A good friend of mine called me yesterday morning and told me that he was told that his mother only has days to live. As she was in the hospital, I called my wife and asked her if she would go with me during my lunch time to visit this dear family at the local hospital. She agreed and we went. After visiting for a short time their lunch was brought into the room and we knew it was time to go. I asked if we could pray with them before we left and they said it was fine. As I began to pray it dawned on me that I was not sure if they had told the mother about the sad prognosis. I prayed a prayer of praise and just asked God that he would help all of us to live a life that glorifies Him up to all of our final breaths.
When I returned home I discussed this with my wife and she directed me to something that she had studied during her Bible study that day. In Mark 2 we are given a story of a man with palsy who four of his friends bring to Jesus for healing. Upon arrival, they find that there are so many people there that they can not reach Jesus. They decide to carry their friend to the roof and lower him down to the feet of Jesus so that Jesus may intercede and heal this man. Jesus then forgives him of his sins (the real healing that all of us need) and it is not until later when He has a need to show His power that he heals the man of his palsy. We are not told the answer but did the man with palsy even know who Jesus was or what power he had. We can say one thing for certain, the four men who carried the sick man had faith in Jesus and they literally picked up and carried their friend to Jesus because they believed that Jesus could heal the man.
Assuming that my friend and family had not yet informed his mother of her condition and even if they had, there is a direct correlation here. Through my prayer and the many other prayers that are being lifted up to God on her behalf, we are literally laying this woman at the feet of Jesus and asking that his will be done and that his healing and/or comforting power reign down. If she does not know the prognosis, we are asking Jesus for her to do something that she currently does not even know to ask for.
We can apply this in so many different areas of our lives:
1. Parents of young children - Your kids don't know the snares and dangers of this world but when we pray for them are not laying them at Jesus feet and asking Him to protect them? We know it is impossible to protect them ourselves from all the turmoil of this world. Let us all continually lay our children down
2. Friends - We all have friends who we see that are either straying from the Truth or have never known the Truth. When we pray for them we are asking that Jesus do something that they themselves may not even see to ask for.
3. The world - We live in a world that no longer knows God. Yet, we as Christians continue to lay this world and its leaders at Jesus feet and ask that He restore this world and forgive it of its sins.
4. Elders, deacons, youth minister, preachers - We are the leaders of the Lord's church. We have been chosen and are to know that when we pray for our individual congregations or members of our youth groups that we are laying them at Jesus feet. The people who just come to church are not aware of the decisions and concern that we put into our chosen duties and often times do not see the areas of concern that we must act on. We pray for guidance in this area and often times these prayers go unheard and unknown by many. Let us all lay our congregations at Jesus feet more often.
5. One another - As fellow Christians we need to pray for each other. The New Testament is laden with passages describing the trials that we as Christians go through. Do any of us think that there are disciples out there who do not feel that struggles that we personally feel? Of course not. Let us pray for one another more often and ask that Jesus will intercede in all of our lives even when our fellow Christians may forget to pray.
A final personal example of how this takes effect involves two friends of mine. One is Jason, who I am blesssed to be in the Lord's service with, and the other friend, who I will not name, is a friend who's struggles and my concern have been written about before on this blog. The friend who is struggling with life honored me and a group of men with his presence at a recent men's ministry meeting we held. There came a point where this friend was moved to confess his struggles and to ask for help and prayers. My friend Jason immediately began to pray for this man and took his struggles and laid them at Jesus feet. I don't even think that this other man knows how to pray and I am certain that he is not clear of the healing power of Jesus. I ask that all who read this will think about someone in their life who needs Jesus to intercede and lay them at His feet.
Showing posts with label Jason Jarrett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jason Jarrett. Show all posts
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Why Wait?
Beginning in the last week of June I have seen the power of prayer in my life and other believers’ lives. Needless to say I have thought a great deal recently about the power of prayer and the Christian duty I have to pray. I am going to keep my thoughts here as brief as possible in order to avoid ranting.
I will start this with a question. How often has someone come to you and told you about a problem they are having and your response was, "I will be praying for you." Now, how many times have you followed through with that? How many times have you failed to pray for that person? Do you feel guilty over it? Have you ever even thought about it? I must confess that I am guilty of this. I have told people that I would pray for them and never even thought about it again. I feel safe in thinking that I am not the only one. Oh the excuses we have for this. Either we are too busy and it slipped our mind or they seemed to be fine when you left them. Besides, they may have gotten better so it didn't really matter did it. Why do we do this? What causes us to lie to one another in this way and let each other down? Why do we withhold the mercy that was given to us? It could be because we are only humans but I prefer to think that it is because, as my friend Jason Jarrett says, WE REALLY JUST DON'T CARE. We are too selfish to care for one another enough to remember to pray for each other as we are commanded to do. Jesus Christ Himself took time to pray for His current disciples and those of us to come when he was facing his own death and we can't remember to do it when we are facing nothing but an 8:00am tee time. I can think of no word to describe it other than pathetic.
