth of Christ to respond with a hearty "Merry Christmas!" However, don't expect those of us who place great meaning on it to stand by and watch "Merry Christmas" bullied off the scene by a plethora of politically correct phrases. In other words, don't mess with Christmas!
Still, the militant Merry Christmas cadets ought to have some degree of understanding about what they are saying before they arm twist a perceived heretic into spouting them out. They should also avoid saying the words without having their heart engaged in obedience to the One who gives the words substance. There are more platitudes and pop culture Christianity on tap this season than at any time of they year. I draw little Christmas cheer from mindless mantras repeated over and over,
- "And that's what Christmas is all about."
- "Jesus is the reason for the season."
- "Keep Christ in Christmas!"
- "Put Christ back in Christmas!"
- "Christmas is not just one day a year."
- "Celebrate the Spirit of Christmas all year long."
- "Cash or charge?"
OK, I threw that last one in just to see if you were still there. I know it was a little off message, but not by much. Christians could do with a healthy appreciation of what it took for Christmas to have any meaning for them at all. They can fall prey to the same advertising campaigns and commercialization of Christmas as those who have no comprehension of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Don't fall into the trap of becoming a Christmas snob who thinks that repeating two words makes them better than those who have yet to see The Light.
It is important to remind those determined to put Christ back into Christmas that they were never commanded by The Christ to celebrate His birthday. He placed no great significance on it. His last words to His disciples challenged them to remember His death, burial and resurrection. They were told in no uncertain terms, "DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME!"
Putting Christ back into Christmas simply requires obedience to what He said. To do this is going to really cramp the style of churches all over the world. The bale of hay and a bathrobe pageants, the live nativity scenes, the lazer light shows, and the countless cantatas will take a back seat to Baptism and The Lord's Supper. Not quite as flashy, but they carry the reason for the season with a great deal more substance.
It dawned on me this year, that THE CRADLE, THE CROSS, and THE TOMB are all vacant. I know I'm not the sharpest knife in the theological drawer so cut me some slack on this, but to make much of them and still miss Jesus is still disrespectful to Him. THE HEART is the only place where Jesus can be found. A heart filled with Jesus gives His Spirit elbow room to keep Him as the focus of a person's life every day of the year. That kind of fulness is marked by obedience to what The Risen Christ desires for His followers to be and to do in His name.
"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." John 15:12
"Love one another." Profoundly simple, and simply profound. It describes the unconditional love to be expressed to those closest to us, and to those who drive us away from them. Simple? Yes, but simply impossible until there is a change of heart in the one required to do the loving. Jesus describes this kind of love as obedient behavior in response to His command. Singing the "Happy Birthday" song or choking "Merry Christmas" out of a heretic is not on His "To Do" List.
In September 1996 I had the privilege of attending a conference at The Cove in Asheville, NC. Warren Wiersbe was teaching that week on The Book of Romans. It was an amazing experience. The setting was spectacular with The Smokie Mountains, and The Lodge at the Billy Graham Center serving as a backdrop to the study of the Scripture. It just doesn't get much better than that for me.
One of the statements made by Dr. Wiersbe that has stuck with me over the years was his reference to sin as it related to the teaching in Romans. I believe I am doing him justice to quote him as saying,
"The heart of the matter is the heart, and the matter of the heart is sin."
He went on to describe how Paul taught that a person's heart cannot be made right by keeping The Law or through a slow process of self-correction. The sinner's heart required a state of grace to be declared between The Law Giver and The Lawbreaker. There was simply no hope for a change of heart to take place in the life of the sinner without an act of grace being administered in the heart of a sinner.
Sin separates a person from Holy God. Only a righteous Judge can declare an end to the separation. Healing of the breach is not a matter of want to on the part of the sinner, but can do on the part of the Judge. God judges a person to be right with Him based on the work done on behalf of a sinner by His Son, Jesus. When Jesus came to THE CRADLE it was a start. When Jesus died on THE CROSS, it was a finish. When Jesus rose from THE TOMB, it was a promise. THE CRADLE, THE CROSS AND THE TOMB are all vacant. Only THE HEART can be filled with Jesus.
THE HEART remains the one place in the world where JESUS desires to live. Without Jesus there is no reason for the season. Without The Spirit of Christ there is no Spirit of Christmas. All that is left is the tinsel, the glitter and the sentiment, but there is no change of heart. THE HEART filled with Jesus is filled with His Spirit, and allows Him the elbow room to develop the character of Christ in the life of the follower of Christ. The change of THE HEART is in an instant, but the development of The Character is a process that will take a life time.
THE HEART of the matter is still the matter of THE HEART. A life of obedience comes from a heart full of Jesus. THE CRADLE preceded THE CROSS and THE TOMB. Jesus told His disciples to remember His death, burial and resurrection, not His birthday, but none of those remembrances will have real meaning until THE HEART becomes the residence of THE RISEN CHRIST.
"Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said...'What shall we do?' Peter said, 'Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, and as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." Acts 2:37-39
Don't forget the real gift giving of Christmas. Give your heart to Jesus and experience The Gift that keeps on giving, The Spirit of Christ.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The Room
"O, magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together." Psalm 34:3
December 1, 2011 our immediate family gathered in Fort Worth, Texas at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary at a brief ceremony for the rededication of THE DON and LIBBY MILLER PRAYER ROOM. Dr. Jack Terry was our gracious seminary host for the event. We were honored by all the family and friends who took time out of busy schedules to make this special occasion even more meaningful for my parents, Don and Libby Miller. Mom and Dad are in their nineties and still two of the greatest prayer warriors I have ever known. They have been married for 66 and a half years, and their life verse is:
"O, magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together." Psalm 34:3
After serving as pastor and church planter for Southern Baptist churches in Texas and in New York, God called my parents to launch a prayer ministry in 1977. For over 34 years of their marriage, Mom and Dad travelled around the world challenging people to get alone with God and pray. Their ministry has taken them to every continent of the world, and most of these United States. They have personally led prayer conferences in over 1,000 churches, and their teachings on prayer have been expanded to countless other venues by video and now DVD formats. They made the transition from overhead projector to PowerPoint in their late eighties. My favorite quote on prayer comes from my Dad.
"Prayer is the intimate communication between the Heavenly Father and His child."
The Room is located on the northwest corner of the second floor in the new McGorman Chapel on the campus of Southwestern Seminary. The Chapel, named for Dr. Jack McGorman, honored and respected New Testament professor of the Seminary, is spectacular. Dr. McGorman remains to this day one of the finest Greek scholars ever produced by Southern Baptists, and the Chapel is a fitting tribute to this rare treasure of a man. He and Dad have been long time friends, and it was a precious moment being able to reconnect these two war-horses over lunch. It was a great reunion, and designed by God to take place.
The Miller clan was invited to take part in a delightful luncheon prior to the dedication service. Mrs. Dorothy Patterson was our gracious hostess. The Miller family wishes to express to Dr. and Mrs. Patterson their deepest appreciation for their willingness to prioritize the space in the new Chapel for The Room. At the luncheon, Mrs. Patterson was so apologetic that all the furnishing had not arrived, and that she feared it might appear to be incomplete. I was glad to quote what I have often heard Dad say, "Less is more, when God is in it." I assured her my parents would be pleased if there was room enough to kneel.
After the final wave of family arrived, I looked around to see if I recognized anyone in the room that Dad might want to meet. I was pleased to see that Dr. McGorman was just a few steps away from Dad's table. I went over and reintroduced myself to him. He had been Dad's New Testament Greek professor while he was in seminary. I had followed in Dad's footsteps and studied Greek under Dr, McGorman twenty-five years later. I remember Dad referring to him affectionately as "Cactus Jack" McGorman. It was a nickname he had earned among WWII veterans who entered seminary after the war. Any cockiness they brought to the campus after defeating the Axis powers soon evaporated in the battle they faced with "Baby" Greek. "Cactus Jack" was a tough drillmaster. They discovered that what he knew about Greek prepositions could make a grown man cry. My days with him translating Galatians still brings tears to my eyes. It was pretty embarrassing! But I digress.
As soon as I mentioned Dad's name, Dr. McGorman's eyes lit up. He exclaimed, "Your father is Don Miller! Is he here?" I was thrilled to be able to escort him over to Dad and watch them reconnect. Dr. McGorman said, "Don, do you remember when we were together at Wilmer?" They rolled down memory lane like it was yesterday. In a flash, they were young guns again recalling when they had teamed up to lead First Baptist Church of Wilmer in revival services. Dad had pastored this church during his student days over sixty years ago. It was my first church too. I was born on a Sunday afternoon while Dad served as the pastor of FBC, Wilmer.
I am not doing a very good job describing the scene that I witnessed. I can only hope you get a little bit of the picture. It was a glimpse of two warriors on the threshold of Heaven who have fought the good fight and finished the race with their friendship and their character in tact. As the young people often say, "Sweet!" Men like these two giants are my "Rock" stars. I want to be like them when I grow up.
The Room has a view. Three spacious windows offer an elevated perspective of the beautiful 100 year old campus. There is a spectacular stain glass work depicting the artist's Biblical perspective on the bowls of prayer. It is set in the window on the west wall, and when the setting sun hits the stained glass, that room will be a rainbow of inspiration to people gathered to pray. However, the view of the room is not to be found by looking out, but by looking up. Prayers in The Room will be offered up behalf of the pastors and the churches of North America. The best view is always seen from God's perspective.
