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God thrust David into the arena. He was not a man with a plan, but had a heart for God. He spent time with God when no one was looking.
As shepherd boy David enjoyed the companionship God offered to him. As king he discovered a world of users & abusers who wanted what he could do for them.
Knowing God's will for his life came out of consistent companionship with the One who knew him intimately before anyone else knew his name.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
Let us celebrate the 240 years God has already blessed this nation with our humble prayers of thanksgiving. His faithfulness has provided us with His direction, protection and correction, even when we have been too proud to ask for it.
Be proud to be an American, but never be too proud to pray. Prayer keeps Christian citizens in dependence upon God, not independent of His companionship.
Prayerlessness is an independent streak that feeds pride and starves the soul. Prayerfulness is the healthy diet of humble people. Humble prayer declares your dependence upon God, and starves your pride and feeds your soul.
Our founders understood that self-government, on a very personal level, was the keystone to civil government. Without the essential expression of personal virtue, they feared freedom would deteriorate into license.
Christian citizens are not perfect people. Their virtue is not of their own making. Like their inalienable rights, they know any expression of personal virtue comes from God. Even the best know their capacity for becoming their own worst enemy.
Virtue flows best from humble Christian citizens who regularly admit they have nothing to offer, apart from God. Their virtue is rooted in the knowledge that they are ransomed and redeemed rebels who have lowered their flag of rebellion to God, surrendered their lives to Jesus, and remain occupied by His Spirit, until He returns.
"So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." ~ Jesus (Matthew 6: 9-10)
NOTE TO SELF: Saying a pledge of allegiance to your nation calls for "one nation under God." Praying a prayer of personal dependence, brings your nation under God, one person at a time. Lead the way. Say your nation's pledge, but pray for your nation. She needs your prayers and you need the practice.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
"And all of you, clothe yourself with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." 1 Peter 5:5
One of the more disturbing fairy tales is the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes." A ruler is duped into believing he is wearing fine clothing, when in reality he is walking around in his birthday suit. Talk about a fashion faux pas.
When it comes to Christian clothing, Peter reminded the early believers they should wrap themselves in humility. Anything less is indecent exposure.
Wear your skinny jeans or your traditional suit and tie, but don't step out into public without humility. It is the mark of a well-dressed Christian.
God's grace is given to His humble children, but He is opposed to the proud. Opposed is a military term describing a swift and relentless response to the tactics of an enemy. When pride leads you to take certain tactics that may meet your standards, but do not meet God's standards, expect His ant-tactics.
People think life is a game of checkers designed to let them shout, "Crown me!" They are wrong. The game is chess. When pride puts you on the wrong side of the chess board, get on God's side. If you find yourself trapped by your own tactics, it is probably your move. You are better off being a pawn in His hands, than calling every move in your own life.
Pride may be the easiest thing to see in another person's life, but it is the most difficult to see in one's own. It sometimes hides under a cloak of presumed piety, lording it over those who don't measure up to man-made standards.
Prayer and humility are best friends. Prayer improves your vision. It takes you out of the after glow of your own spotlight, and places you in a dark closet to allow The Spirit of God to expose what is going on in your life. Pride posing as piety will not allow you to see what God knows about you.
"If we learned humility it might spare us humiliation." Vance Havner
Growing up in Dallas, Texas, I attended O. M. Robert's Elementary School. One of the rights of passage in this school was the regular "Ringworm Test." Students would be lined up in the hallway, to wait their turn to be taken into a dark closet by the school nurse. She would turn on a "black light" and scan each child's head. If ringworms were discovered, the child was yanked out of line, medicated and forced to wear a clear, women's nylon stocking cap, until all the ringworms were eradicated. It was horrible watching this happen to someone. It also made you go home and wash your hair without being reminded by your Mom.
What you hide in the dark from everyone else, God will oppose and expose in public. Prayer cleanses the heart of pride. The humble go to the closet before they are yanked into it.
Peter urged the elders of the early church to be clothed in humility and show humility to one another. At the very least this means that the leaders of the flock should not be so quick to disrobe one another in public. It sets a bad example for the flock.
When I hosted Life Action Ministry in our church, one of the statements that was shared regularly by the team leaders was, "What the leader does in moderation, the people will do in excess." It was a call to be mindful that people are watching and listening to what leaders do and say. What's a leader to do?