So, I am resolved to no longer be guilty of this offense. I challenge all of you to join me in this solution as well. First, another question. When faced with a scenario where someone talks to us about a problem and either does or does not ask for prayers, what stops us from dropping whatever it is we are doing at that moment and praying with that person? Admittedly I did not closely study this before posting but I can recall no scenario where Jesus or his disciples put off offering to help someone in need. Never do we read of Jesus saying "I will keep you in My prayers." If someone had the faith to come to Him, Jesus would stop what he was doing and assist that individual. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that we must stop praying for people in private but rather praying with them in public, at that moment. Again, what stops us from doing this? Too busy? Too public? Worried they might not want that at that time? I can guarantee that if you take that individual by the hand and begin to pray, they are not going to stop you. We know the power of prayer, yet we refuse to share it. What merciless individuals have we become?
Some of us may feel too uncomfortable to do this. If so, you have a real problem with God. If you think that people who know you would be really surprised by you doing this, then you have a problem you must resolve with your Lord and Savior. If doing this would be surprising to many because they did not know you have such faith, it's time to make a change. If you just feel too embarrassed to do so, then you are not being a disciple because you are not denying yourself. Instead you are denying the mercy of Christ to someone in need. What better way to show our faith then this? I ask you if you are reading this to pray for me that I will do better in this area and that I will not put people's requests for prayers off and risk not praying for them at all. Just suppose that a miraculous occurrence comes about in a person's life after you pray with them. What a wonderful opportunity for ministry. Or better yet, suppose that your example of faith causes that individual to drop to their knees too at that time or alone and they either make a decision to become a Christian or to restore their walk. Then they tell you later that it was all because of your willingness to share your faith. All because, as my friend Randy Hargett says, you showed them the face of Jesus through your willingness to deny yourself and share your time with God with them. It's time to start caring enough to make a difference. Will you join me in doing this? What a difference we can make if we will just start caring.
I will start this with a question. How often has someone come to you and told you about a problem they are having and your response was, "I will be praying for you." Now, how many times have you followed through with that? How many times have you failed to pray for that person? Do you feel guilty over it? Have you ever even thought about it? I must confess that I am guilty of this. I have told people that I would pray for them and never even thought about it again. I feel safe in thinking that I am not the only one. Oh the excuses we have for this. Either we are too busy and it slipped our mind or they seemed to be fine when you left them. Besides, they may have gotten better so it didn't really matter did it. Why do we do this? What causes us to lie to one another in this way and let each other down? Why do we withhold the mercy that was given to us? It could be because we are only humans but I prefer to think that it is because, as my friend Jason Jarrett says, WE REALLY JUST DON'T CARE. We are too selfish to care for one another enough to remember to pray for each other as we are commanded to do. Jesus Christ Himself took time to pray for His current disciples and those of us to come when he was facing his own death and we can't remember to do it when we are facing nothing but an 8:00am tee time. I can think of no word to describe it other than pathetic.
So, I am resolved to no longer be guilty of this offense. I challenge all of you to join me in this solution as well. First, another question. When faced with a scenario where someone talks to us about a problem and either does or does not ask for prayers, what stops us from dropping whatever it is we are doing at that moment and praying with that person? Admittedly I did not closely study this before posting but I can recall no scenario where Jesus or his disciples put off offering to help someone in need. Never do we read of Jesus saying "I will keep you in My prayers." If someone had the faith to come to Him, Jesus would stop what he was doing and assist that individual. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that we must stop praying for people in private but rather praying with them in public, at that moment. Again, what stops us from doing this? Too busy? Too public? Worried they might not want that at that time? I can guarantee that if you take that individual by the hand and begin to pray, they are not going to stop you. We know the power of prayer, yet we refuse to share it. What merciless individuals have we become?