The call to pray for the next Great Awakening will take place in The Room. Prayers will be lifted up to God that will call on Him to do what only He can do. There has never been a greater need for Spiritual Awakening in America. The soul of a nation is at stake. The nation is in a crisis that man cannot solve. The view of The Room will be best seen by kneeling down before God and lifting up our empty bowls to Him in prayer. God's view will not be found by standing up and looking out the window, but by kneeling down in prayer and looking up to Him. When things look their worst, often God is up to His best.
"Man's extremity is God's opportunity." George Whitefield
It is my prayer that what takes place in The Room will become a model for what needs to be birthed in the lives of pastors and churches all over America. The Great Awakening that takes place in this nation will be a gift from a gracious Father who has heard the cries of His children. The Room can become a lab where the next generation of church leaders learns to cry out to God for what only He can give. If this inspiration takes place in the life of a pastor while a student on the campus, it will be replicated in the life and ministry of a pastor in the church.
"The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless work, prayerless studies or prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray." Samuel Chadwick
The Room is furnished with kneeling benches and a wonderful clock that shows the path of the sun as it moves across the nations of the world. The most important message contained in the room may very well be the Scripture verse that is framed, and placed on the wall to the left of the entry doors. It is an important reminder to the purpose of The Room.
"Call unto me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, that you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3
Father, we know from Your Word that You answer when Your children call, and admit to You that they do not know everything they need to know. Father, grant that The Room will be graced with the humility of those who enter this place to seek Your face, and discover the great and mighty things that will bring about The Great Awakening that only You can provide. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
The Warning pt 1
"And I saw among the naive, and discerned among the youths a young man lacking sense, passing through the street near her corner; and he takes the way to her house." PR 7:7-8
Proverbs 7 is a classic portrayal of a man steering himself away from the right path, and "descending to the chambers of death." It does not glamorize or romanticize the futility of "looking for love in all the wrong places." It gives a clear, concise summary of the consequences of continually making the wrong choices.
Everything that makes me laugh isn't funny. Recently I heard a former POTUS campaigning for a candidate, and he pontificated, "Why would you want a President who continually lies to you?" I burst out in what can only be typed as, "BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" It was loud!. No one under 30 got the joke.
The Pontificator in Chief went on to describe how, as a boy, getting caught, with his hand in a cookie jar caused him red-faced shame, and taught him the valuable lesson, to remove his hand.
Of course, he was lying. It is what he does. For eight years, he took the nation down a dark, and slimy road with his addiction to sexual sin and marital infidelity. As a grown man, his wandering eye and predatory hands grabbed for more than cookies. Everyone over 30 knew it. They got the joke, but it wasn't funny then, and the more he ages, the seedier his legacy becomes.
Proverbs warns us that dirty old men begin their journey towards depravity, at an early age. Sexual sin, like any other, does not age well. When young people observe older people engaging in some public form or it, their first response is, "EWWWWWWWWWW!"
The warning of Proverbs is designed to create that same, proper response in the heart of a young man. If a young man doesn't see sin, the way God sees it, he takes the exit off of the high way and ends up on a dead end street.
Notice the toxic cocktail described in the life of the young man in Proverbs. He was lacking sense, and he was passing through. He knew exactly where he was going. He knew when he was near his destination. This was no accident. It was a plan. He had done it before, and he would do it again.
Proverbs reveals a pattern of behavior. The young man had cruised by the home of the woman, until his "EWWW" turned to "WOW!" That happens every time a man puts black tape over the flashing light on the dashboard of his character. The warning light can no longer be seen, but the consequences remain on course.
Prayer keeps a man in touch with God's view on his behavior. Pilots have to file a flight plan before they take off. Checking in with the tower, avoids hitting debris on the runway, or the danger of flying into a storm. Prayer does the same thing. Before you reach the point of no return, check in with the tower. What appears to be a fly over, may lead to your downfall.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
The Lie
"Put away from you a deceitful mouth. And put devious speech far from you." Proverbs 4:24
The truth need not be a victim of a lie. The casusalties only mount up when words stop meaning what they once meant. Liars are shameless posers who use the same vocabulary other people use, but they change the meaning of the words to fit their own purpose. They have learned to be influence people by using their own private dictionary. They change the meanings to fit the occasion.
For a liar to be a very effective, they must first lie to themselves. This kind of deceitful and devious behavior is nothing new. Proverbs warns about deceitful lips of salesmen, strange women, and self-delusion. Listening to a lie and buying into it always exacts a high price from the consumer. Putting away a deceitful mouth and devious speech starts in one's own heart. The greatest protection a believer can have is the guard placed on his own mouth. Speaking the truth to oneself helps a believer identify when someone else is lying to them.