"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." v. 6-7
NOTE TO SELF: Prayer reveals your humility to place yourself under the mighty hand of God, and to leave the heavy lifting to Him. Anxiety over your future is a human reaction. Prayer is a humble response. Don't excuse your anxiety or embrace it. Cast it away.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
NOTE TO SELF: Over the next 130 days pray your way through the election season. Don't turn it into a rejection season. Privately seek God's exposure of your own sin with the same passion you publicly expose another person's sin. Show some humility. Looking down on someone else rarely gives you a better view of God. Focusing on another person's character flaws does not improve your own. Pray for an exposure of "any hurtful way" that postpones a personal and a national Awakening. It begins with you. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
Passion expended to reject, rather than elect candidates for office is an expression of liberty, but it sometimes misses the point. Resist focusing more on a rejection than the election. Rejection punishes many qualified people running for office. Find them and encourage them.
In a republic, the people rule, not the state. "We the people" do not always agree with one another, but it wouldn't kill us to be agreeable with one another. Without establishing basic civility there is no hope for an improved civil government.
Freedom of speech remains one of the vital signs of liberty. Nothing but hot rhetoric only produces a scorched earth that can take your breath away. Don't settle for terminal halitosis. Say a good word about a candidate who can make a difference. They could use your support.
Soul conscience is not a right provided by or tolerated by the state. It is a precious gift from God. Those who love religious liberty should protect it with all their might. Say your piece, but don't forget there is a blessing in being a peacemaker.
Having a clear conscience is rarely produced by smearing another person, or exposing another person's shortcomings in public. It comes from confessing your own sins in private. We the people need to take a deep breath, and take a long walk with God.
Soul conscience is the very heartbeat of religious liberty, and as such it is not limited to the four walls of the church, or the sacred confines of the heart. There is no liberty without the freedom to fully express one's faith everywhere and anywhere.
Those in the media who wish to limit religious liberty would be the first to cry foul, if freedom of the press was suppressed. No newspaper publisher would tolerate being told he can believe and print anything he wants, as long as he only distributed his paper within the confines of his building. Any such limitation by the state would bring a cry of censorship from the media.
Never trust someone who limits liberty and calls it tolerance. Never be bullied into silence by those who think your opinion is not politically correct or Biblically accurate. Your position may be right. Your beliefs may be wrong, but in a democratic republic, the citizen is free to be a wise man or a fool. Time will tell whose values rule the public square.
Having a clean conscience is a not a fool's errand. It is the evidence of your walk with God. Pray for one. Psalm 139 expresses it this way. Pray with me.
" 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way."
Believers are part of the Body of Christ. There is one Body made up of many members, but they do not always speak with one voice.
Over the next 136 days the Body Life of the church will be tested. Someone close to you, or someone who has distanced themselves from you will post something that gets on your last nerve. Count on it!
Baptists are not a silent people, and the rest of the Body of Christ can be very vocal too. Before you let your fingers do your talking with a pithy, sanctified sarcastic post, say a prayer of thanks for the person you are about to torch with your truth taser.
The Body of Christ reflects His character. A fist response should not be your first response. Punching a member of the Body in the mouth for saying something you don't agree with won't improve your argument or win converts to your cause.
After the 2016 Election is over, the Body of Christ will need to get back to loving one another. Why not start today?
Feel free to state your case for what you believe, and campaign for the candidate you support. Just don't use your liberty as a license to vent your spleen. No body wants to see that.
Being at peace with one another does not always require agreeing with one another. It just reflects being in love with one another. Anyone married for five minutes understands this.
The next few months will be a fight. Don't fall out of love with Jesus or with each other. There is more at stake.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
Never confuse substantive repentance with symbolic repentance. When Jesus confronted the woman caught in adultery, he didn't
shame her with her past sins. He told her to leave her life of sin. There is a difference.
Recently, my denomination resolved not to wave the Confederate battle flag in the faces of those who are grieved by what it stood for in the past.
It is always a good thing to remove a stumbling block from the path of the good news of Jesus Christ. Still, lowering a flag and loving your neighbor are not one and the same thing.
It remains to be seen if this unbinding resolution will result in the ties that bind, in the local church. I pray it does.
History teaches me, substance is more difficult to produce than symbolism. Does anyone remember the SBC boycott of Disney?
The fact remains. Much of the church growth in my denomination over the last 50 years has been a result of white flight to the suburbs.
Abandoning transitional neighborhoods, in search of greener pastures and fields white unto harvest has been a persistent church growth strategy for years.
Lowering a battle flag from the past, to avoid the appearance of racism in the present, will not symbolize an act of repentance unless churches stop racing to the suburbs. This "race" issue is not changed by lowering a flag, but by turning around.
