Better Days Are Coming

I have been studying the lives of the Old Testament kings of Israel in my personal devotions. Though some honored God, most did whatever they wanted to with no regard for how it impacted their relationship with the Lord. Their disregard for the God of their fathers caused tremendous pain not only in their personal lives, but in their nation.

As the story winds down at the end of 2 Chronicles, the entire kingdom collapsed. Jerusalem was destroyed. The people were carried off into exile in distant lands. At first glance, it seemed that all hope was lost and nothing great would ever happen again in Israel. But then we come to the last verse of the story, 2 Chronicles 36:23. In that verse God touched the heart of King Cyrus of Persia, a foreign conqueror who was not a follower of the Jewish faith. King Cyrus passed a decree allowing the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. This story, so filled with disappointment and failure, ends with a promise of hope.

Life is often like that for us when we allow God to be at work in our lives. We may face many failures, hardships and difficulties, but when we re-focus on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, we find hope in the midst of despair. Godly hope does not disappoint. It leads to amazing things we never thought possible.

The book of Ezra follows Chronicles. It picks up the story of the Jewish people in exile. In the opening verses we learn that not only are the Jews allowed to return home and build their temple, but that the very kingdom that enslaved them was now going to help pay for the repairs of the temple. Though some opposition remained, and many hardships still lay ahead, the tide had clearly turned. They were eventually able to rebuild their temple, which remained until after Jesus’s resurrection.

Many times in our lives God uses the very thing that looked like it would destroy us as an instrument of blessing to us. I am reminded of Ephesians 3:20 which tells us that Christ “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” When we are discouraged, we must remember that better days are coming and they will be more amazing than we could ever imagine.

For more devotionals like this one, consider Touching the Footprints of Jesus. 

Celebrating Twenty Years of Ministry in New England

Today marks mine and my wife's 20^th anniversary as missionaries in New England. During these many years we have been involved in church planting and church revitalization in one form or another, mostly focusing on Vermont and Connecticut. It has been a glorious time and we do not regret our move to New England on a snowy night in the first weekend of November in 1993.

We have seen many new churches started. We have seen many unchurched people find faith in Christ. We have seen many Christians strengthened in their faith.  We look forward to many more years in New England and remain convinced that God wants to bring revival to America again and that it will happen through His efforts in New England.

As I reflect in our time here, I must confess though that at times I get weary in the work. The Lord always sustains me, but from time to time my body and spirit grow weak. I am thankful for people like Phil Waldrep, who hosts an annual Pastor and Wives Retreat that helps my wife and I recharge every year. I am thankful for people like Ann Wilson, the secretary at Eureka Baptist Church in Anderson, SC, who has stood with us in prayer and financial support every month for twenty years. She is the only person left from our original support team that has remained faithful all this time. I am also thankful for all the people whom I will never meet on this side of heaven who have read about us in a mission magazine or newsletter and have prayed, given financially, volunteered of their time, or advocated on our behalf. The Lord has seen your efforts and He is answering your prayers.

As we enter into the next twenty years of ministry in New England, we do not know exactly what lies ahead, but we know that the Lord is still on the throne and He still loves us despite our shortcomings, and that gives us great comfort. A new crop of young people are coming to New England to minister. They are full of energy and creative ideas and innovative styles and that gives us great hope for the future. Though we may grow weary from time to time, the Lord never grows weary and He never sleeps. And that gives us the greatest peace anyone can imagine. Thank you Lord, and thank you New Englanders, for letting us serve alongside of you.

Living Our Faith

As a Christian, I think it is important that we share our faith with others. But at the same time, we cannot expect people who do not follow our faith to comply with the standards of our faith. They must first come to faith in Christ, and only then will they desire to live as our faith instructs us. My friend David Wesley Gould, pastor Nashville First Wesleyan Church puts it this way, “Sometimes I think Christians forget that the New Testament was written to Christians. It is like the U.S. constitution. I can't expect someone in China to live it out. But I can live it out in such a way that people in China want to come here and experience it.” Though the difference may sounds like semantics, it is actually very important. Let’s all look for ways to share our faith and then let that faith impact people’s lives.

The Cost of Church Planting

I love church planting. I like the challenge of it. I like the freshness of it. I like to see the “aha moment” when people who never understood the Gospel finally grasp it, and statistics show that happens a lot more in church plants than in established churches. Church planting is in my blood. It is in my spiritual DNA. It is part of who I am.

