Spiritual Endeavors Part 2b - Foundations of prayer

We've covered the keys to prayer, so now we're going to cover the foundations of prayer, and yea even later the attitudes of prayer. (You know like thankfulness, etc.) Foundations are that upon which all the other things are built. I used to be in construction, building and remodeling homes, and even spent some time, concrete forming. They all start the same, first you dig down to rock, preferably bedrock, then, you form up "footers". Footers are either pillars of concrete, or the base layer of cinder blocks filled with concrete. Either way, its the main part of the foundation upon which you build the whole house. These truths from God's Word are the principles upon which all of praying hangs. Now, the keys we covered first because the person who cares about getting it right will cover these practically without even thinking!  When your heart wants to be with God, you'll get these right.

Spiritual Endeavors Part 2a - Keys to Prayer

We've covered the need for Spiritual Disciplines, even though it was somewhat brief.
This entry will cover prayer.
This is the most basic, and generally is the first discipline practiced by a new believer. Prayer is the enigma of the ages for new believers because its represented in Scripture so many ways. It can be simple, such as the publican's "Lord be merciful to me a sinner" prayer, or it can be long and involved like one of Solomon's prayer. You can stand looking toward Heaven, or lie completely flat (prostrate) upon the ground. There are examples of those on their knees, sitting, laying prostrate, and standing. There are examples of short and long, simple and complicated, and nearly everything in between. I cover this because there are some who worry about their posture more than they worry about their attitude, or spiritual condition in prayer. Some, just starting out, are concerned because they "want to get it right," which is commendable. There are some keys to praying, and none of them have to do with how your body is situated, or which way you are looking. I believe those things will come in time, but for the new believer, or for the person who is trying to renew their walk with Christ there are issues that are far more important, and I hope to cover those briefly.

No Longer Pastor of MRBC

It is with a heavy heart that I have resigned from Missionary Ridge Baptist Church. I believed God would do great things there, but alas, if He does, it will be without me.

I could rant here about bad things, and vent frustration, but this is not the forum, and I'm biased. I think it would be extremely wrong for any man claiming to be mature enough to be an Ordained Minister to follow such a path. I'll only say that I regret my own shortcomings. The last year before my Sabbatical were hard on me. Hence the complete absence from blogging. I was very discouraged, and it affected everything. In January I began a short 2 month Sabbatical in order to over come this. During that time God began to renew my heart and overwhelmingly impressed me with what I believe is the direction the Church should go.

Simplify! I believe there comes a time in a Church's existence when it has to step back and ask hard questions. I believe like Ronnie Stinson Sr. of Trace Creek Baptist Church in Mayfield, KY says, "The light that shines the farthest shines brightest at home." I don't believe that cookies and donuts and coffee before Sunday School, or candy for kids is what really grows a Church. There are a great many churches that are large, but they have compromised their message doing so. They replaced, "God commands all men everywhere to Repent!" with "come and we'll give you a cookie". Don't get me wrong, I think social events and possibly giving kids a treat once in a while is not necessarily a bad thing. However, Jesus noted that the large crowds that followed Him only did so because of the miracles, and free food.

What we have to do is strip away everything except the core of what makes a Church a Church. Sunday Morning Worship. That's it. Most folks don't know that in the Grand scheme of things Wednesday Night Services, and Sunday Schools are new deals in the Church. That's right. Neither started getting anywhere before the mid 1800's. However, being a practical man, I believe they are greatly useful, and many communities just plain expect them. So, I proposed that MRBC strip away every program, or service except for the main four, Sunday School, Sunday Morning Worship, Sunday Night Worship, and Mid-Week (Wednesday) Services. And then look at how each service could be used to help Christians go from Won to Winners. The Steps were simple: Worship, Edified, Serve, Win.

1. Worship was to focus us on Jesus Christ, and help us to grow in our devotion and Love for Him. No motivator known to man will take a person to the ultimate commitment in their life like Love. Money, Fear, Fun, Food, or whatever else will only keep folks just so long.
   
2. The Next Step is Edified - That is to be taught, Discipleship. This is where the basics of the Faith are established, and fostered. Every Christian should be rooted and grounded in their faith and know what they believe, not what their Pastor believes, or what the Church, or denomination believes. I've often taught that folks should search the Scriptures to see if what I say is so, and NEVER EVER take what I say at face value. If you know the Scriptures on your own, you'll know when a man has gone off his rocker.
   