Lower the old flag of the past, if you must, but plant a new one in the inner city.
Symbolic gestures over past shameful behavior is not repentance. Repentance is marked by a turnaround expressed by a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of direction.
Pray for a real turnaround in our denomination and our nation. Jesus doesn't shame us with our past. He forgives it, and gives us a new life.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
"From now on, sin no more."
Jesus (John 8:11)
It backfired!
Stuart Varney, an American citizen by choice, born in the UK, observed one important reason for the shocked faces in Britain over the vote to leave the EU. He said their shock is related to their under polling.
Apparently people being polled as they left the voting booth were hesitant to admit how they voted.
The "Remain" campaign had used an aggressive and relentless shame game against those who voiced their desire to see their nation leave the EU. They bullied people who wanted to leave the EU, accusing them of bigotry, and racism. Their attempt to publicly shame voters into silence and submission did not work. It only forced them into the privacy of the voting booth.
Many "Leave" voters left the voting booth in silence, but not in submission. The media elites, the establishment leaders, and financial markets were stunned by the silent stand of people who wanted their nation set free from the EU.
This may be the greatest lesson Americans can learn from this experience. Never let yourself be shamed into silence. Your vote is your voice.
The voting booth is the last secure place to make your voice heard. Pray for wisdom and courage, but register to VOTE and get others out to VOTE! When you vote, you speak up, and you STAND UP. Make your voice heard.
"Silence isn't always golden. Sometimes it is just plain yellow."
Senator Barry Goldwater
A Congressional sit in is happening in Washington DC.
The participants are sitting on a slippery slope. They express concern for the lives of innocent victims, killed by (OMIT) using guns, while showing nothing but calloused, entrenched, relentless unconcern for the lives of the unborn.
This is not a substantive sit in. It is hypocritical grandstanding. They strut sitting down, as long as the cameras are rolling.
An estimated 20 million black babies have been aborted since the legalization of abortion in this nation. If these little ones had been allowed to live, and eventually registered to vote, there would be no need for a sit in. The balance of power in this nation would be decidedly different. Do the math.
These politicians, posing as patriots, won't admit they have devoured their own constituency.
Never take seriously anyone who is willing to destroy their young, while removing your right to protect your own.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
A recent article by Gary was published in The Washington Post.
What was America's response after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor? The President did not cloud the issue by reminding the nation that all Japanese were not to be blamed for the attack. He defended his nation.
This nation was not led to hold candlelight vigils or to "Pray for Pearl Harbor." The nation was mobilized to defend themselves against an evil group of thugs who were intent on world domination.
Before my father died, I asked him what happened in December 1941 after Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. He said overnight the nation was transformed into an army, galvanized with one purpose. Defeat the enemy.
This nation has been under attack by a ruthless enemy for most of my adult life. Call this what it is. IT IS WAR.
Those who lead us to believe we are safe from future attacks from Islamic terrorists by calling Islam a religion of peace, and supporting their efforts to establish mosques that serve as thinly disguised terrorist training cells and fund-raising centers are guilty of treason.
Religious liberty was never meant to provide cover for a religion hijacked by those who wish to annihilate the very nation that welcomed them. Pray for the courage to stand up against the rampant political correctness that has shoved common sense from the public square.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Edmund Burke
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
God's Word is filled with bold, brief, two word blasts that give me direction, correction and protection. Some of my favorites are: "Fear God!", "Praise God!", "Trust God!", "Hear God!", "Father, forgive!", "Fear not!", "Take courage!", "Be still!", "Stand firm!", "Follow Me!", "Rejoice always!", "Give thanks!", "Be filled!", "Humble yourselves!", "Be strong!", "Draw near!", "Hold fast!", "Make disciples!", "Be saved!", "Lay aside!", "Husbands, love!", "Forgive us!", "Judge not!" and "Pray, then!"
Perhaps the two words that shape my life the most were used by Jesus, in the form of a question, to a discouraged couple of disciples on the Road to Emmaus. He said to them, "What things?"
His invitation still stands. Talking about a crisis chews up victory with the jaws of defeat. Praying through a crisis, snatches victory from the jaws of defeat.
Jesus can still turn a long walk in the dark into a victory lap.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
What a privilege to be invited into your “home”. We take that very seriously and understand that our calling and mission are completely and confidently to exalt the name of Jesus as we impart the powerful knowledge of intercession. Therefore, the moments we spend with you are dedicated to exhorting the people of God to Talk Less! Pray More!