DUH Moment!

Okay, I had one of those DUH moments this morning. As I was doing my Quiet Time, still continuing to look at the book "Secrets from the Vine" by Bruce Wilkinson, I was reminded about the pruning process God puts us through so that we can produce greater fruit for the Kingdom. Now I'm no green thumb...in fact I have a brown thumb and can kill a plant really quick. But my mother was and is a pretty good gardener and one thing I used to always see her do was remove branches and what she called "suckers" from her tomato plants. When I asked her why she did it, she said, "It helps the plant produce better fruit."

In my Quiet Time, Wilkinson talked about the same thing. By removing excess growth, the sap can then flow to the fruit and make it bigger and sweeter. It is beneficial in the producing of fruit.

Okay, so here's the DUH moment I had. God wants to prune us so that we are producing the right kind of fruit for Him. We have this idea that if we are busy, we are productive. Not so. Productivity, or fruit, and activity have nothing to do with one another. In fact, we need to cut back on some of our activity and focus more on those things that are producing fruit for the Kingdom. I've been guilty to many times of being busy but not really producing any fruit.

Lord, prune me. I know that it is a painful process but remove from my life anything that is getting in the way of me producing fruit for the Kingdom. Help me to willingly give up that which takes away from my productivity for you.

How about you? Do you need to pray that kind of prayer today?

Cut Off or Taken Up

God continues to teach me from John 15. In verse 2, Jesus says this, "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." I always struggled with this verse because this sounds like those Christians who aren't producing fruit are cut away from the vine and it is thrown away. If that was the case, how then do Baptist's reconcile our "Once saved, always saved" belief?

During my devotional time this morning, Bruce Wilkinson's book shed some excellent light on this. The Greek word that is translated "cut off" or "take off" can actually be better translated as "to take up." It is the same Greek word that was used when Jesus told the lame man to, and I paraphrase, "Take up your bed..."

The idea here is that the branch is not actually cut off and discarded. It is far to valuable to do that. Instead, the idea is that a branch that has strayed off the trellis and gotten down on the ground where it has become dirty and diseased is gently lifted up by the vinedresser, cleaned us and reattached to the trellis so that it can become a productive branch again.

We are the branch. We have a tendency to stray away from God and get caught up in the world where we become spiritually dirty. But instead of God cutting us off because we've strayed away from Him, He gently reaches down and encourages us to return to Him. When we return in repentance, He gently cleans us up and moves us back to His "trellis" where we can begin to produce MUCH fruit, as I talked about in the last post.

Aren't you glad that God never gives up on us? The world will give up on you and Satan will try to convince you that you have messed up to bad to ever be productive again. But God always allows us to return in repentance and He restores us and encourages us to be productive in His Kingdom once again.

Welcome Back!

That's kind of how I feel since I haven't had a post on here in over a month. But I'm back-not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Gone through a lot of things over the last few weeks-learned a lot of things along the way. Just want to share some of those with you. Going to be a little transparent here so don't laugh.

I spent 15 years in full time ministry and have been teaching a Sunday School class for the last two. I used to always tell my students that they need to have a Quiet Time everyday. Talk is cheap! It's easy for me to tell them to do it, but I've struggled with it for years. Just recently, God really drove home the need for me to be spending time with Him everyday. I'm currently using "Secrets From the Vine" (I think that's the right name) by Bruce Wilkerson. The whole book is written around the teachings of Jesus in John 15-you know "I am the vine and you are the branches..."

I've read that passage numerous times and have even taught on it a few times. Yet I missed some really important things in there. The biggest thing that I've learned in the last week is that God expects each Christian to produce MUCH fruit. Why? To bring glory to Him. Fruit is not for us, but so that others will see God at work and be attracted to Him. To produce MUCH fruit we must be attached to the vine, because Jesus said any branch that doesn't produce fruit will be cut off and thrown away (that's my paraphrase, by the way). And to be attached to the vine means that we must totally surrender ourselves to God, holding nothing back from Him.

