The Joy

"If you ask The Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." John 16:26

Prayerless people miss out on the joy of the journey. Life is filled with many twists and turns, and ups and downs. The pace ranges from fast and furious to slow as molasses. The locations are at times exotic, and others times just plain exhausting. There is nothing like a mind-numbing delay in a waiting room to give you an appreciation for the thrill of being chased through a dimly lit tunnel, by forces of darkness.

The terror and the terrain come and go, but the one thing a praying person can count on, through it all, is the availability of the consistent companionship of The Spirit of Christ. The Spirit provides joy for the journey. This joy is the infusion of courage to hand on in the dark, and to walk towards The Light. Prayer breathes in fresh air for the courage to take the next step, and blows out the air of despair that leaves a believer gasping for life and grasping at straws.

Note to self: Come what may. Don't delay! PRAY!

Jesus told His disciples that God loves them so much, for loving His Son, that they were given the privilege of taking any request they had to The Father, in the name of His Son. Prayer, at its most profound and purest form, is access to God. Just because this amazing access can be abused by others, doesn't excuse a believer's from letting it go unused.

Believing prayer moves a person from face to face with their crisis, to face to face with God. Prayer takes the eyes of a believer off of the cause of the problem to The Source of the solution. Talking keeps a person preoccupied with, "What's the matter?" Praying seeks to occupy oneself with The One who matters. Big difference.

One of the most repeated, and promise filled challenges Jesus gave to His disciples was, "Ask anything in My name."
It sounds like an abuse waiting to happen. It seems to fall into the trap of Murphy's Law, "If anything can go wrong, it will."

What could possibly go wrong with this kind of open-ended promise from The Son of God? Said with serious sarcasm and sanctified shock face. Surely people would never try to use the name of Jesus to achieve selfish ambition or satisfy personal greed." OK. I know. That wasn't very convincing.

I don't have to point out the preponderance of evidence provided by TV preachers and radio gurus calling on people to ask God for a blessing, but to make their checks out to them. All I have to do is read my own prayer journals to see my tenacious tendency to minimize the majesty of this powerful promise. It's embarrassing. Let's move on.

Jesus offered prayer to His disciples, as fresh air for their lungs, when they found themselves suffocating in the midst of a crisis of faith. His disciples didn't have a clue what they were about to face. We don't either, but Jesus did then, and He knows now. He prepared His disciples, then and now, to pray. No one really knows what each day will bring. What is known is how to prepare for and process whatever the day brings. Jesus did it. Jesus said it. His disciples will obey Him and PRAY, in His name.

Asking God for His direction, protection and correction is not going to guarantee a life of health and wealth. It doesn't even keep a person from making the wrong decision or taking the wrong path. Prayer is not fool proof. Fools pray for what they want. In His wisdom, God often gives it to them.

Wisdom comes from learning that often what we want is not what we need. Wise people pray their way through the dark, and into the light, until they see that what they want still falls short of God's best for their lives. The wise learn to pray for what God knows is best for them, not what they think is good for them. Satan is not the enemy of the good as much as he is the enemy of the best.

A fool becomes wise by admitting to God what He already knows, and refusing to accept foolishness as the final verdict on his life. In short, a fool becomes a wise by choosing consistent companionship with God.

Prayer involves walking through life in constant conversation with God. This trip begins with and continues down the avenue of prayer. The joy comes from the change of heart that takes place from praying. Prayer produces courage that comes from knowing God is as close as the next breath. Courage is the breath for the soul that only prayer can provide. Remember, the joy is in the journey, and Jesus is walking with you. Come what may today...TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

"In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." - Jesus (John 16:33)

The Advantage

"It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." John 16:7

Three years ago, on Independence Day, Dana and I launched out on another step of faith, in our adventure of a lifetime. We have learned to find the joy in the journey of trusting God to make a way when there seems to be no way.
There is nothing like it.

Dana and I met in Fort Worth, Texas on September 9, 1974. For almost 40 years, we have prayed our way together through the stages of life, beginning with roller-coaster dating, an exciting engagement, an amazing marriage, and challenging ministry.

We have been blessed by two beautiful daughters, and one son-in-law. We knew enough about God to lead us in the baby steps that led us to our marriage, but in June of 1980 we took our marriage to another level. Agreeing to pray together, has proven to be the greatest decision we have ever made in our lives.

For some time, we had been praying and preparing for the final years of our ministry together. In July 2009, Dana began sensing an increased urgency to roll out a prayer ministry to encourage husbands and wives to pray together. This had done so much for us, we felt compelled to challenge others to do it. In January 2010, God began to open up doors for us to share what He had put on our hearts. Thank you, Pastor Don Andrews of Haven Baptist Church, Kansas City, Kansas, for being the first church to invite us to present our prayer emphasis, "TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!."

In his book, "Turnaround Churches," George Barna challenged the church (pastors and people- emphasis mine) to "utilize prayer as the world class weapon in the battle against evil." I share Barna's belief that God's chosen weapon of warfare, in the battle against an enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy, is prayer.

