Is Your Connection Broken

John 15:1-8, "“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father." (NLT)

The Spirit placed this passage in my heart this morning as I was praying. Is it possible that we have either forgotten or overlooked this powerful principle of "connection" that Christ revealed to us? Each of us can recognize and even sense that the powers and principalities of darkness are at work in our culture. How will we respond to that activity? This is no time to allow the enemy to sever or disconnect you from your relationship with Jesus Christ. I see those attempts taking place in dramatic actions all across the spectrum of Christianity. Some of us are being attacked in manners that we have never identified before. Others are sensing the subtle attacks of satan and they are seeking to respond to them in the strength of the flesh rather than the power of the Spirit. I believe that it is time for the "church" (both local as well as corporate) to cry out to God and rebuke the snares/traps of the enemy.

Is it just me or do you see some of these same actions taking place in our lives? The devil seeks to sever our time with God that at one time we reserved for prayer, meditation, Bible reading, corporate worship, fellowship with the believers, visitation of the sick, etc. The present culture has a way of keeping all of us so busy that we have very little "spare" time. These are strong words but I do believe that they need to be written. We have time for "us" and in some cases God is allotted whatever time is left over after we have completed all of the activities that pleased and brought satisfaction to us. I will stop at this point but I do believe that it is time that we examined our connection with Christ.

To be continued...

Something to Think About

The message for the past two Sundays has focused on the challenge we face to be sincerely interested in the needs of those people that God has placed in our lives as well as those people that God will bring into our lives on a daily basis. Am I too busy to recognize these opportunities to make a difference in the live of someone that is in need of assistance? We can all be captured by the "busyness" of our personal lives and never fully recognize the opportunity to serve someone else.

I would like to share an excerpt from yesterday's message. Hopefully these thoughts will challenge you as they did me during the time of preparation as well as presentation.

One day Hudson Taylor was traveling on a Chinese junk from Shanghai to Ningpo.   He had been witnessing to a man named Peter who rejected the gospel but was under deep conviction.   In the course of events, Peter fell overboard, but no one made any effort to save him.   Taylor sprang to the mast, let down the sail, and jumped overboard in hopes of finding his friend. But no one on board joined Taylor in his frantic search.   Taylor saw a fishing boat nearby and yelled to them to help, but they wouldn't do it without money.   Finally, after bartering for every penny that Taylor had, the fishermen stopped their fishing and began to look for Peter.   In less than a minute of dragging their net, they found him, but it was too late.   They were too busy fishing to care about saving a drowning man. 

We can easily condemn the selfish indifference of those fishermen, but by indicting them, we may condemn ourselves.   Are we too busy with our jobs and other activities to take the time to rescue those who are perishing without Christ? 

I firmly believe that the passage of truth found in Genesis 4 reminds us that we do have a responsibility to care for and love one another.   Let us be real with each other for a moment and understand that we can become so captured by the “busyness” of life that we are prone to overlook the people that are around us.   There are things that we know we “should do” but we are always more comfortable doing the things that we “want to do.”   Let me hasten to add that not all of our wants or desires or evil ones but we must be careful and not overlook the opportunity to fulfill our biblical responsibility to one another.

Is There Anything too Hard for God?

Jeremiah 32:26-27, "Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?" (NJKV)

This passage of scripture was placed in my heart this morning as I was praying through the prayer requests that had been shared with me. These prayer requests also included my need to draw closer to God through my relationship with Him. I was reminded of some of the strategies of the enemy that seeks to hinder the desire that God has placed in my heart. BUT IMMEDIATELY the Spirit reminded me of this promise that Jeremiah declared during a time in which the people of God were facing their own set of challenges. God declares through the mouth and words of Jeremiah, "Is there anything (emphasis added) too hard for Me?" My Spirit was strengthened and energized when I realized that there is absolutely nothing that is too difficult for God to handle. 

But the question arises, "Why does the enemy seek to bring doubt into our hearts when we have evidence all around us that says otherwise?" I can relate thousands of testimonies (I almost used the word "stories" but I realized that I am talking about TRUE TESTIMONIES of people that I personally know) in which the greatness of God's ability and power was demonstrated. The question should be, "How can I doubt Jeremiah 32:27 when I take a good look at the evidence that has been presented to me through these 43 plus years of Ministerial service?" 