Recently I returned to my college notes from an upper level religion course taken at Baylor University in the Fall of 1971. The course was entitled: "American Cults and Sects." There were several comparative religion textbooks used for the course and the syllabus was a detailed outline of the various religious groups that have sprung up in the United States in the 19th and 20th Century. Mormonism was a major emphasis of this course of study.
The professor, Dr. Wood, was well prepared, non-judgmental and throughly professional in his presentations. Dr. Wood offered wise counsel to us. He told us we did not thoroughly understand what someone believed until our description of what they believed was agreed upon by them. I have found this to be great advice over the past 40 years. I have also found it extremely difficult to achieve. There is often a theological slight of hand that takes place in the arena of ideas. When people keep moving the pea under the cup, it is hard to pin them down of the differences between the defining issues.
My notes reflected that the original followers of Joseph Smith flirted with the same qualities associated with less accepted cults. They also revealed similarities with groups known as "Sectarian Judaism." Neither of these two positions made them embraceable by mainstream Protestantism in the 19th Century. Simply put, they used the same vocabulary, but they had a different dictionary. This is what makes what they really believe so difficult to describe to a post-modern culture in the 21st Century. Secularism has become the unwitting friend of Mormonism by expunging Christian beliefs from the public square for almost 100 years. Today when Evangelical Christians try to express what they believe in contrast to Mormons they are labled as intolerant bigots by the professional and social media. Even more disturbing is the fact that they are criticized by those who claim to hold mainstream Protestant beliefs.
Recent remarks by two pastors, one from Dallas and one in Houston, on the differences between Mormons and Christianity have gone viral. One simply stated what was taught 40 years ago, without venom or angst, at the largest Baptist University in the world. He was vilified as the new poster boy of intolerance. The other embraced Mormons into the mainstream of Christianity. He was deified as the new and improved Rodney King. In other words, "Can't we just all get along."
Mormons believe some things that I cannot bring myself to believe. That is why I am not a follower of their teachings. I take no offense at what they believe. I take offense only when they want me to believe that we believe the same thing. I would like to suggest that what a person believes says alot about them.
For someone to say that they do not care what a person believes as long as they do what they want them to do makes some kind of sense. For instance, a person who is a fine Christian and a lousy mechanic is going to be a huge disappointment to someone needing their car repaired. The better mechanic may not know the Good Book, but if he is Mister Good Wrench, the consumer leaves satisfied with the job that was done. He may also leave overcharged for the work that was done, because the mechanic has no value system that would stop him from doing unnecessary work and charging double for it.
Deceitful lips and devious speech have been around for a long time. The best protection from deception the believer has is the Word of God. It is the source of truth, and the well spring of God's wisdom. Read His Word, and liars stand out like microbes under a magnifying glass. The first level of exposure is in our own hearts. When we lie to ourselves, we do the most damage to ourselves. When we read God's Word we find how far we have drifted from Him. My father wrote in the fly leaf of a Bible he gave to me on my 12th birthday, "Sin will keep you from this book or this book will keep you from sin." Great advice.
We have very little control over the problem of deceitful and devious speech coming at us from the lips of others. They say it. We hear it, and something once said cannot ever really be unsaid. The best way to recognize it for what it is still comes from reading God's Word. Martin Luther once said, "I can't stop the birds from flying over my head, but I don't have to let them build a nest in my hair." Great perspective.
I am praying for two pastors today, one in Dallas and one in Houston. For the first one, I am praying for courage. For the second one I am praying for clarity. Oswald Chambers observed, "Discernment is given for intercession, never faultfinding." I think it is time for me to pray for them. They need it, and I need the practice. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
The Honor
"Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of your produce." Proverbs 3:9
Jesus lives to give. His life and death exhibit the character of God on the issue of giving. Paul reminded the Church at Ephesus of the last words Jesus spoke on the subject, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35
The glorification of the consumer culture often misses the point God has in mind when He blesses His children with more than they need to survive. He intends for His children to pour out on others in the same way He has poured out on them. It honors Him to see His children exhibit the character of Christ when He places in their hands the means to be a blessing to others.
God is not honored by His children hoarding what He has given them. He intends for His children to be known as generous, and life-giving relief to those who are passing through difficulty. Honoring the Lord with "your" wealth is a far cry from the demands of selfish people who expect to meet the needs of people they don't know with resources taken from someone else.
The tragedy of compassion in America began when the church of Jesus Christ abdicated to the government their God-given responsibility to care fo the needs of people. Tax exempt status for churches was established on the principle that the family of God was critical to providing the care and compassion needed by the less fortunate.
When churches of the Son of God become self-absorbed country clubs that ignore the cry of the less fortunate, it brings dishonor to the Father, and shame to the family name. For churches to mobilze marches and verbalize support for their pro-life position and yet have no passsion for funding adoption services or formula for single mother's is an appalling expression of hypocrisy.