3. Next is Serve. Every Christian should be involved in serving other Christians. The Bible is clear in Ephesians 4 and other places that God places each member in the Church to contribute. The saying I hate the most is, "I don't think this Church will meet my needs." What they're saying is this Church doesn't serve me. Godless. My question is always, first is this where God is planting me. 2. Where in this Church can I serve. You'll note that Jesus always got the Apostles involved in Ministry, first in basic ways, and progressively more advanced.
4. Last, and very important, Win. This is where the Christian has grown to become a Soul Winner. Both through a formal outreach ministry in the Church, and through informal personal outreach. Its important that Christians know with absolute certainty that God has never saved a Christian that He intend to keep faith to himself!! Those who say, "I think its just between you and God." are just looking to cover up their lack of a testimony! Every person you find in God's Word who was truly affected by the presence of God couldn't keep it quiet.

That's the base vision. There's more. Every level of ministry has its foundations, the things that give it sure footing and power. I don't care what anyone says the fact is plain, unless a person is truly born again he can have no personal ministry, and if he has no personal ministry he cannot be involved in Church ministry. However, the foundation of the personal ministry of the Christian is found in three things:

1. Drawing Near to God in Faith. Initiating faith. That is not about gaining salvation, so much as it is about getting faith started by picking up the cross and following Jesus.
2. Adding to Faith. Faith that is not growing is dying, its that simple. 2 Peter 1:1 - 11 exhort us to "add to" our faith. So, its not just enough to come to Jesus, we must move on.
3. Maintain Faith. We do this through three spiritual exercises that integrate the whole person:
1. Mental Exercise. 1 Timothy 4:11 - 16 God tells Timothy to give attendance to Reading, Exhortation, and Doctrine, to meditate on these things and give himself wholly to them that his profiting would appear to all. The battle starts in the mind. That's where sin starts, and so God says that's where we start battling sin. If you note in Romans 6 the word "know" shows up a lot. Note that in verse 3 “Know ye not", verse 6 "Knowing this”, verse 9, “Knowing that”, verse 11 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves", then in verse 16 "Know ye not”. Get it?
2. Spiritual Exercise. Watch and Pray. Simple. A little bit of pay attention goes a long way. Stay alert.
3. Physical Exercise. Morality, that is how you behave. Act like a Christian. God's Word is full of commands to live Righteously in this evil world.
   

Well, somehow in sharing this I evidently did so in a way that was offensive and upset some folks that I care a great deal about. I was completely crushed after being skewered for over an hour on a Wednesday night, and then again last Sunday. All of the excitement I felt that God had finally answered my prayer was gone. All the effort I had gone through and the overwhelming assurance that I truly had a confirmed vision from God about the direction of the Church was trampled under.

They never heard the Sermon about the foundations of Church Ministry, and when I did get to preach the one about the four functions of the Church I doubt they paid attention to it. Now, don't think I'm blaming them, I'm not sure now what I may have said, nor how badly I may have said it. I'm not going to blame them. I think a man takes responsibility for his own actions, then moves to correct what he can. Too many people are so eat up with pride that they could never bear the thought that any problem they face could be their own doing. But I digress.

I tried this, but in the end my heart was devoid of the desire to fight the battle. It appeared obvious to me, and my wife, that I had lost the confidence of the people, and nothing I could do at that point would win it back. I Long to see this vision carried out. I believe that God gave me this vision so certainly that I put every thing I had worked for on the line. I still do. However, now I wonder was it for MRBC, or was it for another Church? I also wonder, of course second guessing yourself is never good, whether the battle was over, and I rushed leaving. The folks at MRBC have been very good to me over the years, and I'll never forget their generosity, or willingness. They are good people, as far as people go. That's the problem. We're all sinners, and no one, nor any Church is perfect. The key is Love. We must learn to love like Jesus loved. As I often said, "Love anyway."

With that I'll leave you. Saying Thanks to the folks at MRBC for all the good memories. My prayer is that whether present or absent I will hear of their faith, and that they continue in all things excellent.