Let us remember not to doubt but to trust in the awesomeness of God and to place our confidence in the promises of His Word. Matthew 19:26, "But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Emphasis added)

Testimony: I received a call from one of the ladies from our community of believers on Tuesday of this week. A few weeks ago her 93 year old husband had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. They sent him to have several tests run to confirm their diagnosis. They visited the Doctor on Monday. He reported that they could not find A TUMOR ON HIS BRAIN! Once again I ask, "Is there anything too hard for God?" The lady went to the Doctor confident because she had placed her faith in God. Her son asked her, "Mom, how did you know that Dad would be all right?" She declared very plainly and simply, "Because I had prayed and I had asked others to pray." "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Do I Care for Others?, Part 2

Galatians 6:2, "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (NIV)

Yes, would be my initial response to the question that I continue to ask today. But I must be willing to look beyond the surface of this question and beyond the surface of my human response to have an accurate answer. We would like to boldly proclaim that we are definitely a "caring" person and in most cases that would be a true and fair assumption.

But reality reminds us that there are times that our heart of care is truly challenged by the circumstances of the moment as well as the individual that may be involved in those circumstances. It is during those moments that we can pull out our well worn list of excuses/reasons of why we should not involve ourselves in that person's life at this particular moment. 

I want to share an excerpt from this past Sunday's sermon at New River. I would like to challenge you to think along side of me regarding our need to care for others.

Is it true that we are living in a very narcissistic society in which we are taught to focus on ourselves? Let me remind you that often this narcissism leads people to forget about the needs of others and in some cases as these earlier examples noted we often just ignore the plight of our fellow human beings. Why the passivity? We have many rational reasons to justify our actions.  “It is a dog eat dog world Pastor and every person has to fend for themselves.”  “There are times that people just have to pull themselves up by their own boot straps.” “No one has ever had to help me and I have done all right, they will do just fine.” “They are stronger than they think; they will finally figure everything out for themselves.” “They got what they deserved.” But can all these reasons/excuses we give for our lack of involvement actually relieve us of our duty to care about the welfare of others?

Do I Care for Others?

Galatians 6:2, "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (NIV)

The message on Sunday at New River tried to focus on the question that has plagued mankind throughout our history. You may remember the story of Cain and Abel that is shared with us in Genesis 4. Cain's responds to a question from God with a question of his own, "...Am I my brother's keeper (guardian)?" 

In reality each of us are faced with that question in some way or another every day of our lives. We have faced those decisions in our family relationships, our relationships with our personal friends as well as our relationships within the family of God. There is no escaping the challenge to answer that personal question no matter how much we try and no matter how many excuses/reasons that we put forward to justify our lack of concern for others. I shared three recent examples in which several people chose to look the other way during a difficult incident rather than involve themselves in being a part of the solution in a particular tragedy. 

Let's be honest, it is easier to look the other way and hope that the problem solves itself rather than involve ourselves in assisting someone who is in need. Assistance usually requires some involvement, an amount of concern and a portion of our time. Those three (3) requirements may take us out of our comfort zone from time to time. But let me ask this question; "Have you ever needed assistance from someone be they stranger or friend?" Let me ask another question; "Do you remember the "sense of accomplishment" that you felt when you offered assistance to someone in need?" 

Let us prepare our hearts for those moments in which God gives us the opportunity to help "carry the burden" of someone in need.

Prayers for Others

There is a song that we sing from time to time in church. I began singing some of the words this morning at the close of my prayer time. I sang these following words and I believe they are close to the ones that we sing during our time of worship in song.

"My life is in You, Lord,

My hope is in You, Lord,

My strength is in You, Lord,

It is in You, It is in You..."

Those words are so true when we look at the reality of life and the challenges that we face on a daily basis. Life is full of surprises both good as well as bad. We enjoy our share of blessings but we also face our share of trials. We rejoice during a time of victory and we intercede during a time of struggle. But at the end of the day we realize that our life, hope, strength is truly in the Lord. He is the Provider of all that we need.

Prayer time this morning served as another reminder that I need to pray for others as well as pray for myself and the needs of those people who are a part of my immediate family. Is it possible that we can become "selfish" in our prayer time and forget about the needs that others are facing? It is entirely possible that the needs of others can be greater than the needs that we are facing at this point in our life. Let us be compassionate and remember to pray for others as well as pray for ourselves.