God calls on His children to honor Him with their own wealth. This means giving from what they have in their hands, not what they hope to take from someone else. This also means includes setting a priority on giving to God first, and not leaving His Church the leftovers.
Honoring the Lord with your wealth takes place respect for Him is shown when dispensing discretionary income. We honor the Lord with our wealth when we ask for His wise counsel before we buy something stupid. Q: Is there any connection between consumer debt and being to proud to pray and ask for His advice before a purchase is made? A: HMMMMMMMMM! Can I get a big O yeah?!
A child enters into the world looking out for number one. A hungry child is only interested in having their own needs met. When they have fouled themselves, they scream for their own relief. The have no concern for the comfort of others. When faced with a competitor for a toy, they instinctively pull, pout and proclaim, "S'mine!"
The difference between a newborn child and a reborn child of God is the mature desire to bridge the gap between, "Mine!" and "Thine!" When seeking to honor the Lord with your wealth, prayer turns "Mine" into "Thine" every time. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
The Cry
"For if you cry for discernment; lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowlege of God." Proverbs 2:3-4
Allyson, our youngest daughter, was born in Houston, Texas on the eve of Hurricane Alicia, August 16, 1983. In July, Dana and I had been called to pastor a church in Tempe, Arizona and we were waiting for our new baby to arrive before making the move. We have often thought that in all the confusion of both arrivals, the names of Alicia and Allyson may have been switched. From the moment they both hit our beach the impact was life-changing.
Allyson was to have been our son. We had already picked out the name Austin in anticipation of the big day. When that little girl came on the scene, all pink and cuddly, she won my heart. No regrets here.
However, we soon discovered Allyson was a world class crier. She was relentless. She only let up due to complete exhaustion. After a little nap, she was back at it again. We did not know what to do, and she was getting on our last nerve. When you get thrown out of a McDonald's Burger joint, you know something has got to change.
Dana was at her wit's end with this new baby. She took being a good mother seriously, and having a baby that she could not comfort was very disconcerting for her. With both of her newborns, Dana readily embraced God's way for feeding her little ones. I fully supported her in that choice. It just didn't make sense for me to get up for those 2:00 AM feedings. Since I couldn't do anything to help her, and I might get in the way, I stayed in bed and prayed for her. You get the picture.
Still, I was beginning to have second thoughts about this second child. If we didnt' get some answers soon, life for us and Allyson was not going to get any better. We made another trip to the pediatrician, and he discovered the solution. He said, "She's crying because she's hungry." Dana felt so guilty. She had done everything by the book, and had been faithful to feed Allyson every time she cried, but nothing she did ever satisfied her. The doctor asked a few questions and concluded that the trauma and drama of the move from Texas to Arizona may have impacted the level of nutrients the baby was getting from mother's milk. He suggested starting her on cereal to see if that would solve the problem. It sounded too good to be true, but...
It was a miracle! I remember the day when the spoon touched Allyson's lips. Her little eyes widened in surprise, and then her survival instincts took over. She swallowed the contents and immediately opened up for more. After devouring everything she was offered, she became content, and fell asleep...for hours! It was amazing. Her crying stopped. She was transformed. She became more loveable. Her cries had finally been satisfied. She received what she needed, and she was at rest. Her crying had been an indication of her hunger. She was not being difficult or rebellious. She was calling out for help. She was not ever going to stop crying until her need was satisfied. Her crying was a call for someone to meet her need. Sound familiar?
"If you cry for discernment...then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.
Proverbs reminds us that the person who refuses to accept substitutes for what he really needs is going to have to cry out to God for wisdom. The word "cry" carries with it the idea of accosting a person met. Almost 700 times in the Old Testament, this Hebrew word is translated "call" or "cry." It communicates the passion of someone who willingly admits they are in need of knowledge and they hunger to be taught. Hungry people are not unreasonable. They are actually teachable. They know they will perish without consuming what they need. This is not a whimper, a whine or the faint cry of a victim. This cry is like that of a new born baby screaming for the nourishment that it needs for survival. This is not a point of preference, but an issue of survival.
Prayer is God's design to meet the needs of people who hunger after Him. From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus was very clear,
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6
The way you come on is the way you go on. Hungry people keep seeking nourishment. No matter how good the meals were yesterday, they are insufficient for the nourishment that is needed today. Prayer is God's meal plan for hungry people. When they read His Word, and cry out to Him for discernment, He supplies what they need...knowledge. This knowledge is tempered, flavored and guided by the character of Christ...wisdom.
It is not enough to know the truth about God. We must spend time with Him. Those who hunger after His Presence will receive insight that satisfies the longing of their heart.
"Knowing God's will in specifics comes out of consistent companionship with God." Lloyd John Ogilvie.