But sometimes . . . .  okay, I’ll be honest, OFTEN, it is exhausting. It is physically exhausting to set up and take down everything needed for a church service week after week until a church gets a building of their own. It is financially exhausting since my tithe is often the bulk of the offering until the congregation gets stronger and more mature. It is emotionally and spiritually exhausting because we have to give of ourselves again and again but there is no one to pour back into us.

I have dealt with these challenges in two ways. First, I try to take a long walk most mornings. During that time I pray, I think about my day and I try to keep my body in some semblance of health. Second, I work hard to forge a coalition of partners that want to help me in my work. Sometimes they are local, but often they are from other places. They pray for and with us. They volunteer to help us do special projects. They give of their resources to help pay the bills until the new congregation can assume responsibility for that. Thank God for partners!

Sometimes people challenge my commitment to church planting. They ask if it would be easier if I just moved back to the Bible belt and served in a more established situation. The answer is yes, but that is not what God has called me to do, therefore it is simply not an option. When I ask individuals, churches or mission agencies to help support our ministry financially, they often ask why it costs so much to start churches in New England. I am reminded of what Jared Wilson says. Wilson, a noted author and a pastor of a rural church in northern New England shares this story:

I attended a speaking appearance by Tim Keller in Nashville, Tennessee a few years ago where the pastor host of the event was remembering being on the board that helped send Keller to Manhattan, lo, those years ago. He said one person spoke up in objection at one point, saying essentially, “I could plant ten churches in Birmingham, Alabama for the cost of this one church in Manhattan,” to which this pastor said, “We don’t need ten more churches in Birmingham; we need one in Manhattan.”

I can totally relate to that story. I know there are many places where the cost of living is much cheaper than Connecticut, where I am currently helping to start multiple churches. Land is cheaper in those places. Christian contractors will build a church for a discount in those places. And there is always an ample supply of Christians ready to jump ship and join the newest church in town in those places. In Connecticut it is a lot harder and a lot more expensive. But does rural Alabama or rural Mississippi, already the most churched states in the nation, really need dozens of new churches? They may need a few, is selected places that somehow got missed, but in general, the churches that are there should be able to finish the job. But in Connecticut, evangelical churches are few and far between. They are underfunded and understaffed. And it will take a lot of money, time and effort to change that. Fortunately, we have a God that provides and He uses His people as part of that system of provision. So do not get frustrated with me when I ask for money, it is just a tool that we use to accomplish God's will in expensive places like New England.

Stephen Um reminds his partners that church planting in New England takes twice as long and costs twice as much, but it must be done if we are to obey the Great Commission of making disciples in all places. If you are interested in providing some practical assistance to come church planters in New England, specifically in Connecticut, click on this link and it will give you a list of current needs, some as little as $10. Come on Church, we CAN do this!

The God of Angel Armies

My morning devotions lately have been in 2 Kings. Yesterday I wrote about King Ahaziah seeking help from a false god and the disaster that resulted from that effort. Today I want to focus on 2 Kings 6. In that chapter the prophet Elisha is being pursued by the king of Aram, one of Israel’s long-time enemies. The king is upset because God had been revealing the king’s battle plans to Elisha through supernatural means. Elisha would then tell his own people those plans so they could stop the plans before they happened. The king of Aram sent horses, chariots and a massive army to surround the city where Elisha lived (2 Kings 6:14). The next morning when one of Elisha’s assistants woke up and saw the army, he asked, “What are we to do?” Elisha responded by saying that “those who are with us outnumber those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). Elisha then went on to pray and asked God to open the eyes of his assistant so that the young man could see the supernatural army of horses and chariots of fire that surrounded Elisha’s position. God then used a miracle to lead the attacking army away and as a result, the Aramean’s stopped raiding the Israelite territory (2 Kings 6:23).

Though many centuries have passed since that event took place, God is still doing supernatural events around us all the time. We often get so focused on our problems and difficulties that like Elisha’s servant, we ask in despair, “What are we to do?” In those times we need to remember that God has legions of angels at His command. We need to remember that God has never been defeated in all of history. God has a plan and is working that plan out for ultimate good of the universe. We need to remember that God’s forces always outnumber the enemy and in the end, God’s side always wins. We need our eyes to be opened so that we can see what God is doing around us and take comfort in the power He has at His disposal to do things in ways we could have never dreamed. Today, let our hearts not be troubled, let us believe in Jesus and look to Him for our hope!

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Which God Can Help Us?

My morning devotions lately have been in 2 Kings. This book tells the history of the kings of the Israel after it was divided into two nations. To be honest, it is not a flattering story. One passage jumped out at me because it speaks so powerfully to our own culture.