I have challenged the New River congregation to pray for the children, youth and young adults who are in school, college, or some other form of educational training. We all identify that these individuals are VERY IMPORTANT TO GOD and that He is aware of their daily challenges. I would like to share with you some of the points that I have asked our congregation to pray about on a daily basis.

1) Pray for the student's choice of friends.

2) Pray for the students to make good life choices/decisions.

3) Pray for the students to be motivated and challenged to seek to excel in their educational process.

4) Pray for the Educators and Support Staff of each school.

5) Pray for safety on the school properties (both individual as well as corporate).

I invite you to join with us in this pray endeavour for this school year. These individuals are worth your investment of time in prayer. 

Praise

Psalm 107:8, "Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (NKJV)  Note: These same words are expressed four times in this particular Psalm.

I want to take a moment and express some praise to God for His many and wonderful works. Today these words are very challenging to me and very personal. My wife, Ann, has been dealing with some health issues and concerns over the past several weeks. I have not written about them very much and do not intend on doing so today but I do feel that it is important for me to shout "PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS GOODNESS AND MERCY!!!" God has heard and answered our prayers as well as the prayers of many others. 

1) I want to say PRAISE THE LORD for the Body of Christ. We have felt the presence and strength of God through the prayers, support and encouragement that has been shared with us. It is truly a blessing to be a part of the family of God. We are thankful for our local church family at New River as well as the extended family of God located in various parts of our world.

2) I want to say PRAISE THE LORD for the medical personnel that God has placed in our lives. Their expertise and their desire to discover the root of Ann's problem has been very beneficial. This is especially true of the Doctors and Hospital Staff that are connected with Vanderbilt Hospital located in Nashville, Tennessee.

3) I want to say PRAISE THE LORD for the support that the staff of Floyd Memorial Hospital/River Cities Cardiology has offered to Ann. Twenty (20) of them surprised Ann and came to church to offer their prayers and support the Sunday prior to her surgical procedure at Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Each member of that staff holds a special place in our hearts. 

4) Last but certainly not least, I want to say PRAISE THE LORD for a report that declared that the place removed from her lung WAS NOT MALIGNANT. Three (3) Doctors plus a Radiologist had diagnosed her with what they called "non-smoking" lung cancer. Their initial findings and ideas were wrong and we simply give God praise and honor for the work that He has done in Ann's life.

There are  many side stories that I could share regarding this journey. Many of you could share some of those same stories about your journey. But one thing remains true; The Lord has promised to never forsake us." We can stand strong in that promise from God!!

"Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!"

Learning to Lean

A song that I remember singing throughout my Christian journey came into my spirit as I was praying this morning. The song is entitled, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms and was written by Elisha A. Hoffman. I sang a few verses as I prayed today (I will spare you the pain of that experience). Those verses reminded me of the refuge and hope that I and countless others have found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to share the words with you today. You may desire to sing them out loud as you read the words. Allow them to refresh your memory of the times in which you have "leaned" on the strength of God and you have found comfort in His presence.

1. What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
   Leaning on the everlasting arms;
   What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
   Leaning on the everlasting arms.
   • Refrain:
     Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
     Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
2. Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
   Leaning on the everlasting arms;
   Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
   Leaning on the everlasting arms.
3. What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
   Leaning on the everlasting arms?
   I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
   Leaning on the everlasting arms.

I also received three separate praise reports from people that we have been praying for as their journey has taken them through the valley of treatments for cancer. One of these ladies was in church yesterday after several months of treatments and some very low points in this process. BUT OH THE JOY OF HEARING HER VOICE LIFTED IN PRAISE DURING THE SERVICE ON SUNDAY. Her voice has been missed and it was a blessing to hear her praise return to the meeting. One of the other ladies received a negative report on a biopsy that she had performed last week. This lady has a wonderful heart of service and continued to serve others during her time of treatments. The other lady received a clear report from a PET scan. She has endured several surgeries, numerous rounds of chemo treatments as well as other forms of medicine. She was and is a person of encouragement and care for others even as she was fighting her own battles. 

Each of these ladies are "HEROES" in my book and they have talked the talk as well as walked the walk. Let me add one more praise. The lady who led our Call to Worship in Sunday's service celebrated her ten (10) year anniversary of being cancer free, she was told that she might live TWO (2) YEARS. These ladies learned and they are teaching us to "lean on the everlasting arms of God" through their lifestyle of praise and service to God!!!