Discerning the fear of the Lord leads a person to intercede for the needs of others. God feeds His children to empower them to lead others to Him. The family name is not honored when His kids become self-absorbed Bible brats or divine divas seeking out preferential treatment or pious perks from their Super Sweet Sugar Daddy. Prayer provides access to God and releases the character of Christ that turns a person's focus away from their own navel and towards a lost world. Being fed results in being led to pray more for others than you do for yourself. It certainly means a well-fed person should learn to discern the difference between sharing and caring. Gossip is fed by talk and leads you to share. Compassion is fed by prayer and leads you to care. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
The Reproof
"Turn to my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you." Proverbs 1:23
Ron Dunn was the man God used to point out to me the importance of being under authority. He poured great insight onto a statement made by a Roman soldier who crossed paths with Jesus. The Centurion desired for Jesus to heal his servant, but he saw no need for Jesus to make a trip to his home to accomplish the task at hand. When Jesus offered to go to his home and heal his servant, the Centurion humbly expressed that he was not worthy of the honor. He said to Jesus, "I also am a man under authority."He encouraged Jesus to just speak the word and the will of The One He represented would be done. His submission to Caesar's authority enabled him to recognize Jesus held a similar position. Jesus had influence and power because of the honor and respect he held for the One who had sent Him. Jesus remarked, "Truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel...Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." Matthew 8:5-13
Reproof carries the description of a verbal rebuke. It is a concerned call to turn back from a dangerous path. It involves chastening and correction meant for direction and protection. It is based upon a genuine love that a parent has for a child, or a teacher has for his disciple to avoid the disastrous consequences that will result from uncorrected behavior. The word spoken is swift and it is sharp. It is meant to cut through the din of deafening and deceiving voices that have led someone to make poor choices. The same word is is used to describe correction, argument, rebuke, correction, chasten and reasoning. None of these word indicate a concern for a person's feelings, self-esteem, ego, or a toleration for the platitudes of political correctness. They are meant to convey a crisis is at hand and that a correction must take place immediately.
Turning, in and of itself, is a learning experiencing. Learning to trust God's Word to speak to us at the first sign of enemy activity allows Him to provide us direction, correction and protection. God's Word provides His Wisdom. The character of Christ, unveiled by His Spirit, sheds light in the darknes. We sometimes wander into the dark due to our own inclination to sin. We are inlcined to separate ourselves from The One who loves us the most. When we trust to be true in the dark, what we knew to be true in the light, we take a huge step in the right direction.
Repent is not a word that will ever be popular word in a culture that honors self-absorbed and the self-destructive behavior. Waywardness is wilfuluness moving away from the sound of God's still small voice of reproof. The longer we walk in the wrong direction, the stronger the reproof must be. Gov. Mike Huckabee was once asked if he had every heard God speak to him in an audible voice. Huckabee responded, "No it was much louder than that!" Now that's what I'm talking about! Can I get a witness?
Jay Strack passes on a valuable piece of insight for anyone interested in correcting behavior. He often says, "Rules without relationship always lead to rebellion." In other words, it is unlikely that you are going to have much success in turning a person back to the right path if that person has no respect for you. If the person in need of correction senses that you place more value on your rules than you do on them, they are likely to reject both you and your rules. Being right and being rightly related to someone are not one and the same thing. Go figure!
I know this is anecdotal analysis, but I am pretty sure the first complete sentence a child learns to say is, "You're not the boss of me!" There is something in the human spirit that makes even the youngest fool resent the fool out of being called a fool. There is even greater resentment and resistance generated by having to admit to being a fool.
Wisdom is a sign of maturity. It is not found in taking pride or taking credit for being right. It comes from the humility of making course corrections that are a result of having to admit that we are often wrong. One of the great reliefs of a child of God is the coming of age revelation that Father knows best. Reproof from God the Father is sent to His children with the divine intent of providing direction, correction and protection to the ones He loves the most. The rules are based upon the relationship He provided for His children through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son. He sustains this relationship with those He loves by the outpouring of His Spirit upon those who will quickly turn to the reproof of still small voice and the truth of His Word.
Turning leads to learning more about the Father's love for you. Thank God for His love for you. He loves you exactly the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you the way He found you. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
The Shield
"Every word of God is tested. He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you and you will be proved a liar." Proverbs 30:5-6
"In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." Ephesians 6:16
"Is this going to be on the test?" Every teacher has heard these words uttered in their classroom. It often expresses a lack of interest in what is being said at the moment. It reveals an inclination to ignore the lesson completely unless there is a consequence for not paying attention. In other words, "Is this important? Is it necessary? Is it something I need to know? Is this going to come back and haunt me at a later date?" When asked if a particular person was a student in one of his classes. A professor replied,
"No. He is not one of my students. He just attends one of my classes." Dr. William Barclay
Ouch! I sometimes resemble that remark. How about you? Know doubt about it, The Word of God has been tested and tried. These two words desribe a process. Tested involves purification. It comes from jettisoning a trust in anyone else but God. Tried refers to proven confience that results when protection from God is provided. When people face their toughest tests in life, they discover that the Word of God can be trusted for the answers to the test. Purification comes from God knocking you out of you so He can fill you with Himself. Proof in His protection comes from having tried a number of disappointing substitutes before coming to the conviction that God is really who He says He is, and everyone else is lying. People who are satisified to be filled with themselves or the false promises of others never hunger and thirst for what God has prepared on the menu for them.