That's where I have failed. I've put up what I thought was a good front and did all the "Christian" things. Yet as I stepped back this week and looked at things, I haven't been totally surrendered to Him at all. At best, I would say that I'm actually about 50% surrendered. This drove me to my knees (figuratively-if I get to my knees I'm not sure I could get back up again). Then I heard this song echoing over in my head:

Lord I want more of You
Living water rain down on me
Lord I need more of You
Living breath of life come fill me up

Lord I want more of You
Living water rain down on me
Lord I need more of You
Living breath of life come fill me up

We are hungry, We are hungry
We are hungry for the more of You
We are thirsty, oh Jesus
We are thirsty for the more of You

That's my prayer from this point forward. Lord, I want more of You. How about you?

Humble Thyself in the Sight of the Lord

I don't know if anyone remembers that old chorus. I used to do it with my kids in Tahoka back in the early '90's (yes, I'm old and I admit it). The words are very simple: Humble Thyself in the sight of the Lord (repeat) And He will lift you up. Not real hard to memorize that one. This past Sunday, God humbled me in a big way. For those of you who missed church at FLBC or who attend elsewher, I had the privilege of leading worship for our Music Minister while he and his wife celebrated their anniversary. I worked on the music and put together a worship set that I really thought went together well: Unchanging (Tomlin), Your Love, O Lord (Third Day), Great is Thy Faithfulness (Hymn), Stronger (Hillsongs) and Charlie Hall's arrangement of Jesus Paid it All. Worked in some lead guitar stuff for Grant to play. I was pumped about leading worship. Then God got a hold of the service...do you know how frustrating it is too lose your voice in the middle of worship? I literally sounded like a frog croaking his way through worship. When that happened, I lost concentration. I started thinking about what others might be thinking about me, why was this happening to me, how am I going to get back in control...you see a pattern developing here? Suddenly, I was more concerned about me than anything else. We finished the worship set, thanks to Grant singing, and I went and sat down all upset because of what happened to me.


Later Sunday night I started reading a book written by Andy Park, To Know You More: Cultivating the heart of a worshipper. It's a great book, even though I've only read a couple of chapters (I'm a slow reader). The author makes it very clear in Chapter 1: Worship is not about us, it's about God. Now, I'm sure you're like me, and just said, "Well, DUH!" But I forgot that Sunday. All I could focus on was my situation. I missed listening to the congregation lead the worship when I couldn't sing. They were worshiping in spite of my lack of worship. I am reminded that before I can be a worship leader, I have to be a worshiper. Again, I here some of you saying, "DUH!!" Question for you: Are you worshiping when you come before the Lord, or are you going through the motions and playing at worship?

Now this may not be a problem for you. But I need to be reminded that worship is about God, because I'm bad about letting ego get in the way sometimes. Lord, never let my pride get in the way of pointing others to you.

Disappointment

Well, here it is, almost three weeks since my last post. Life isn't fair! But then again, you've probably already figured that out. Life was never intended to be fair. Anyone who thinks that it is, is either very naive or living in a fantasy world.

We have this expectation that life is going to be wondreful and that we will get everything that we want out of it. Who sold us that pack of lies? Satan! It's his way of getting us discouraged when things aren't going the way we want. He looks at us and says, "Wait! God's not being fair to you. He must not really care about you or be concerned about you. If He was, then you wouldn't be going through what you are. Life would be easy and smooth." And then we listen to it and we get mad at God and we turn our backs on Him and pout. (Yeah, I know that wasn't a grammitically correct sentence, but I'm not an English major...got my degree in Music)

When this happens, Satan wins and keeps us from following God. I know because I've been there the last day or so. I got disappointed yesterday when I received a letter from a church, politely telling me that they were going in a different direction in looking for a pastor. Now this isn't the first time that I've been removed from consideration, but this one hurt more than any other time. The reason is because it was the first time since I left full time ministry that I've tried to get back into a ministry position.

This "rejection" hurt because it brought out feelings of, "I guess God will never use me in ministry again. I blew it and now I'll never be allowed to do what I love the most." I had a little...okay, a huge...pity party for myself. God reminded me that I prayed for Him to show me His will. He did, but I didn't like it because it wasn't MY will. I put out the fleece and waited for God's response and when it came I got mad and thought how unfair it was.

God also reminded me that I am in ministry. I teach Sunday School every week, sing in the choir, and yes...as hard as this is to believe...I play the piano for the worship service. I also have the opportunity to fill in for the pastor and music minister when they are out.

So what's the point of this post? Well, I can sit here and be miserable and be mad at God for not giving me what I want...which probably wasn't where I needed to be anyway...or I can be thankful for the opportunities that God has given me. Yes, I very much want to be in full time vocational ministry, but God is using me in other ways and I need to be more aware of them and look to make the most of the opportunities.