Miracles

We began a new Bible Study in our adult Discipleship class last night. We are studying a lesson which focuses on the miracles that are recorded in the book of John. The teacher makes a point that has found a place in my heart and I would like to share it with you today.

He shares that the miracles are in the Bible so that we can be "pointed to Christ." Miracles are more than just a demonstration or revelation of the acts of power or authority of Christ but they reveal the nature and identity of Christ. We can learn that Christ is truly interested in the minute details of each of our lives. We can learn that nothing is too difficult for God and that the creation is still subject to the Creator of the universe. 

I am blessed to know that God is more than a "one-dimensional" God but that He specializes in any and all situations. You and I can visit a Physician with an ailment in our body. That particular Physician may not have an answer to our problem so he/she may suggest that we visit a "specialist." The Physician then proceeds to make arrangements to visit the other Physician who he/she thinks has more knowledge/expertise regarding our ailment. But I have good news regarding God today; He doesn't have to refer you to anyone else. God is the answer for what we need today. He is the true source of all of the resources that we need. 

I am truly thankful that I still believe in MIRACLES!!

God is Greater than...

Psalm 145:2-4New King James Version (NKJV)

2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.

During a recent time of prayer these verses in the Bible began to rise in my heart. There are many times that I mention the "greatness of God in my time of prayer as well as in the messages that I share with the family of God. I firmly believe that the church needs to declare the greatness of God. This declaration must go further than just in our worship services but also in the daily activities of our lives. I am committed to that principle becoming a part of my daily lifestyle.

I looked at Ann (my wife) as we finished praying on Tuesday and made this declaration. Ann, "God is greater than anything that we have ever faced. God is greater than anything that we are facing. And God is greater than anything that we will ever face. Do you believe that?" I desire to make that same declaration over the readers of this blog. It does not matter what you are facing today; God is GREATER! It does not matter what fear is gripping your heart today; God is GREATER! It does not matter what you need in your life today; God is GREATER! 

I urge you to rejoice in the fact that GOD IS GREAT and we have the awesome opportunity to share those words with this generation. Will you join me in making that declaration over yourself, your family, your friends and over the local church that you attend?

Giving Care

I may need to re-introduce myself since I have taken such a lengthy time away from making any posts on the blog. My priorities as well as my schedule has had to be adjusted due to the fact that my wife underwent surgery at Vanderbilt hospital on August 26th. Her recovery is going well and we are thankful for the progress that she is making. The faithfulness of God can be recognized at all of the junctures of our journey if we will just take the time to notice His presence. We have seen the Hand of God in many ways over the past few weeks since it was determined that she needed surgery so that we could get to the root of her health issue. But even in our trials and difficulties we can sense the direction of God as He places the right people in our path to assist us. We have seen those blessings first-hand as we have traveled this road and we just offer God a shout of praise for His awesome Grace and Mercy.

But I must move on to the thoughts that God has placed in my heart over the past few days. God has reminded me of the responsibility that "caregivers" have to assume when they face an illness in their family. I have been blessed in the fact that my caregiver duties have been simple in comparison to some of the responsibilities that others face on a daily basis. I have been privileged to know many "caregivers" in my time as a Pastor. I have marveled at the strength that these individuals have exhibited during very difficult and trying times in their lives as well as the lives of their family. I have been able to have the privilege to attempt to minister to these ladies and gentleman when in reality they were teaching me the true heart of ministry and servanthood. 

I want to take a moment and honor those individuals today who serve as the primary caregiver to their loved one. I have seen these caregivers of all ages, all races, different sexes, different educational backgrounds, different employment expertise as well as different levels of medical training. BUT THERE WAS ONE COMMON CHARACTERISTIC; they cared for the individual and they were motivated through and with a heart of love and concern for the well-being of that individual. Some of these caregivers see their "patient" recover and see their health restored. But there are those other caregivers who faithfully minister to those individuals until they take their final breath on the earth. 

I WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT AND SAY THANK YOU TO ALL OF THOSE BRAVE AND CARING INDIVIDUALS WHO TAKE TIME TO OFFER CARE AND CONCERN TO OTHERS IN THEIR TIME OF NEED!!! You may know of someone who is serving as a caregiver to a family member today. What don't you take the time to thank them for their service and let them know that their heart of care and concern is a blessing to you?