Thursday, August 28, 2008

Happy Birthday, Leif

Leif,

Today you turn 5. I cannot even believe how quickly time has gone by. You have always (excluding the 6 weeks of colic) been an incredibly fun, easy, joyful boy. People love you, Leif. There is something that you bring to life that makes everyone smile.

And now you are growing spiritually, too. You are so sensitive to the Lord and His word. I know that he will use you to do great things.

My prayer for you today is that you will pursue God. That you will present yourself to Him as a living sacrifice and that He will use you to advance His kingdom.

Leif, you are hilarious! I don't know of any 4 or 5 year old that is so funny and witty. I think of playing with you yesterday and how much we laughed together as you became the ham you always do. I love it. And I love you.

Leif, God is good. He loves you more than you could ever dream. Listen to Him. The path to God is narrow but our reward (Jesus) will be great. Follow him, Leif. No matter what, follow Jesus.

So, I will quote a great father to son verse for you today, my sweet boy:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

I love being your dad.





Friday, August 22, 2008

I (still) Believe You're My Healer

Recently I purchased the newest release from Hillsong, "This is Our God." This CD is one of my favorite worship CDs. There are so many songs that the Lord is using to help me worship Him.

I had anticipated the release of this CD for a while. While searching the internet for things about the CD, I stumbled upon a video telling the story of one of the songs, "Healer." I remember sitting in my office at home, weeping worshipfully as I watched. The writer of the song told his story about how he found out he had terminal cancer and the Lord gave him this song. Powerful. He actually led the song during the recording with an oxygen tube connected to his nose.

Unfortunately, since the release of the CD, this man has confessed that for two years he has lived a lie. He made the whole thing up! No cancer. No tube. It was a lie.

For the life of me I can't even begin to think of a reasonable answer to the question, "Why?" As I listened to the details; how he is in big trouble with the authorities (he received money from people to help with his expenses), how those he worshipped with and the church didn't know, I was heartbroken. Do I get rid of the CD?

As I've thought through it, I've decided a few things. The song is a great song and is true... no matter who the writer was or what he did. God used a lot of sinful people to bring about his purposes all throughout Scripture. He still does. The liars in Scripture did not disqualify the truths of God, and neither does this.

Paul says in Philippians 1:18, "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice."

So I will go on singing the truth about the Lord. He never lies. He never fails.

Lord,
I believe You're my healer.
I believe You are all I need.
I believe You're my portion.
I believe You're more than enough for me.
Jesus, You're all I need.

Monday, August 18, 2008

#4- Matthew 9:37-38

So... what I meant when I said that I would post really soon was... in a month. Sorry. Things have been incredibly busy. Onto the task, though....

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest."

This passage almost didn't make the cut. Believe me, I don't mean that negatively. It just happens that this one seems to be skipped a lot. In fact it's something that we just applied to our church, literally, in the past 6 months.

Think about what Jesus is saying here. (It's pretty critical that I, a church planter, get this) The harvest is plentiful. Boy, it doesn't feel like it sometimes (I can hear my church planting readers shouting "Amen"). But God's word is truth (John 17:17) and what the Lord says is that the harvest is not just possible... it's plentiful. God has called many... from every nation and tongue. That includes where you live and where I live.

But Jesus follows that incredibly hope-filled statement with the somewhat sobering news... "The laborers are few." Why is that? Why are there so few who will work to advance the Kingdom of God? Why is it so rarely that we say.. "Man, that guy or that girl is on fire. They're telling everyone about Jesus!" It seems to me like we believe the second statement a lot more than we believe the first. We so readily put our hope in man. And so we rely more on the few laborers than the plentiful harvest.

But this passage is one of great hope and encouragement. The point is that God will reap the harvest and we can be a part of it. In fact, there is a command in this passage. It's a command that I've neglected.. not even thought about... most of my ministry. What does Jesus prescribe for this harvest vs. laborers problem? Prayer.

Therefore (since we have a shortage of workers for such a great harvest) PRAY! And don't just regularly pray... like "God is great, God is good let us thank him for our food and please send people, Amen." No... pray EARNESTLY. Pray hard. Make an effort at praying to the Lord of the harvest (he's in control of all those waiting to respond) to send out laborers into his harvest. Beautiful. Once again, I am reminded that my hope is in the Lord.

At Cornerstone, we are finally striving to obey this passage. So every first Friday of the month, we have a ministry called 938 (from Matthew 9:38). It's pretty simple. We just meet and pray, earnestly... "Lord please send out laborers.. from us and from our church.. into your harvest."

It's simple, and it's obedience. Oh that He would answer as only He can!