Spiritual Endeavors Part 1

Today, I want to talk about Spiritual Disciplines. Its kind of difficult because when most Americans hear "Discipline" its immediately negative, painful and hard to do. Actually its nothing more than actions of correction. They can be negative, but they can also be positive. For example, prayer. Prayer is always positive. Unless you are a Roman Catholic and Hail Mary's, Our Fathers, and the Jesus Prayer is what you say for self punishment (Penance) . The problem with our culture is that we're taught in every way to avoid self control. Even the Public School system encourages the lack of it. It does so by avoiding asserting external discipline when a child misbehaves, and when handing out free condoms to students. All of the arguments they use defeat any effort they weakly expend at teaching a kid to discipline himself in any other effort. I could easily say, "They're not going to do homework anyway, so we shouldn't assign it." Isn't that the EXACT logic they use for Condoms? "They're going to do it anyway, so we should teach them to be safe at it." Instead of standing up, and asserting self control, they cave in and destroy it, and the efforts of every parent who has diligently tried to build it into their children's lives. The same with Churches. We Preach that person should read their Bible, Pray, Fast, and be faithful to attend the worship services, and yet Church after Church will put a person into a position of service who is unfaithful, doesn't really read their Bible, or pray, and hasn't fasted in years, if ever. It defeats the message we're trying to preach. Every Sunday School Teacher, Deacon, Treasurer, Song Leader, and especially the Pastor, should be faithful in every one of the disciplines that I'm going to cover. If they are, God has promised blessings upon their lives, and upon the Church they serve. Look at Joseph. He was faithful to do what was right, and God blessed him, and the places and people he served were blessed as well.
So, the question is, are we going to work together to bring about revival, or are we going to blindly keep allowing the world to go to Hell by the millions because of our laziness? I say we get off our butts, and get on our knees in prayer and repentance, and do what it takes to correct our ungodly nature, or at least keep it in Check.

Now, we need a little Scriptural basis for this endeavor. I mean a valid question is "Why, on earth, would I want to live a life of self denial and self control?" I say its valid because God provides answers, and God doesn't give answers to useless and troubling questions.
First. We need to recognize the base nature of man. There are many who believe man is basically good, and that "given the opportunity" he'll choose to do right. Bologna, or Bull, which ever you like. God's Word says that men are altogether bad, and that given the choice they'll go their own way, and that is the way of sin. Read Romans 1 - 3 when you get a chance. Romans 3:10 - 18 sums it up nicely:

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

So, as you can see you are a wretch, yes you (and me unfortunately). In Jeremiah 17:9 God says of the human heart, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" What this means is that if you think your heart doesn't need discipline, you've been deceived. That's why the next verse in Jeremiah says, "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." What this means is that what you think of yourself is not accurate, what your mom thinks of you is not accurate, what your wife, brother(s), sister(s), dad, children, and friend(s) think of you is not accurate. Only God can accurately judge. And He says, you need discipline.

Actually if you are NOT SAVED by the grace of God through faith in Christ, you need salvation! You need to repent of your sin, and your sins (they are different). Jesus died on the cross to redeem you from sin, was buried, and rose again the third day for your justification. Thanks to His work on the cross we can now find Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness with God! email me if you want to know any more.

Second, We need to understand Spiritual Disciplines, or Exercises in relationship to that Deceitful heart. You see we have a base sinful nature, (yes all of us), and left to itself it'll lead us down a path of sin (any of them you pick). Spiritual Disciplines are a way to correct the child in us that is bound up in foolishness. And, according to Proverbs 29:15, "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." That's why Paul said in First Corinthians chapter 9 verse 27 (written normally as 9:27) "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." You see we must, as Christians, practice these things in order to keep ourselves in line, or allow God to get us in line. Its just like maintaining a fire. Just because you got it started doesn't mean its going to burn there all night. Some one is going to have to keep wood on it. The same is true with human hearts as is true with wind up clocks. Every know and then they have to be maintained.

Third, we need to be Disciplined in order to serve God. Romans 12:1 - 2 tells us:

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The only way to "Be transformed" is to work at it. Much of it God does, but even He expects us to "put our hands to the plow" and not look back (Luke 9:62). In Haggai we find that God required the people to get up and get at it BEFORE He blessed. Now, understand this is in relationship to SAVED people, the work God requires of those who are NOT SAVED is different, and NO amount of spiritual disciplines are going to get you saved. They only help you act more like you are saved. You cannot "earn" salvation, it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast, but we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS (see Ephesians 2:8 - 10). So, we need to be transformed, and we need to be workers to the field, but we need to be disciplined in order to complete the picture. God tells Timothy through Paul in 2 Timothy 2:15, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." What that means is that we must be diligent to behave in a way that is pleasing to God, diligent to know the Word of God, and diligent to be about the work of God. Diligence, by the way, is another way of saying "through self control you pay close attention to."

This is by NO MEANS an exhaustive study of the need for Spiritual Disciplines. However, it should give you enough information to understand the need for them. As we go through in the coming days, or weeks, studying them or talking about them, I hope to explain how they relate to countering some base part of our nature, like giving counters selfishness, Fasting counters self indulgence, praying counters self sufficiency and pride, worship counters rebelliousness, Bible Study counters ignorance and sin, service counters laziness, and Witnessing counters apathy and spiritual death. Now, that's not an exhaustive, or exclusive list, because praying also counters selfishness for example.

Now, in another post, I'm going to tell you about my Kubuntu 7.04 upgrades (NICE OS).