In the first chapter of 2 Kings, King Ahaziah had gotten injured in an accident in his home and was afraid he would die. Instead of seeking help from God, he sent a messenger to a foreign land to inquire of their god if he would recover from his injury. Elijah, the prophet of God, met the messenger on the journey and asked “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?” (2 Kings 1:3). Time and again throughout the history of God’s people God has proven Himself to them. God had worked miracles on their behalf over and over again. It is inconceivable in light of all that God had done for His people that they would seek advice from a false god. And yet, that is what King Ahaziah did.

As we think about our own lives, we have also witnessed God’s power time and again. How many times have we had some close call in our lives and said, “Someone must have been watching out for me.” How many times have we prayed in a time of crisis and God came through for us. God has been there for us in both big and small ways our entire lives. It is inconceivable that we would seek help from any other source but God. And yet, like King Ahaziah of old, we often do that very thing. We ask friends who do not know the Lord for advice. We call physic hotlines. We read fortune cookies. We watch shows on television in which pop-psychologists give us the latest fad in human thinking, even if it goes completely against God’s Word. We even dabble in new age philosophies and Eastern religions seeking truth.

In the biblical story, King Ahaziah ends up dying because he sought help from the wrong source. It may sound cruel for God to not help him in his situation, but remember, King Ahaziah did not ask God for help. He asked a false god who had nothing to offer him for help and got exactly the kind of help that false god had, which was NOTHING. Essentially, God decided to give King Ahaziah exactly what he asked for, which was empty words and nothing, which led to his death.

As we consider our own relationship with God, why do we think God will help us when we have called upon everyone but Him in our distress? What if God just sat back and let all the false hope and bad advice we seek come to fruition in our lives? It would be a disaster. Thankfully, our God is a God of grace and often helps us even when we do not deserve it. But I do think from time to time He withholds His help while we seek all those other dead ends. He wants us to see that those dead ends lead nowhere, so that when we finally come back to Him, we will be more faithful than we were before. But if we tarry too long in turning back to Him, all we have left is the false hope, false comfort, and false help that this world has to offer and that will lead only to disaster. Let us commit ourselves to turning back to the true God of the Universe today and serve Him with all of our hearts.

For more devotionals like this one, consider Touching the Footprints of Jesus. 

Jesus Vs. Video Games

My primary ministry is to help coordinate church planting across the state of Connecticut. In that role I get to spend time with a lot of fine young couples who have a passion for changing their world. One of the things I work with those couples to do when they first get started is to find some partners who would stand with them in prayer, giving and volunteerism. Those partners come from other area churches and from churches outside our area that have a burden for Connecticut. It is a lot of work to find partners willing to sacrifice their time, their treasure and their talents to help a church they are not even part of. But the Lord touches the hearts of partners and they join the cause.

Recently one of our church planters sent a Facebook message to me. He had been working the social media angle pretty hard trying to find partners. Though some people had responded, many had not. In a pointed moment of realization it occurred to him that many of the same people he was contacting about partnering with him in church planting were ignoring his messages about partnering but sending him countless messages inviting him to play games on Facebook. He found it ironic that they would talk to him a lot about games but none about Jesus. His message pondered what it would be like if he could get people as excited about partnering with him as they were about playing games on Facebook. I wonder the same thing.

And it is not just Facebook games. People who tell me they do not have time to volunteer have the time to play on both a softball league and a basketball league. People who tell me they do not have money to donate somehow have the money to drive the latest model car with all the upgrades. Pastors who tell me their church is too stretched to help plant another church find money for another round of renovations in a sanctuary that already looks pristine and take their senior adults on amazing sight seeing trips on fully equipped buses, but seem unable to take those same people on a mission trip. Once I got a letter from a mega-church asking me for money, not to start a church, but to build an $120,000 playground for the children in their already well funded private school. I sent them a letter back suggesting they tithe off their playground fund to a church plant in New England. I am still waiting on that donation to come through . . .

It is all about priorities. The American church has gotten our priorities wrong. Now we play games and have fun instead of being about the business of winning others to Jesus. I am not suggesting that we should NEVER have fun or play a game, but somewhere along the line we must stop playing games with our faith and start doing whatever it takes to win our nation to Jesus. The team of church planters we have in Connecticut are in it to win it, will you join them, or are you too busy playing games on Facebook, planning your next trip to the beach or getting a message at the spa?

For more devotionals like this one, consider Touching the Footprints of Jesus.