I know this is a long post, but I hope you will take a minute and think about your own walk. Are you disappointed because you didn't get your way or are you thankful for how God is using you and what He's allowing you to be a part of?

Center of it All

This past weekend, I had the privilege to lead worship at FBC, Sealy. They are currently in an interim time but have a new pastor arriving in a couple of weeks. The interim has been with them now for two year....crazy, huh? Anyway, I spoke out of Philippians 1:12-30. As he spoke, he made a statement that I know to be true but had never put much thought into. In fact, as he spoke, I wondered how many times I miscommunicated the same point.

His statement was that God shouldn't be #1 in our lives, but rather should be the center of our lives. He stated that #1 often changes in our lives. I love college football and I got to thinking about it that way. How many times do we see teams rise to #1 in the rankings, only to slip out of that spot after a week or maybe two, depending on how well they play. The same thing happens in our lives: we go to a revival, a conference, or camp and get all excited about God and we say, "God, you have the #1 priority in my life." And then we come home and something happens and before we know it, God has slipped to #2, #3, or lower.

But, if we make God the center of our lives, then everything revovles around that relationship. Think about the North Star. Now I'm not an astronomy nut...just a nut, but if you look for certain constellations in the sky at night-provided you live where you can see the stars-you can find them easier if you locate the North Star and move from there. The same is true in our lives. When we place God in the center, it is so much easier to find our purpose and way.

I've started going through Henry Blackaby's study, Experiencing God, again. It's been several years since I did that study. It had a profound effect on me at the time. But Blackaby talks about God be the center of our lives. To know and do God's will, we have to not place Him #1, but place Him in the center.

God's Glorious Forgiveness

God taught me a powerful lesson about forgiveness today. I'm preparing to sing this Sunday at church and I'm going to sing the song, "Stronger." (see the words below) As I'm singing it in the car this afternoon, God hit me square between the eyes and reminded me how He has forgiven me. I left my last ministry position because of sin that I left unchecked and it consumed me and cost me my opportunity to minister. I've asked God to forgive me and I know that He has, but I learned today that I never really let Him forgive and restore me. This song literally brought me to tears today as I sang and thought about the forgiveness that God has poured out on me. It hit me that no matter what I've done, my God is stronger than the sin and He has overcome it. And He gives me the power, through Him, to overcome that sin and it's hold on me. I've lived to long with regret about my past mistakes and not willing to fully accept God's forgiveness. How about you? Do you need to hear the words..."You broke my shame and sinfulness?" How about "Stronger, You are stonger...Sin is broken, You have saved me?" What a glorious thought. Wrap your mind around that for a while and you will not sing but shout "Let Your name be lifted higher, be lifted higher!!!" Praise be to God. Thank you Father for your glorious forgivenss.

"Stronger"
There is Love that came for us
Humbled to a sinner's cross
You broke my shame and sinfulness
You rose again victorious (Back to Intro)

Faithlulness none can deny
Through the storm and through the fire
There is truth that sets me free
Jesus Christ who lives in me

You are stronger, You are stronger
Sin is broken, You have saved me
It is written, Christ is risen
Jesus You are Lord of all

No beginning and no end
You’re my hope and my defense
You came to seek and save the lost
You paid it all upon the cross

You are stronger, You are stonger
Sin is broken, You have saved me
It is written, Christ is risen
Jesus You are Lord of all

So let Your Name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher
Be lifted higher

You are stronger, You are stronger
Sin is broken, You have saved me
It is written, Christ is risen
Jesus You are Lord of all.

Clarification on God's Love

Let me clarify a statement from yesterday's post. Ronnie, you're right, I don't think God gets angry with us, although continued rebellion will lead to anger. I believe that when we sin, God is disappointed with us. This is the same kind of disapoointment parents feel when their children mess up. We don't get mad at first, but if there is no repentance and change in behavior, that disappointment slowly moves to anger. We see this over and over in God's dealing with the Israelites. They were warned to come back to God and when they didn't God had to punish them. In the passage of scripture I referenced yesterday, Zechariah 1, God did have anger that burned against the Israelites when they turned their backs on Him. This is why He sent them into exile for 70 years under the Babylonians and Persians. God even tells the remnant that He had been angry with their forefathers. This passage is a clear call to the nation, and to us today, to return to him by confessing our sins and seeking Him. I hope that explains things a little better.