The truth of the Word of God does not always make the test any easier, but it leads a genuine student of the Word of God. Jesus is always the right answer to any test that comes our way. Passing the test does not always mean surviving the test, or eventually thriving from it. The test is meant to be passed. This means the student of the Word must trust his Teacher for the length and the outcome of the exam. If the test is before him, it must be necessary and it must be passed. When asked what he had learned from a prolonged, and painful illness that would eventually take his life, one great man of God replied:
"Tell them the last test is always the hardest." Allen Redpath
There are no short cuts or easy roads for the person God intends to prepare for a great work. Dependency upon the Word of God provides refuge from the fire of the enemy, but not an exemption from the battle. Refuge is often only sought after running out of supplies. Reaching a point of physical exhaustion or spiritual battle fatigue leads a person to then end of themselves and the beginning of God. As long as a person feels adequate for the mission, they are tempted to believe they are equipped for it. Receiving new power for God's work comes from seeking greater protection from His Shield. This learning curve of preparation is not painless or void of fear. It comes from consistent companionship with The Champion, Jesus Christ, and it involves the fellowship of His suffering.
"For God to use a man greatly, He must hurt a man deeply." A.W. Tozer
The shield of faith provides protection from the flaming arrows of the enemy. Fear tempts a warrior to run in spite of having been ordered to stand and face the enemy. When the smell of the burning tar reaches his nostrils, and the screams of the wounded fill his ears, the warrior begins to doubt what he knows to be true.
Paul challenged the Church at Ephesus three times to stand firm and reminded them to pray at all times in the Spirit. He knew then what we know now. Prayer raises The Shield of The Champion to protect us while we shove The Sword of The Spirit down the throat of the enemy. Prayer silences the voice that questions the integrity of God's Word.
Prayer fuels faith. Talk feeds fear. Talking about a crisis takes our eyes off of The Champion, removes us from behind The Shield of protection, and fans the flames of the enemy. When the enemy hears believers talking themselves into fear it raised their morale, and encourages them to pour it on. Prayer turns our fear into faith, and drives the enemy to fear.
"The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless work, prayerless studies or prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray." Samuel Chadwick
Prayer draws us closer to the protection of The Champion's shield of refuge. Running to Jesus is how the warrior is able to stand firm in the face of the enemy's fiercest attack. Running away from the battle line leaves the warrior unprotected and vulnerable to the worst attack the enemy has to throw against him. The choice is between running away and running to pray. Choose wisely. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
The Summit
"I will lift up my eyes unto the hills. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord." Psalm 121:1
In August of 1973, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with a team of thirteen other people. Our two Tanzanian guides led us on a five day journey that would cover 85 miles and reach an elevation of 19,700 feet at Uhuru Peak. The first three days covered rolling foothills, rainforest, alpine meadows, high sierras, and the dusty saddle between Mt. Mawenzi and Kili. After three days, we found ourselves at 17,500 feet elevation at the base of "The Scree." This steep slope of fine, grey, sandy, volcanic ash created a formidable barrier between us and The Summit.
We were resting in crude shelters trying to rest up for the final ascent. The climb would begin at Midnight and take approximately eight hours to cover the last 2,000 feet. It would be a long cold night. Sleep was hard to come by, and food made us nauseous. Altitude sickness added to the sense of foreboding. We felt pretty bad right where we were, and were not looking forward to what was ahead.
We had a team meeting. We were now down to thirteen. One of our party had been escorted down the mountain due to oxygen deprivation. This meant we had one guide left. We could not make the climb without a trained, professional mountaineer. He was certified to take us to the top. He was the only one who had been to the summit, and he alone knew the way there and back. If anyone else had to turn back, the climb was over. We had come a long way. We were close, but we were still far away. One of our team had unsuccessfully attempted to make the climb on two other ocassions. She had made it this far, only to be turned back by sickness somewhere between The Scree and The Summit. We pledged to her, and to one another that we would all make it. It was a simple statement. There was no drama in saying it, but there would be trauma in keeping it.
