Well blow me down!

I just took a look at my blog from December last year. I proclaimed this the year of the open door.
Little did I know then what I know now. Often we make assumptions about what we believe God to be saying. An open door must be a door of entry - not thinking it would be such a big door of exit.
Since that time I have resigned my role as Senior Pastor of Nations Church, preached my last message there, and embarked on a faith journey into the future. The house is about to go on the market, and the future is completely unknown.
Open door indeed. Well, the very cool things about doors - every door is both an exit and an entry. The end of every season is the beginning of another.
If you are going through an open door of exit, take it from one faith maniac to another - focus on what you are walking into, not from.
We know not what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future. A bit tacky, but nevertheless true.
Blessings fellow travellers.
Graeme.

A fresh start

Hi fellow blog followers.

I havn't posted a blog since we were on sabbatical. The reason being that my original purpose for creating this blog was to keep people updated during our time away. Well, as you can see, I'm back.
I believe 2010 is going to be a breakthrough year for many. For this purpose I have decided to get back to this blog and write down my random thoughts as they occur to me. I hope they will be of benefit to those who choose to read them.
I shared at Nations Church last weekend that I believe 2010 is going to be the year of the open door. In Revelation 3:8 Jesus writes to the church in Philadelphia, "See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut". Get ready for God to open doors before you that no one can shut. This is the year of new opportunities. Doors will open that will seem impossible, but walking through them will seem easy. Get ready for an exciting year. More later.....
Graeme.

His Pleasure and His Power.

One of my favourite movies of all time is "Chariots of Fire". Over the years I have spoken of the part in the movie where Eric Liddell's sister is discouraging him from his interest in athletics. Eric's response went something like this: "God has made me for China, but God has also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure".

Taking a sabbatical is a time of reflection. A time of redefining goals, purpose, and life-dreams. Here is my conclusion thus far. Perhaps the place of greatest fruitfulness in life is when we find that place where we feel both His pleasure and His power.

What is it that you do where you feel God's pleasure? Is there a place or activity that when you do it you sense God's favor. Perhaps a sense of "Yes, this is what I was born for". It may be more than one thing. It could be when a surfer catches a wave, or a fisherman catches that elusive fish. It may be the surgeon who saves a life, or the builder who builds a new home. It may be the missionary who embraces an orphaned child, or the policeman who solves a case and rights an injustice. It may be the preacher who delivers a breakthrough message, or the administrator that brings organization to an effective enterprise. Our quest in life is to find that thing. That special moment when you feel everything was worth it. The pain, the sacrifice, the opposition, the heartache - it was all worth it for this moment of fulfilment, this moment when you sense heavens affirmation.

However, this is only part of the equation. To feel God's pleasure is an awesome thing, but when it is coupled with a sense of His power, we are truly blessed. There was a moment in Moses life when God promised to take the people of Israel into the promised land, but without God's presence. He was going to send an angel to accompany them instead. Moses replied that if God wasn't going with them, they weren't willing to go. Moses figured something out. It is one thing to be doing that thing for which we were born, but it is a whole new dimension when we are doing it clothed in His power. We all agree that "with God all things are possible". We must therefore also surmise that "without God, all things are just hard work!"

Having been in full time ministry for the past twenty five years, here is my resolve. From here on it is my desire to do those things that when I do them, I feel His pleasure. However, I don't want to run ahead with that. I also want to know that what I am doing had caught the attention of not only His pleasure, but also His power. I desire to be the junior partner in a working relationship where God's presence and His power are the true driving force.

Care to join me?

Blessings.
Graeme.

If I forget the ultimate, I'll be enslaved to the immediate.

I picked up a quote this week by John Maxwell that goes like this: "If I forget the ultimate, I'll be enslaved to the immediate". The more I think about that statement, the more I see in it. How easy it can become to be so busy with the day to day activities, that we forget the reason why.

Yonggi Cho in his book "The fourth dimension" talks about faith. In the first chapter he writes about the steps toward having faith. The first step, he writes, is to "envision a clear cut objective". Compared with Maxwell's quote above, this would be the "ultimate". Cho suggests that before we can have faith, we need to be clear about what we are having faith for. Jesus asks blind Bartemaeus "What is it you want me to do for you?". We might suggest the answer was obvious, but in the realm of faith, Jesus needed Bartemaeus to be specific.

My question to each one of us is therefore, "What is the ultimate"? What is the "clear cut objective"? What is our true aim in life? What do we really want to do? I think each one of us need a clear answer to this question.

If we don't know, or lose sight of the ultimate, we become enslaved to the immediate. In other words, we will live each day at the mercy of the urgent. We will find ourselves busy with activities that do not necessarily contribute to our ultimate goal in life. We can take opportunities simply "because they are there". When we have a "clear cut objective" we can filter every new opportunity through that ultimate goal, and ask ourselves "will this opportunity be a contributor to a distraction from my ultimate objective".

Of course, being on sabbatical I am in the place where I can re-establish my "ultimate objectives" in life, and review the "activities" I have been enslaved to and ask the question over each one,"Is this contributing to or distracting me from my ultimate objective". The only way we can ask ourselves that question is by knowing what the "ultimate" is.

So what is your "ultimate"?

Beautiful Feet.

I was reading Romans chapter ten last week and have been inspired to make a few comments about Paul's heart for lost people.
Paul begins the chapter writing of his "hearts desire that Israel be saved". He then proceeds in verse 4 to say how they can be saved; "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes".

This is followed in v8-13 by his challenge to the lost; "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart....... that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved..... for with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation....... for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved".

Of course, this is all very good news. Everyone everywhere can be saved. If they confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead, they will be saved. So simple, yet so powerful. We could leave this discussion there, but in doing so we would miss the greatest challenge of all.