With all the armor available to us, we have precious little power to use the arsenal of faith until we "Pray at all times in The Spirit." (Ephesians 6: 18) This is the advantage of prayer. It calls for The Spirit of The Champion to come alongside an intimidated soldier in the ranks of God's army.

"Praying in The Spirit" is how we take up The Armor of God. To make a stand against the world forces of darkness, we must take our eyes off of the enemy and place them on The Champion. Jesus promised His disciples, and us, that it was to our advantage that He go, and He send The Helper. His very name means, called along side to help.

When any trutprayer partners, but especially husbands and wives, parents and children, pray together, they call out to God, in the name of Jesus, for The Spirit to come along side of them. The Spirit's Presence and power gives them an advantage over the enemy seeking to intimidate and annihilate them.

The truth is this. The enemy fears the return of The Champion. When God's people pray, they take their stand against the enemy, in the name of Jesus. Calling out for The Spirit of Christ, in the very name of Jesus, strikes fear in the enemy camp. Hearing His name weakens the knees of those forces of darkness standing in the ranks, shouting insults in the battle line.

Being well equipped and prayerless does not deter the enemy. Prayerless people put a welcome mat out for an enemy occupation that leaves nothing but scorched earth in its path. On this 4th of July, take a good hard look at a nation founded on Christian principles, and ask yourself if you feel like the church is gaining ground or giving it up.

This is not a tough call to make. Just listen to the voices gathered in Austin, Texas this week, supporting a bill to abort children who have spent 20+ weeks in their mother's womb. Did you hear them shouting, "Hail, Satan!" The response of Christians standing against them was a song, "Amazing Grace." Amazing indeed.

Anything that drives you to your knees to pray, God can use to your advantage. How? Prayer is an admission that you have come to the end of yourself, and in need of The Spirit of Christ to come alongside of you to help you. How does He help. First The Spirit confuses the enemy, and then He infuses you.

E.P. Hovey, a great Presbyterian preacher and pastor to the Northwest USA, during the first half of the 20th Century, described The Spirit of Christ as "a blood transfusion for courageous living." He does this in the present tense. He doesn't offer a nostalgic whiff of mothballed battle flags of days gone by. In the stench and clamor of battle, He blows away the fog of war with a blast of a trumpet and reveals the weakness of the enemy.

The forces of darkness don't fear us, but they fear Jesus. The old Gospel song hit the right note. "WE HAVE HEARD THE JOYFUL SOUND! JESUS SAVES! JESUS SAVES!" When the enemy hears the trumpet sound and the mention of His name, they take their eyes off of you. They look up to see if Jesus is on His way back. They believe Jesus is coming again, more than the contemporary church does. Use it against them.

Can you see it now? You are not alone. Jesus has given you a distinct advantage over your enemy by sending you The Spirit. After three years of walking through the roll out of a new ministry, Dana and I have never been more confident of this truth. Every time we have called on The Spirit to come alongside of us, in the name of Jesus, we have experienced the reality of God's direction, protection and correction. There is nothing like the confidence of knowing that praying in the name of Jesus confuses the enemy and infuses us. Join us on the journey.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Mark

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

The best definition of a disciple I know, I owe to Dr. Oscar Thompson. Now in Heaven, Dr. Thompson bravely battled cancer while serving as Professor of Evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. He was a good friend and mentor. He said...

A disciple is someone who...
1. Has a personal relationship with the teacher.
2. Allows the teacher to exercise authority and jurisdiction over his life.
3. Is willing to face persecution for what they believe.

See what I mean? More than a learner of lessons, accumulator of facts, or a sporadic attender, a disciple is made of sterner stuff. Beginning with a relationship, disciples follow the leader, courageously trusting in Jesus, come what may.

The Greeks were poetic people with a powerful grasp of man's potential for greatness and tragedy. They coined words that remain with us today. Two of them still describe the nature of man and the greatness of God.

"Hubris" was used to describe over-weening pride in an average man who dared to rise to greatness. The Greeks recognized that as men rose above their humble roots, they had a way of thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to think. When a man's estimation of himself rose to such an offensive level that the stench reached the nostrils of the gods, the gods knocked a prideful man down to size. Sounds like the voice of experience.

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." - C. S. Lewis

"Agape" was one of at least four words the Greek philosophers used to describe love. They didn't have any examples of it, but they knew the world needed it. Long before Hallmark cards and jewelry store commercials, they promoted something that people longed for, but had never seen, selfless love. It has been defined as "unconquerable benevolence, and undefeatable goodwill. It praised the capacity to willingly express an "in spite of" love, rather than a "because of" kind of love. Rare indeed. Sound familiar?

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

Love is not something God believes. Love is who God is. It is His nature to love. His love is offered to man, through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Those who are drawn to the benefits of God's love, often try to race past Jesus, and ignore the cross. All that blood and gore seem so messy and unnecessary to the pride of man.

Prideful people are willing to admit, "I misspoke." They may even confess, "Mistakes were made." Groveling for a second chance from one's peers is not the same thing as crying out to God for forgiveness.