God's Love

Just got through working on material for our weekly Sunday School teachers meeting. Our Education Minister is going to be out of town tonight, so he asked me to teach. Now as much as I love to teach, teaching teachers can be a daunting thought. And to make matters worse, we're beginning a study in Zechariah. I really struggle with the Old Testament passages-especially prophecies.

Anyway, as I began to study last night and continued on into today, I began to see God's incredible love once again. I was reminded of some very important things that are in the first chapter of Zechariah.

1. God does not want to stay angry with us. Yes, God get incredibly angry when we sin and turn our backs on Him. However, God loves us so much that He will turn away from His anger so that the relationship can be restored.

2. We have to take the step to "Return to Him." We can't stay where we are at. God will accept us with the sin, which He will forgive, but He won't let us stay in our sin. We have to get up from where we are and return to Him. When we return to Him, He will return to us.

3. As I state above, we can't stay where we were. We have to repent of our sins. Leighton Flowers gave the best interpretation of repenting. It's not just turning from our sins, but it's destroying the path way back to it. Repentance is not true repentance if we continually find ourselves returning to the sin. We can't just turn away. We have to destroy all the paths back to that sin. It has to become an island that is impossible for us to get to.

4. God promises to restore us when we faithfully return to Him.

5. We don't have to live in guilt over past sins. Jim Denison write this: "Know that your Father waits for you to return to him so that he can return to you. Name your sin or failure specifically with repentant contrition. Ask your Father to forgive you for it. Claim his promise of mercy and grace...the next time guilt returns, take it to grace. Say to your shame, 'I am forgiven and all my sins are forgotten.'"

That my friends is good news! I have to constantly be reminded of these things. Thank you Lord for making me have to teach this lesson to other teachers so that I can be reminded of your Love, Grace, Forgiveness, and Restoration.

Following God

I think God is in that mode of teaching me something right now. I came to the office on Monday and just didn't want to be there. I couldn't find any joy or excitement about being in the office. The problem is I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with my life right now. On the one hand, I have a degree in Music that I can fall back on if I can find a Choir job. On the other hand, there are some great things about working with Farm Bureau.

Here's what's so hard...God is making me learn to wait on Him. I wish He would just tell me exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. That would make life so much easier. But God never works like that. He wants us to learn to trust Him and to wait patiently for Him. I know that in time, God will open the doors that He wants me to walk through. I just have to learn to do what I'm not very good at....waiting.

Lord, teach me to trust You and to wait for You. I truly want to know what it is You have planned for me. Teach me not to get ahead of You but to walk beside You. Teach me to trust You because You know what is best.

Well, I'm finally getting over the trip to Lubbock this past weekend. It was great to get to see old friends, and some of them are really looking old...not me of course. We got to attend worship at Calvary. First time I've been in a service there since we left in 2000. Great auditorium. Dr. Richard Rush is the pastor there now and he did a great job with the service. Didn't realize when we went that it was VBS Encore. Mandy leaned over at 11:40 AM to remind me that Richard still hadn't preached. We thought it was going to be a long service but we were out at 12 Noon.

This Sunday morning, I have the opportunity to preach at our church. I preaching about worship. The sermon title is "Worship: It's Not About Me." Worship has to be one of my favorite topics to preach about. So many of us really don't have a clue what worship is. We try to make it about us-our style of music or instrumentation, our style of preaching-don't want anything that might make us move out of our comfort zones. There's also a lot of us who have lost our passion for worship. We just go through the motions of worship. In Amos 5, God chastised the Israelites for just going through the motions. It's not worship. Worship has to be whole hearted, passionate seeking of God that calls us to respond to Him.

Matthew West has a great song out right now entitled "The Motions." Think about these words this week as you worship God individually and corporately.

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wannt spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"

What about you? Are you tired of going through the motions? I hope you'll wholeheartedly search for God. And when you find Him, you fall at His feet in worship.

Here We go

It's been a long time since I did any blogging. This may be a totally stupid idea because I often wonder if I have anything to say that's worth reading. I guess this site will be a place that I can place some random thoughts or post what God is saying to me. Hopefully it will be of some use to people, if anyone ever reads this.