We headed up the mountain in a slow, measured pace that traversed The Scree in a zig zag pattern of steps that seemed slower than necessary. We became impatient and critical of the guide's patient plodding. We were ready to get on with it. He knew more about the next few hours than we could understand at that moment in time. We would become quick learners. As the slope grew steeper, our pace grew even slower. The dust from the ash coated our tongues, and dried out our mouths. When we reached for our canteens, we found the water frozen by the drop in temperature we were encountering. Thirst would soon become a huge issue. The darkness made the climb seem endless. It became an intimidating series of steps that were three paces forward, and two paces back. We were almost walking in place. Progress was slow, and our lack of depth perception gave us no markers to help us gain our bearings. We were in the hands of the guide.
At one point, we came to a frozen spring seeping through the rock wall, and we broke off ice-cycles to try and suck some water out of them. It stuck to our lips and tore at our flesh. It was frustrating to be so close to water, and not be able to get life from it. We moved on into the night. Halfway through the night, our legs and our lungs were on fire, but our hands and our feet were freezing. We had two members of the team experience servere reactions to the lack of oxygen. One collapsed and the other started moving down the mountain. I had to tackle the one who had reversed course, and drag him on my back, until we regained our ground. The guide said that if anyone else tried to leave, he was taking us all down the mountain. Four of us began to trade off carrying the two sick team members up the mountain. Literally, we took two steps and collapsed. Then we passed them on to the other. It was a rotating, passing of a heavy baton for the next four hours. I thought my lungs would explode.
By dawn, we arrived at the lower summit, and saw the sun rise up out of the clouds. We were all very near the highest peak on the continent of Africa. However, there was still more ahead for six of us who pushed on to The Summit. It was only another 500 feet, but by the time we crossed the soft snow and melting ice of the glacier, we arrived at Uhuru Peak four hours later. This meant, we had time to take a picture, and write a message in the log book, and then leave before the snow storm that was heading our way socked us in. I wrote the verse of Scripture that I quoted at the top of this blog. I did one more thing. I promised myself that I would never scratch the itch to come back to this spot on the earth.
When we made our way down The Scree, it took minues as opposed to hours. What was once a night filled with gasping for air and grasping for a foothold, was now filled with laughter and joy. What took eight hours to climb took less than an hour to descend. Gravity was our new best friend. When we arrived at the base of The Scree we were ravenous. We had not eaten the night before, and we had expended a huge amount of energy. We didn't count calories. We shoved everything edible into our mouths and washed it down with ice cold water. A group of Dutch Air Force climbers were observing us as we gorged ourselves. They had just arrived at this level of elevation, and I remember their faces were a serious shade of green. They all suffered from the nausea of oxygen deprivation, and could not comprehend our behavior. How could they? They had not been to the summit. We had been to a place in our lives that had made a profound difference in our ability to cope with conditions that had once been a major obstacle to us. We had returned to the same location, but we had a different perspective. We were able to overcome the obtacles down below, because we had been to The Summit. We did not have the capacity to live at The Summit. The climb had been part of the journey to prepare us for The Summit. The Summit had prepared us live life with a greater degree of joy in the face of people who could not comprehend where we had been. Even though we had to return to a lower elevation we were experiencing a higher standard of living.
This week of ReFesh at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia has reminded me of that week on Mount Kilimanjaro. The climb up Kili did not prepare us to be planted permanently at The Summit, but it equipped us to handle life in the valley in ways that once seemed inconceivable to us and to others. ReFresh is a great opportunity to meet with Jesus. I am so glad that God has sustained the vision for this conference in the heart of Michael Catt, and the sweet people of Sherwood. Since 2003, I have always looked forward to it as a time to gain a higher perspective and prepare for a restorationof power for life in the valley.
When I leave the city limits of Albany, I do not leave my Guide behind. The climb to The Summit of Refresh is not the ultimate goal of the conference for me. It is all about reconnecting with my Guide. Jesus guided the couple on the Road to Emmaus back from the intimidating hill of Calvary and gave them a new perspective as they made their way home. Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished." On the Road to Emmaus, The Risen Christ interrupted two despondent people gasping for breath and grasping for a foot hold on a slippery slope of dispair. They had talked themselves senseless, when He showed up, and asked them what they were talking about. In anger, Cleopas snapped saracastically, "Are you the only one who doesn't know about the things that have been happening around here." Jesus responded graciously, "WHAT THINGS?" He interrupted their independent lecture series and turned it into a converstation with Him. The more He shared with them, the greater their heart burned for more of Him. He did so by responding to their invitation to stay with them.
Jesus always responds to the invitation, "Stay with us!" He always has more to share with us. When we are willing to let Him make sense out of the senseless, the valley experiences are enriched and impacted by what He teaches us at The Summit. My prayer for those who attended ReFresh 2011 is for their heart's cry to be "STAY WITH US!" As we return to the valley, there is no need to leave the guiding hand of Jesus. He has so much more to share with us. What He finished on the cross has just begun to be shared with those around us. If you pass me on the road, honk if you have learned to TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
Thanks Michael!