The mission statement of the contemporary church should be, "After all, we all make mistakes." Pride keeps people from admitting that they are a sinner, and in need of forgiveness. Getting a do over and being forgiven are two different things. The first ignores the sin. The second restores the sinner.

Prideful people won't let a person get up when they have been knocked down. It would cost them a false sense of superiority. They won't let a person forget they made a mistake in the past, because their lives are driven by The Accuser, in the present tense. Just ask Paula Deen. Ever say the N-word? Ever think about it? Yeah, I thought so.

The family of God is birthed by The Forgiver. It is the last safe haven for forgiveness, and it also the where God's greatest expression of love can be found. It is not a place of do-overs or make-overs, coverup artists or makeup tips. God's family is made up of people who have had a life-changing encounter with His Son, Jesus. God's love cost Jesus His life. It ought to cost His disciples at least a bit of inconvenience.

"God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way." Leighton Ford

Reciprocal relationships are best described by "the one another" passages of The Bible. They are not a form of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." Those self-serving, suffocating expressions lead to cronyism in the church and Congress in D.C. Don't trust either one.

"Love one another" isn't erotic emotionalism, nor is it triggered by some robotic mechanism. It is the capacity of one forgiven person to accept another forgiven person in the climate of God's love. Neither person makes excuses for the sin they see in themselves or they see in another.

People in need of forgiveness run to God's love and meet "one another" at the foot of the cross. At the cross there is little room for an air of superiority. A person who has just recently been confronted by their own sin, and had it placed under the blood of Jesus, is not in a position to lord it over a person in the same condition.

Humiliation comes from facing our own sin, not by pointing out another's sin. Confessed sin should lead to humility. Rationalization leads to pride. The forgiven feed one and starve the other.

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
Actor, Ryan O'Neill's quote from the 1970's Hollywood film "Love Story"

What hogwash! Poor theology leads to pathetic parenting and prideful progeny. The church culture of permissiveness is not too much different from the world's culture of "live and let live." People who are in the wrong are often the first to say, "Can't we all just get along?" The answer is, "No!" Prideful people are so full of themselves, there is no room for concern about anyone else.

"Love one another." The mark of a Christian is love. It is not expressed by permissiveness, but forgiveness. Love confronts sin, not with an air of superiority, but with a sense of destiny. This love is alarmed over seeing a person stumbling blindly over a cliff, and lovingly throws themselves into their path to block them from disaster. This can be done in many different ways, but there is no better way to impede a person's fall than to intercede for them that they never trip. If prevention is a pound of cure, then intercession does a ton of good. Try it.

"Discernment if given for intercession, never fault-finding." Oswald Chambers

In the heart of man, there is a God-shaped vacuum that can only be filled with Jesus. (Homage to mathematician and philosopher Blaise Paschal) Love has the capacity to focus on what God has in mind for a person, not what they have done. It doesn't ignore the sin, but love intercedes for the sinner. Love does not mean diluting God's judgement of sin, but it does discard a judgmental attitude toward the sinner. Praying for people who are in need of forgiveness, leaves little time for criticizing them.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Purpose

"Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." John 11:41-42

Do you pray by accident or on purpose? Jesus prayed with one purpose in mind; that the people standing around would believe God sent Him to save them.. Even raising the dead took second stage to raising the level of belief in the people who heard Jesus pray.

When people hear you pray, they may walk away saying, "What a great prayer!" When some heard Jesus pray, they believed in a great God. Others sought to kill Him. Great praying leads to great believing or great opposition. Weak praying inspires no belief, nor does it alarm the opposition.

"Many of the Jews who saw what He had done, believed in Him...But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done." John 11: 45-46

The biggest fear of The Pharisees was about maintaining their place in the sun, not embracing The Son. When Jesus raised the dead, they made plans to bury Him. Prayerless people worship at their own altar, and won't allow any outside interference by God to alter their plans.

"If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." John 11:48

Prayer is not about building consensus or making peace, with those standing around you. It is about glorifying God, and generating belief in Him, by those standing around you.

Glorifying God and believing in Jesus are life-changing steps of repentance. They require a change of direction and a disruption in our personal plans.

You haven't begun to pray, until you encounter resistance from your friends and opposition from your enemies. Every step along the way to the tomb, Jesus encountered people who loved Him, but couldn't understand why He hadn't been there, when they needed Him most.

Disappointment in Jesus is often a result of thinking He missed an appointment you made for Him. When He didn't keep it, and failed to arrive on your schedule, you lost confidence in Him. His past "failure" didn't lead Mary and Martha to hate Jesus. Their past pain clouded their eyes until they couldn't see how Jesus could be of any significant help to them in the present. This happens A LOT!

Prayer brings Jesus into the pain of your present tense. When Jesus shows up, the past is simply the prologue to the impact He can make in the present. Mary and Martha had no expectation of Jesus raising their brother from the dead. The very thought of smelling a dead man nauseated them. Jesus did it, anyway.