Having delivered this simple way that people can be saved Paul says this in v14.....

"How then shall they call on whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?"

How indeed! I'm picking Paul's heart is breaking at this point. His hearts desire is that his people are saved. The mesage of salvation is so simple. Yet there are still multitides who have not yet believed, simply because they have not yet heard.

How can we live with this reality? Untold millions still untold!

Paul then makes this classic summary.....

"As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things".

The gospel is so simple, but not so accessible. Untold millions need to be told. Does this move us? Let's have beautiful feet!

A little laughter....

In Memoriam.

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person that almost went unnoticed last week. Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote the "Hokey Pokey", died peacefully at age 93.

The most traumatic part for the family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in, and then the trouble started.

Hey everyone. I really couldn't resist that. Anyways, I have been thinking. There was a time in Elijah's life when he totally lost the plot. No longer was he walking in step with God's prophetic agenda. He was running off to speak with Jezebel, then hiding in depression in the wilderness. How often does that happen to us? We are doing well, calling down fire from heaven, and then we are burnt out and depressed, sulking in the wilderness. An angel visits Elijah and gives him the strength to go the the mountain of God. There, he is met with wind, earthquakes, and fire - but God wasn't in any of them. That's an important point. God is not always in our whirlwind life. He is lost in all the noise and activity. Finally Elijah finds God in a still small voice.

The point is, Elijah found God "in the slience". Have you found God in the silence? Or are we so busy we can no longer find Him. Find the "silence" and you will find the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.

Further musings.

Back again and looking forward to getting the remnants of a nasty cold behind me.

First of all, some mindless entertainment. We collected the classic Mercedes and noticed the radio didn't work. Now as you are all aware, the two most important parts of an old car are the radio and the heater, so we took the car in to a mechanic who is reputed to be one of the best in town. We returned a few hours later to collect the car, and good news, the radio was working fine. I asked what the problem was, and the mechanic had this weird expression on his face. This expression was a mixture of sheepish embarrassment and shameless disappointment. He goes on to explain how he had spent up to an hour working out the problem. He checked that the fuses were okay, he checked that power was getting to the unit, he took it out and checked it all over, and just couldn't figure it out. Finally, in total exasperation he decided to look in the user's manual. Under the instructions..... "to turn on the unit, please hold down the power button for two full seconds". Needless to say, I was not popular. Perhaps a moral to this story though, how many times do we spend too much time trying to work out our own problems when the answer is right there in black and white in the instruction manual!

Anyways, moving on. I've been thinking. Dangerous, I know, but necessary when on retreat. There is an interesting passage in 1 Corinthians 3 concerning how we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. From v.12 it says this.... "Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."

I once heard Pastor Andrew Evans make this statement concerning this passage. "Those things we do for God that He asks us to do are the gold, silver, and precious stones. Those things we do for God that He doesn't ask us to do are the wood, hay, and straw." Now, should this be right, we have a few questions to answer. First, all of the above refer to things we do for God. That would mean that not everything we do for God has value! Our motive may be sincere, and even admirable, however if that motive is grounded in any place but hearing from God and a faith response, it is no more than dead works.

Now, before someone takes this thought as a licence to "do nothing unless God asks me to", let's first clarify what we are dealing with here. We do a lot of things in life that are not necessarily about reward. The Good Samaritan didn't stop to help the beaten man because God asked him to. Jesus said that he did so out of love. It is right and honorable to do things out of love. We serve others because we love them. It is not for reward. For example, I love the local church. I am and would be faithful to the local church because of my love for God's house. Again, if someone is in need, we meet that need not for reward, but for love.

So I wonder whether this passage is talking about something else entirely. I wonder whether this passage has more to do with "our life's work"; that which we give ourselves to; our call; our "ministry". If so, this passage suggests that not all we do for God will bring a reward. So, here's the big question: Why would we do things for God that He hasn't asked us to do? If God is not impressed with efforts that are not born out of obedience and faith towards Him, why would we do it?

Could there be aspects of what we "give our lives to" that God looks down from heaven and asks, "Why are you doing that?" We might feel that God needs us, that without us the whole organization would collapse, when God is thinking, "I already have someone to do that, would you please get out of the way so I can raise them up".

The apostle Paul is an interesting case study. When testifying before King Agrippa in Acts 26;19 he says, "Therefore King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision". Paul did those things God asked him to do. Maybe we can consider the things Paul didn't do. He didn't stay in Antioch. He didn't base himself in Jerusalem. He didn't sing on the worship team. He didn't focus on reaching the Jews. He didn't go into Asia when the Holy Spirit told him not to. He didn't lead the youth group. He didn't call himself a prophet, or a pastor, or even and evangelist - only an apostle. I would suggest that the "works" that Paul did were primarily Gold, silver, and precious stones" because he did those things God asked him to do.

So, in wrapping up, Why do we do things for God that He hasn't asked us to do?

1. I think we can get caught up in a false sense of loyalty. We start to think "God needs me". We descend from a sense of call to a false sense of responsibility. The answer is to return to God and ask Him to show us again the "heavenly vision" He has for us.

2. We see what others have done and compare ourselves with them. If our friends achieve greatness through being an evangelist, we see that as "the" pathway to greatness. If they have a great voice, we want a great voice. We begin to run "their" race. The answer is to find our own pathway. Our pathway is found directly in "those things God has asked us to do".

3. We have lost our centre. We began our race in response to God's call on our lives. We began because we "heard from God", but we are no longer doing the biz because we heard from God. The system has swallowed us up. What do to? Get away with God. You might begin with getting a cold, but eventually you will again hear that still small voice, and re-direct your life call towards the heavenly vision.

Finally, keep doing the small stuff. Love God, love others, love His church, and serve all three.

Catch you all soon.

G.