Some of us may feel too uncomfortable to do this. If so, you have a real problem with God. If you think that people who know you would be really surprised by you doing this, then you have a problem you must resolve with your Lord and Savior. If doing this would be surprising to many because they did not know you have such faith, it's time to make a change. If you just feel too embarrassed to do so, then you are not being a disciple because you are not denying yourself. Instead you are denying the mercy of Christ to someone in need. What better way to show our faith then this? I ask you if you are reading this to pray for me that I will do better in this area and that I will not put people's requests for prayers off and risk not praying for them at all. Just suppose that a miraculous occurrence comes about in a person's life after you pray with them. What a wonderful opportunity for ministry. Or better yet, suppose that your example of faith causes that individual to drop to their knees too at that time or alone and they either make a decision to become a Christian or to restore their walk. Then they tell you later that it was all because of your willingness to share your faith. All because, as my friend Randy Hargett says, you showed them the face of Jesus through your willingness to deny yourself and share your time with God with them. It's time to start caring enough to make a difference. Will you join me in doing this? What a difference we can make if we will just start caring.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Reverse Hypocrite Golfer
I was fortunate to get to go on a golf outing yesterday with my family and two great friends and their family. We were set to tee off at 5:00 and Joy dropped me off at the golf course about 3:30 then she and the boys went shopping with plans to return later and then we would all go out to eat. I hit range balls for half an hour and teed off by myself at 4:00 just to play a few and get warmed up. When I met up with our friends Jason, Amber, and Maddy at 5:00 I told Amber that she was in trouble (she is the only one of my friends I can really compete with, make fun if you want) today. I believed it too. I got in six holes between 4:00 and 5:00 and shot 2 over par. That is remarkable for me these days.
So, to cut a long story short, I ended up shooting a 53 on the front nine (I still beat Amber though, YES). I couldn't hit my driver and I left every putt I hit way short of the hole. I walked off the course wondering WHAT HAPPENED? How did I go from playing so good by myself to playing like trash when my friends and family were around?
This really bothered me to the point that I found myself thinking about it today while I cut the grass. As I thought though, I realized that this is exactly how I need to be leading my life and how opposite to how I used to live. Growing up as the child of a preacher I lived a life of being on my best behavior and acting like a Christian when everyone was looking, but allowing myself to give into sin and live life in a horrible fashion when no one else (so I thought) was around. I fear that there are many people who live this lifestyle. People who proclaim to be one thing but in secret they are totally different. I can remember vividly the day that I decided to stop living this way and looking back I can't believe I ever fooled myself into thinking I was happy. There is a name for people like that, it's called a hypocrite.
My golf game is the exact opposite. As a matter of fact, my golf game is a mirror of how I think Christ wants us to be. Be good by yourself; play well, live well, serve well. This is no fun though because no one can see us doing these great things and who is there to brag about us or to brag to. If you his a hole-in-one while golfing and no one sees it, did you really hit a hole-in-one? If you make someone happy by simply being nice to them and no one sees it did you really make someone happy? If you help an elderly widow keep her grass cut and no one sees it did you really help her? The answer to all those questions is of course YES!!! How many of us know people who do Christian deeds and then say, "look at me, I'm so great?" I'm pretty sure Christ talked quite a bit against this kind of attitude. We must try to live our lives when no one is looking in a clean and Christian fashion to avoid being a hypocrite.
Further, Christ set up a plan so that when we are with other Christians we have the right to show our flaws and ask for their help. Jason told me yesterday he was going to help me in my chipping and I responded "PLEASE do." I haven't ever asked him for help because of pride (that's another story) but I know he will help me if I ask. If you are struggling with secret sin, it is your responsibility to ask for help and not be afraid to admit that you are a human and that you make mistakes. Besides, on the day of judgment, all of your secrets will come to light. There are no secrets on a golf course when others are watching. You either do it good or not and for most of us, it's a matter of not always. It is impossible to be a hypocrite on the golf course when others are watching.
So, I challenge all of you to begin living your lives like I golf. I can't believe I just wrote that but I mean it. When no one is looking, be your best and try your hardest. Focus on what is important to you and give glory to God alone when you do well. Focus on what you are trying to accomplish don't be afraid to take a mulligan and try again. Don't brag when you do good and don't expect others to notice. Always be yourself when you are around others and don't be afraid to let others see your flaws. Be transparent (thanks Jason). There are very few who do great alone and with others so understand that and be happy that you can look up to those people. This is the very opposite of being a hypocrite so live your Christian lives as a reverse hypocrite golfer. FORE!!!!
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Just look for it
It is amazing to me how God will reveal Himself to us if we just look for Him. I prayed Saturday night on my way home from a dinner that God would reveal Himself to me more this week and provide me with more opportunities to serve Him and what do you know, it is happening.
I will start with the revealing. I have seen God working wonders in many of the lives of those around me this week. For starters I received an e-mail yesterday from my cousin who is pregnant. I know that many people are praying for her to have a healthy pregnancy and that she is happy and secure. I can safely say from her e-mail that those prayers seem as if they are being answered currently. Secondly, I have another cousin who is a photographer in Oklahoma. About two weeks ago she and her husband had a great deal of their expensive equipment stolen. To make a long story short, their faith and trust in God never waivered and it all of their equipment has been returned in tact. Watch my blog for a link to this story when they post it on their blog.