When Jesus prayed, He not only raised the dead, but He raised the level of belief in those people standing around. WARNING: Just because people believe more in what God can do, doesn't mean they want more of God. In the case of Lazarus, answered prayer generated belief in some, and rebellion in others. It usually does.

The slightest sign of awakening in the life of a family member or in the life of a church often brings opposition. A wayward husband, who turns back to God, often robs a selfish woman of her lime-light at the local prayer and tear session at her church. Now that he has changed from death to life, her need for sympathy hugs, and mantle of spiritual superiority are gone. She comes to resent the loss. Sad but true.

When God visits a local church or a nation with a Great Awakening, there will always be those who may tolerate it, but they will never embrace it. They bide their time and wait for things to, "Get back to normal." Since most churches are not life-giving, but simply death-defying, this usually means more rouge on the corpse. God offers a wake up call, not a make up session.

Others will do their best to pour cold water on Awakening, by offering up faint praise, indeed. There will also be those who try to snuff it out, by generating open opposition to it. These selfish efforts are led by prayerless people who don't want their plans disrupted or their place of power challenged. Ignore them and pray for the next Great Awakening, anyway. Raise the dead.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Sheep

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." John 10:27

The Swahili language is a trade language in East Africa. It is a conglomeration of hundreds of tribal dialects, Arabic, Portuguese, English and a host of other linguistic influences. As a result, it is not as poetic as Greek, or as descriptive as Hebrew, but it has a pragmatic, versatility that still communicates the big picture.

The word used for pastor in Swahili is the same word used for cowboy or shepherd boy. Herding unruly sheep and serving as a pastor of a church have at least one thing in common. Both require the constant use of a voice that the sheep can hear, identify with and follow. In a land of free grazing and no branding irons, a shepherd's voice and his sheep's response to it are the signs of ownership.

In East Africa, claiming sheep that don't respond to his voice can get a shepherd in hot water. When pastors claim sheep that don't respond to The Shepherd's voice, their church will be in hot water too.

Dr. Oscar Thompson was my Professor of Evangelism at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1978 he gave me a great definition of a Christ follower or disciple of Jesus, It was the finest I had ever heard. It hasn't been improved upon since the first day I heard it.

A disciple is at the very heart of the meaning of the word, a follower. Therefore...

1. A Disciple is someone who has a personal relationship with their teacher.

2. A Disciple is someone who allows their teacher to exercise authority or jurisdiction over their life.

3. A Disciple is someone who is willing to face persecution for what they believe.

Thanks Dr. Thompson. Before you went to Heaven, you did a lot of good. May those who heard your voice be faithful to repeat what you said. The church needs disciples that reflect this kind of relationship with Jesus.

William Barclay was once asked if a particular person was one of his students. The professor responded, "No, he only attends my classes."

These two professors did not share much in common theologically, but they both give a clear picture of discipleship as something more than a pursuit of education or the passion for accumulation. Discipleship is marked by application.

Association with the teacher is more than attending a lecture. It is about applying what the teacher says. Sheep respond to the shepherd's voice and students receive what their teacher says. They take what they hear into the hearts, and not just into their heads. The former changes the way they live. The latter only changes their grade.

Ongoing wars between theological camps exist because of the pride people place in themselves, as the final authority. One camp prides themselves in knowing more. The other camp prides themselves in believing more. The argument goes something like this, "If you knew what I know, you wouldn't believe as much as you think you believe." The other camp responds with, "If you believed what I believe, then you wouldn't be so impressed with what you think you know."

One camp mocks what the other camp believes about how a person can come to Jesus and be made right with God. One leans on an exact point in time and a specific prayer. The other is not too clear when it happens, except that it is undeniable when it does. There is little agreement between them.

The simple picture of obedient sheep, as presented by Jesus, is a great help. His sheep follow Him. Those who say they are His sheep, but don't obey His voice are not His sheep. Pretty clear.

One camp needs to admit that after praying there must be obeying. Praying for Jesus to come into a person's heart should reveal a change of heart. Thompson's Rule describes a new sheriff is in town. Sheep once prone to wander should be primed to obey. They need to stop making excuses for deaf and blind sheep who make a mockery of The Shepherd's voice.

The other camp needs to stop slaying the praying. Mocking a person who prays to ask Jesus into their heart is a poor substitute for intercession. Praying for a person to make a genuine connection with Jesus is a much better response to their search for Him. Stow the sarcasm, and start the intercession. Where there is genuine passion for Jesus, there is a passion to pray like Him.

Jesus said His sheep hear Him and obey Him. Those who don't hear and obey Him are not His. The sheep in His flock will look and act like Him. Jesus prayed...A LOT! Have you prayed too much for the sheep lately? Yeah. Me neither.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Messenger

"Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks." John 7:46

From his earliest days of ministry, the message Jesus delivered didn't build a consensus, it split the house. When He arrived in Jerusalem, the people who heard Him speak were divided by what they heard Him say. He said it anyway.

"So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him." John 7:43

Given the task of seizing Jesus, by the religious leaders of the day, the officers of the court were mesmerized by what they heard. They returned to their rulers empty handed. When they showed up without Jesus, they were accused of having become converts to His message.

"You have not also been led astray, have you?" John 7:47

False accusation and intimidation are at one and the same time the twin towers of refuge and siege weapons of tyrants. These men were the religious elite who claimed right standing before God, and paraded their righteousness before men. They were not about to give up their turf to a vagabond prophet from the sticks of Galilee.

"Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee." John 7:52

These religious leaders were appearing to be honest brokers in the search of the Scriptures. They were not suggesting a thorough search of the Scriptures be made to find out if The Messiah had any roots in Galilee. They were making an ominous prophecy that Jesus was not going to be allowed to build a following on their watch. Jesus knew they meant to kill Him.

"He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him." John 7:1

These religious leaders would be true to their word, regardless of what The Word said. Jesus would have to go, if they were going to stay. Man-made religion must always snuff out any spark of a God-given relationship, if it is to survive.

The preacher is not a communicator who seeks to build a crowd or a consensus. Catering to the audience, searching for applause and approval of his speech is the motivation of a communicator, not a messenger. The preacher is a messenger of The Gospel, The Good News, delivering a God-sent message. He resists every temptation to water it down to make it easier to swallow.

The preacher, as the herald of the king, was one of the earliest pictures I was given of preaching. Dr. Harold Freeman, Professor of Preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, made it clear that preaching was not a matter of putting together a sermon or a speech, but it was all about delivering a message. Thanks Dr. Freeman.

The herald of the king would be handed a document, a horse, and a trumpet. He was to ride the horse into the town squares of the cities surrounding the palace, blow the trumpet and read what the king had given him. The messenger was not to vary from the script, ad lib or embellish the message. He was to deliver it.

Dr. Freeman's training included the question: "What do you intend for people to do as a result of what they hear you say?" Great question. Preaching today seems to have lost the intensity of intentionality. It is more about glorifying the personality of the communicator than it is about delivering a message from The King. When the fog of the personality of the messenger dims the view of The King, the messenger has been unfaithful to his commission.

Preaching must not deteriorate to the level of a communicator trying to connect with his audience. When it does, a preacher becomes an embarrassment. Posing as a mouse that roared is a poor substitute for the messenger of The Lion of Judah.

When people heard Jesus speak, it was life-changing, not heart-warming. Jesus spoke with power, authority and passion drawn from having His will forged into The King's will, in the furnace of prayer. Jesus never wavered from His mission, because He never wandered away from intimacy with His Father. Prayer was the arena in which His heart was melted and then pounded into The Father's heart, until the two could not be distinguished, one from the other.

The practice of prayer never allows for script changes to The Message. It creates heart changes in the life of the messenger. Jesus prayed, and God released His power through Him, as He delivered the message of The Father.

When Jesus delivered the Sermon on The Mount, The Constitution of The Kingdom, he used a unique phrase that set Him apart from the other rabbis of His day. He would say, "You have heard it said...BUT, I say to you." No one had ever spoken like this before. He was not shoring up His argument or message with quotes from other rabbis. He was placing more emphasis on connecting with The King, than making connection with His audience or key men. Big difference.

No wonder Jesus made such an impression on these officers sent to seize Him. Hearing Jesus speak must have been like a breath of fresh air, after having served as deputies in the court of The Sanhedrin. They were used to the kind of arrogance that can only be generated by great learning.

A keen mind with a cold heart can be a vicious instrument. On the other hand, a hot heart with an empty head is no bargain. Jesus had a keen mind, filled with understanding of The Word of God and a hot heart stirred by The Will of God, His message was fanned into flame by His intimacy with the Father. through prayer. His fire brought heat and light. The messengers of Jesus should always bring both.

No man had ever spoken like Jesus before. It was not a result of eloquence or education that gave Him connection with the hearts of those who heard Him. It was His connection with The Father who sent Him to deliver His message to them. The messengers of Jesus would do well to remember His source of power.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Will pt. 3

"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." John 6:40

Reports coming out of Houston indicate that baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention are at their lowest level in 65 years. This means that in my life-time, the SBC has drifted from a passionate pursuit of The Father's will. The stats from the states indicate they have embraced a self-serving form of Christianity that has elevated pride in their system, but has produced fewer converts to the Savior.

Why is that? It is hard to pin point the exact moment when this denomination got off course, since it is made up of autonomous churches responsible for making their own decisions, and setting their own priorities. Their loose association with a denominational structure has always been tempered by a spirit of independence that refuses to be dictated to by a top down form of leadership.

In the past 65 years Southern Baptist Churches have increased in number, wealth and membership, but not in fruit. That is disturbing. The solution requires a course correction that cannot be made by a new curriculum, a name change or the election of a consensus building President of the convention. Apparently, believing in the inerrancy of The Word of God is a poor substitute for applying the Word of God. Unfortunately, knowing what God said, and doing what God said are two different things. Some religionists have turned it into an art form that fails to reflect the image of Christ.