Now, on to the opportunities to serve. Where to begin? I guess I will just talk about two opportunities. I had dinner with a friend the other night who is a very strong Christian and who I know has no desire greater than to be a loving Christian. That being said, I could tell that this person was very troubled about a situation in their life. So much so that I felt a great deal of sadness after leaving this dinner. This may seem like nothing much but I knew in my heart that this person needed an encouraging word. A quick e-mail was all I wrote but I know if God was not the master of my life I would not have even thought or noticed the pain they were in. Even more importantly, I would not have thought to do anything about it. To gives kudos to my good friend Jason Jarrett, his sermon on bearing one another's burdens helped with this as well.
The second opportunity to serve came yesterday. I work with a group of people who for the most part fail to censor their language or think about the thought that the words you choose tell people a great deal about your heart (as well as your intelligence, but we won't get in to that). I often find myself retreating to my office and putting on a sermon or Christian music just to filter out some of the world. Yesterday I chose to listed to Dan Chambers sermon from the 2006 Challenge Youth Conference (cyconline.com if you are interested in hearing some really powerful youth driven messages). His sermon was based on the life of Moses and his calling to do God's work in Exodus 3. He focused on the excuses that Moses served up to God when God called him. It was a great message and my friend Jay Boyett (I love you man) who is a fountain of scriptural knowledge, walked in at the end of the lesson and heard the end of it. We were talking about how Moses was chosen to do his job as a baby and discussing the absurdity of any of us thinking we are any different (God has chosen all of us to do great things, I know there's a great sermon in there somewhere) when another co-worker walked in. Jay asked this individual how their faith was coming and this person began to offer up the very same excuses that Moses did in this sermon I just listened. Coincidence, there is no such thing. This was God answering my prayer to serve Him. Without saying much I was able to relate to this person how they sounded like what I had just heard and direct them to the scripture to see what I was talking about.
I would say that God has answered my prayer and he has continued to do so by giving me a very good idea about our youth ministry at church that I plan to implement soon. I can see God in so many different ways and these past few days He has shown Himself in a huge manner. I hope that all who are reading this will also pray for God to not only reveal Himself but to also give you opportunities to serve Him.
I will start with the revealing. I have seen God working wonders in many of the lives of those around me this week. For starters I received an e-mail yesterday from my cousin who is pregnant. I know that many people are praying for her to have a healthy pregnancy and that she is happy and secure. I can safely say from her e-mail that those prayers seem as if they are being answered currently. Secondly, I have another cousin who is a photographer in Oklahoma. About two weeks ago she and her husband had a great deal of their expensive equipment stolen. To make a long story short, their faith and trust in God never waivered and it all of their equipment has been returned in tact. Watch my blog for a link to this story when they post it on their blog.
Now, on to the opportunities to serve. Where to begin? I guess I will just talk about two opportunities. I had dinner with a friend the other night who is a very strong Christian and who I know has no desire greater than to be a loving Christian. That being said, I could tell that this person was very troubled about a situation in their life. So much so that I felt a great deal of sadness after leaving this dinner. This may seem like nothing much but I knew in my heart that this person needed an encouraging word. A quick e-mail was all I wrote but I know if God was not the master of my life I would not have even thought or noticed the pain they were in. Even more importantly, I would not have thought to do anything about it. To gives kudos to my good friend Jason Jarrett, his sermon on bearing one another's burdens helped with this as well.
The second opportunity to serve came yesterday. I work with a group of people who for the most part fail to censor their language or think about the thought that the words you choose tell people a great deal about your heart (as well as your intelligence, but we won't get in to that). I often find myself retreating to my office and putting on a sermon or Christian music just to filter out some of the world. Yesterday I chose to listed to Dan Chambers sermon from the 2006 Challenge Youth Conference (cyconline.com if you are interested in hearing some really powerful youth driven messages). His sermon was based on the life of Moses and his calling to do God's work in Exodus 3. He focused on the excuses that Moses served up to God when God called him. It was a great message and my friend Jay Boyett (I love you man) who is a fountain of scriptural knowledge, walked in at the end of the lesson and heard the end of it. We were talking about how Moses was chosen to do his job as a baby and discussing the absurdity of any of us thinking we are any different (God has chosen all of us to do great things, I know there's a great sermon in there somewhere) when another co-worker walked in. Jay asked this individual how their faith was coming and this person began to offer up the very same excuses that Moses did in this sermon I just listened. Coincidence, there is no such thing. This was God answering my prayer to serve Him. Without saying much I was able to relate to this person how they sounded like what I had just heard and direct them to the scripture to see what I was talking about.
I would say that God has answered my prayer and he has continued to do so by giving me a very good idea about our youth ministry at church that I plan to implement soon. I can see God in so many different ways and these past few days He has shown Himself in a huge manner. I hope that all who are reading this will also pray for God to not only reveal Himself but to also give you opportunities to serve Him.
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