Jesus did not come down from heaven to do His own will, but the will of His Father who sent Him. (John 6:38) Prayer was the tool He used to keep Himself under the umbrella of God's authority and to maintain His Father's sense of direction for His life. His followers must not fail to do the same.

The redemptive plan of God was kept on course by The Redeemer keeping the lines of communication open with His Father. It is unlikely that those who are called to carry out The Father's mission and The Redeemer's commission will be able to flourish by the omission of prayer.

Prayerless people are rebellious people. By this act of omission, more than by any other act of commission, they magnify their mission, but they miss God. Prayerless people have a tendency to build up their system, while burning their bridges to The Savior. Without seeking His Father's face, Jesus would have become enamored with His mission, more than His Master. This only happens to prayerless people...EVERY TIME.

"Prayer is the intimate communication between the Heavenly Father and His child." Don Miller

This remains one of the classic definitions of prayer, and enforces the kind of emphasis prayer had on the life of Jesus. It was not a daily devotional exercise that freed Him to then launch into His own agenda. Prayer was a life-giving conversation with His Father. Prayer provided Him with direction and protection. As a result of prayer Jesus never needed His Father's correction. He obeyed Him the first time His Father spoke to Him. It is time for Southern Baptists to do the same, before it is too late.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Water

"Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 4: 14

Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. His request led to a conversation between them and to her encounter with the living water that only Jesus can give. She went back to the city a changed woman and told her story.

"From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, 'He told me all the things I have done.' " John 4:39

The Samaritans were so intrigued by what they heard the woman say about Jesus, and what they saw in her life, that it peaked in them a thirst for more. The living water that poured out of her gave them a craving for a personal taste of what Jesus had offered to her. They called on Jesus to stay with them, and He spent two more days pouring into their lives what they needed to quench their thirst, living water.

"Many more believed because of His word, and they were saying to the woman, 'It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world."

The New Testament reveals that Jesus stays where He is welcome. He simply moves on when He is not. The Samaritans asked Him to stay. When Jesus acted as if He would go farther, the discouraged couple on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) urged Him to, "Stay with us." In both cases, Jesus honored their sense of urgency for his Presence. He always will.

My Aunt Isabell had an unusual contraption on her kitchen counter, right next to the sink. I had never seen anything like it. I was seven years old, and on a vacation trip with my family from Dallas, Texas. When I asked what it was, she explained it was a vital part of her household. She and my Uncle Frank lived in a beautiful, old farmhouse, just outside of Bloomsburg, PA. The long-handled green pump provided cold, clear drinking water when it was properly primed. Who knew?

Right next to the pump was a pitcher of water. When I asked if I could have a drink, my aunt did something very unusual. She poured the pitcher of water down the pump neck and started cranking, up and down, the handle connected to the spout on the pump. It seemed to me to be a waste of water, and a lot of work, with very little result for the investment or the effort. Suddenly, I heard a groaning sound, and then water gushed out of the spout. She asked me to grab the pitcher and fill it up. I moved a chair close to the sink, and climbed up on it, and held the pitcher under the waterfall. IT WAS FREEZING COLD. I dropped the pitcher, picked it up, and before I knew it, the water was flowing over the top of my container and running down the sink. There was so much water coming out of the spout, that I couldn't catch it all. Even after she stopped cranking the handle, water kept coming out of the pump.

I had never seen anything like it. I had never felt anything like it, but the best was yet to come. My aunt poured a glass of water from the pitcher into a glass and handed it to me. It was SO cold. It hurt my teeth, when I tried to drink it, and it shot like iced lightning into my head and gave me a brain freeze. It was amazing. The thought of it today still gives me a shiver.

I had just been introduced to the principle of priming the pump. The results were very different from my previous experience with kitchen sinks. I learned it is possible for two sinks to offer two different things. Getting a glass full of lukewarm tap water from my sink in Texas never quenched my thirst, nor did it leave me thirsty for more. The water from both sinks was wet, but that is where the similarities ended. From one flowed tepid tap water, connected to shallow pipes under my house. They were part of a water line that was tapped into a man-made reservoir full of sunbaked, run off water. The other was connected to a deep, fresh water well far below a farmhouse. It had been sand filtered, sheltered from the sun, and hidden from view until my aunt tapped into it. One left me with wet lips, but the other left me refreshed, from my head to my toes.

Priming the pump requires an investment. The water contained in the pitcher, next to the pump, must be poured down the its neck. It looks like a total waste. It is not. It creates a vacuum that draws the water from the well, into the pipes, up the neck and out of the spout. Cranking the handle, without priming the pump, is a waste of energy. It looks productive, but it is merely activity without productivity. Sound like any churches you know? Yeah, me too.

The water Jesus offered the woman at the well was the gift of His Presence and an offer of forgiveness for her sin. The investment she made was a listening ear and an obedient response. The tepid tap water of her life was poured into the promise Jesus made to her. In a flash a new way of life rose up out of her and poured out on all those around her. She couldn't contain all that Jesus had given her. She had to share it with others. They heard what she said, and saw the change in her life, and it made them thirsty for more. Changed lives always do.

The living water Jesus offers is not an experience, or a feeling. It is a relationship and a life of obedience. His living water satisfies an immediate thirst, but it also creates a craving for more and more. The sources of life that once satisfied are rejected and replaced with The Source of life Who will never leave us thirsty again for substitute, man-made solutions.

When we pray, Jesus takes what we pour into Him, and pours into us His Spirit's Presence. His Spirit produces power to repent, and uncontainable, undeniable, and irresistible refreshing influence on those who encounter the overflow of our changed lives. Changed lives change the world, one splash at a time. Prayer will pump you up.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Believer

"Whoever believes will in Him have eternal life." John 3:15

OLD PREACHER JOKE ALERT: Consider yourself warned.

One of the perks of being raised in a parsonage, was having a front row seat at "The After The Show Show." Whenever Dad would have an itinerant evangelist, guest preacher or denominational dignitary preach at our church, we always had them in our home after the service. My favs were those who preached on Sunday night. After church they would follow us home, and linger around the dinner table, sharing a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. This was always great theatre, dinner and a show. It was even worthy of missing "Bonanza."

One such night visitor regaled us with stories of his travels, and had us laughing so hard it required a bathroom break. Baptism stories were always my favorites. In those days indoor baptistries were still a novelty to some of our more rural churches. Small, lily white, wood framed prairie chapels dotted the Texas landscape. They were the legacy of circuit riding preachers who had traveled by horseback or buggy to spread The Gospel in the wide open spaces of The Lone Star State.

Post war affluence following WW2 led to a call for indoor plumbing and eventually a real-life, big city baptistry. Country church carpenters and plumbers retro fitted space never designed with indoor plumbing in mind. In time, muddy cattle tanks were replaced with small indoor tubs. Most were barely large enough for both pastor and baptismal candidate. As they entered the water, it always brought a giggle from the kiddie section, if the water spilled over the top of the glass at the top of the tub. It had a way of lapping over the glass and running down the backs of any quartet sitting in the choir loft. Enough of the history lesson, now back to the story.

The recently called seminary preacher was new to baptizing, and so was his baptismal candidate. The "christening" of the new baptistry tub was a first for both of them. This is rarely a good combination, but all went well until the filling of the baptistry. The small pipe used to bring the water to the church was tiny, and the perpetual Texas drought had lowered the pressure and the level of the water in the well. In short, the tub was taking hours to fill.

By the time church started for their highly promoted "PACK THE PEW" NGIHT, the pews were filled, but the baptistry wasn't. People had come from far and wide. They wore a "You're not going to believe this!" sense of expectation on their faces." The air in the room was electric.

Looking at the partially filled tub, and then the expectant crowd, the young preacher was inspired. He seized the day. He convinced his reluctant disciple to join him in the "water". and proceeded with the task at hand. His process was unique. He leaned the candidate backwards, onto the floor of the tub, and then rolled him around in the water, until his blue jeans and t-shirt were sufficiently damp. Then he held the poor guy's head under the water to work on his hair, nose and mouth. The candidate was gasping, coughing and snorting like a cat taking a bath. When the preacher stood him up, he asked him, "Do you believe?" The sputtering saint shouted, "I believe you're trying to drown me!" The crowd went crazy. They roared with laughter. This was as close to genuine revival, as they had been in years. They left that night with a story to tell to the nations and they spread it far and wide. They called him the "Dry Cleaning Preacher."

I warned you. Still the story contains a great question. "Do you believe?" In this day of "Easy Believism" and the equally dangerous efforts of those who cast doubt on the merits of authentic evangelism, it is a question that needs to be answered. People who do not believe will perish. Don't take my word for it. Jesus said so.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

The Greek words translated for believe and faith are very closely related. Believe is virtually the verb form of faith. Faith is not a concept to be held, but an act of the will. It involves placing trust or confidence in someone or something. To believe is not merely a one time decision, but a life of putting trust and confidence in God for His direction, protection and correction. To believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is one and the same thing. Believing involves practicing Christianity, not posing as a Christian.

"But he who practices the truth comes to The Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." John 3:21

Lawyers practice law. Doctors practice medicine. Musicians practice instruments. Athletes practice drills. In every sense of the word, they are not perfect at what they do, but they honor the label they bear. Christians who say they believe, but do not reveal what is on their label, are either guilty of fraud, or false advertising. Either they do not believe, or they do not practice what they say they believe. In both cases, they give evidence that they have "loved the darkness rather than The Light." (John 3:19).

Prayer sheds The Light on the crisis of faith. Unless people believe, they will perish. Lulling people into a false faith doesn't provide them with eternal security. Casting doubt on their salvation gives no assurance of it. Poor practice habits do not improve a person's proficiency at anything, but criticizing a person's practice of Christianity doesn't improve their fruit production. No doubt some "Christians" have chosen to offer imitation fruit. However, their condition will not be improved by self-appointed "Fruit Inspectors."

"Discernment is given for intercession, never fault-finding." Oswald Chambers

When you see a person's imitation fruit, pray for them. Stop inspecting them. Start interceding for them. Prayerless people sit in the dark. It doesn't matter if they are an IMITATOR or an INSPECTOR. Both hide from The Light, like a child who puts their hands over their face in an attempt to hide from their parents, after an act of disobedience.

Note to self: God sees you. He hears you. All the time. Stop inspecting. Start interceding. Your refusal to intercede for imitators doesn't improve their fruit. Your conceited inspection doesn't improve yours. Your prayerlessness only deepens the darkness surrounding both of you. The Light exposes their imitator's deceit, and your inspector's conceit. Get on your knees and turn to The Light.

"For everyone who does evil hates The Light and does not come to The Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." John 3:20

The Knowledge

"But Jesus on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man." John 2: 24-35

After Jesus performed His first miracle in The Galilee, He went up the mountain to Jerusalem and cleaned out The Temple for the first time. Once He drove out the animals and overturned the tables of the money changers, He said,

"Stop making My Father's house a place of business." John 2: 16

His disciples would never forget what they saw that day. Jesus was on fire with a zeal they had never witnessed before, and would never see again. They recalled an Old Testament prophecy, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME." Jesus is The Light, because He is a flame of fire. Those who turn away from The Light will always feel the burn!

Jesus has a jealous streak for God's glory, and those who confuse their personal agenda or financial enrichment with His Father's redemptive plan, invite His righteous wrath. When Jesus was a 12 year old boy He reminded His parents, that He must be about His Father's business. That didn't include a model that allows people to ruin the family business, by merging their corrupt practices and bankrupt priorities, with God's portfolio. He isn't running a glorified Ponzi scheme.

"Stop making my Father's house a place of business."

Now that sounds pretty clear. How in the world have Baptist churches found the latitude to kick prayer meetings to the curb, and yet keep business meetings on the calendar? Does anyone else see a conflict of interest here?

Over the past 62 years, I have logged a lot of time in churches in this country. If going to church provided frequent flyer miles, I would be a Platinum Member. From the vantage point of six decades of experience, allow me to sum up the weakness of the local church in two sentences. If I ever wanted to draw a crowd, I would call a business meeting. If I ever wanted to clear a room, I would call a prayer meeting. That is all.

I remember a Trustee making this comment to me in a church in Georgia. In the face of a movement of God that was leading grown men to Christ, baptizing hundreds of people, and causing the inconvenience in a church that only new growth can bring, he said, "These new people don't love this church like we do." He was right. They were coming to church to meet Jesus, and to turn control of their lives over to Him. He and his friends were only interested in staying in power and keeping control of the church for themselves. 13 years later, he has become an Elder of the church, run off the intruders, and wrestled the church down to a third of its size. They are as happy as clams. He thinks Jesus is proud of him. Go figure.

As a boy, I recall monthly business meetings in the church that had all the love of a drive by shooting. After each blood bath, the gangs would retire to their homes to lick their wounds and prepare to fight another day. In my first pastorate, our only hope of survival was holding these meetings once a quarter. It was not much of an improvement. Good times.

Jesus said to The Seven Churches in John's Revelation, "I know." You can lie to your friends, and I can lie to mine, but Jesus knows. Jesus knows people and He knows His Father's business. People who think they are doing business with Jesus, but have no heart for prayer, have no business being in leadership in the life of His church. They are spiritually bankrupt, and any investment of their own meager resources will bring no dividend. Any insight from their blind eyes will provide no sense of direction. As evidence of my remarks, I give you the landscape of the American culture, after 100 years of obsessive, progressive Christianity. Not very pretty.

Jesus would return to Jerusalem, three years later, and repeat His cleansing of The Temple. This second time He would state, "'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN." Matthew 21:13 (see also Luke 19:46 NASB) Prayer is the heart of a healthy church, and Jesus knows the life expectancy of prayerless people and prayerless churches is cut short by the lack of it.

Jesus is always about His Father's business, and He knows the hearts of men are always wandering away from it.

"He Himself knew what was in man." (John 2:25)

The Knowledge Jesus has of men, leads Him to intercede for the hearts of men. Seated at the right hand of The Father, Jesus continues carrying out the high priority of His Father's business, interceding, by name, for those who call themselves His followers, and The Father's children.

Jesus doesn't trust what people say. He knows what is in their heart. He doesn't need anyone to give Him insight into the nature of man, Without any spirit of cynicism, He is aware that if their lips are moving, they are lying. It is only when they come to The Father, in His name, that they have any chance of receiving His direction, protection, and correction. Anyone who claims to have Jesus in their heart, but is void of a heart for prayer is making a fraudulent claim of the worst kind. Sound harsh? Remember, Jesus knows. He has never trusted people who claim to be doing business with God, but have no real heart for prayer. Take heart. Jesus knows.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!