PSALM 55 AT 55

John Denver wrote, “I've been lately thinking about my life's time. All the things I've done and how it's been.” (Poems, Prayers, & Promises, 1971) The funny thing about these lyrics is that he wrote them at the age of 27.  I’m sure at 27 John thought he had lived a long life.  Another singer from the 70's declared, “Once was the thought inside my head, by the time I reached 30 I’d be dead.”

God, listen to my prayer and do not ignore my plea for help. Pay attention to me and answer me. I am restless and in turmoil with my complaint, because of the enemy’s voice, because of the pressure of the wicked. For they bring down disaster on me and harass me in anger. My heart shudders within me; terrors of death sweep over me. Fear and trembling grip me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, “If only I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest. How far away I would flee; I would stay in the wilderness. Psalm 55:1-6

Psalm 55 opens with a call to God for help.  The writer begins by begging Elohim (Hebrew for God Almighty) just to listen to his plea.  I can not help but sense the helplessness and the feeling of abandonment obviously felt by the psalmist.  These depth of the author’s despair is evident as he expresses his wish to just “fly away”, in an effort to escape from the massive trouble which engulfs him.

In the movie Forest Gump, young Jenny's father is chasing her through the fields to beat her. Jenny and Forest are holding hands and kneeling together while hiding in the field. Jenny begins to pray, “Dear God, make me a bird. So I could fly far. Far, far away from here.”

When we have troubles in our lives, often the easiest thing to do is to run away. This is especially true when the trouble(s) in our life is overwhelming.  We may see the only choice available is to “fly away” to abandon the Titanic.  However, there are times when the best solution is to stand our ground and defend the Alamo.  It is hard to discern which is the appropriate action.

But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. Psalm 55:16

A major problem we have is we try to handle life on our own power.  A problem arises in our life and we address it with all our might.  After we have tried everything we know to try, the problem not only still exists, but now looms larger.  We then, as a last resort, turn to prayer hoping God will bail us out.

When we bring problems to God, He will communicate to us when to fight, when to flee, and when to wait.  The question before each of us is, “If I believe that there is a God and if I believe He answers prayer, then why don’t I pray first and react second?”

I complain and groan morning, noon, and night, and He hears my voice.  Though many are against me, He will redeem me from my battle unharmed. God, the One enthroned from long ago, will hear, and will humiliate them.  Psalm 55:17-19

We need to take note that at the beginning of his lament, the psalmist begs for God to listen to his prayer.  However, after listing his complaints, the writer shares his assurance that not only does the Lord hear, but He will also rescue him.  The phrase, “Though many are against me” implies there is no trouble too tough, no problem too powerful, in short, nothing too big, for God!

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalm 55:22

There were many times in my own life, when I've faced physical harm, even death, in those times, God chose to protect me.  Additionally, there were other times when I've felt rejected, dejected, abandoned, and afraid, yet as I remember those times, I can now see how God was there with me.

This week I will complete 55 years of living and walking on God’s good Earth.  Like John, I too have spent some time thinking on my life. Looking at my past I have some regret, some pride, but mostly lots of gratitude.  Like Mr. Denver, I can say  “It’s been a good life all in all.”

My life has been one of trials, turmoil, and troubles, as well as blessings, pleasure, promises, and praise.  Those experiences allow me to echo, “cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you.”

But You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You. Psalm 55:23

Like Forest Gump, “ I may not be a smart man” at lest I don’t claim to be smart.  However, after a life of undeserved blessings, undeserved forgiveness, and undeserved protection, I too declare to God, “I will trust in You.”

A SAMPLE DAY IN THE LIFE OF THIS PASTOR

There are those in this world (I used to be one of them) who joke (I hope it’s joking) that pastors
only work two days per week, Sunday’s and Wednesday’s. Since yesterday was one of those two
days, I will share the events of the day.

My day began, as always, with my time alone with God in prayer and in His Word. I am a fan of
A. W. Tozer’s writings and read from his works daily. I also read from another of my favorite
authors, Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy. Some of what I gleaned from those two men
of God will be presented in upcoming blogs.  I am also currently reading Sunday School in HD.

Once at the church office, I had a brief meeting with the senior pastor.  Our meeting was followed by our staff prayer time. Each week the staff at Deltona Lakes Baptist church gathers for a time solely devoted to prayer.  Our prayers focus on lifting up the church, praying for our community,  and interceding for individuals inside and outside our congregation.

PAUSE:
Just a side note, while I was teaching at a public school in Louisiana, several of the teachers
would gather once a week to pray for each other, our students, and the school as a whole. Each
semester we would meet weekly in one of our classrooms for prayer (proof that prayer is still allowed in public schools).

PLAY:
Following prayer time the senior pastor and I attended a lunch with other pastors in our city. While we talked about various topics from fishing to football, the primary topic was . . . guess what . . . prayer. We actually began our meeting by praying for each other, then talking about city-wide, prayer gatherings for the upcoming year. At the end of the meeting we prayed for each other again (imagine that).

Back at the church office I worked on writing this week’s Bible study lesson for our “Vintage” Sunday night study. The series is called “Bible Characters on Character.”  At present, the group is in week three of exploring Solomon’s character and how it applies to our character. We use an explore and discover style of study that requires great thought into well worded questions. Writing a character study also demands lots of commentary research to correctly present a person’s character.

I worked through the evening making several phone calls.  Among those calls were two lengthy conversations that involved encouraging others in ministry. I then began work on another project until about 8:00 PM.

There are several young men who I meet with on a weekly basis. All of young men believe God
is calling them into some area of pastoral ministry. Last night I met with three of them at
Wendy’s for a light supper and fellowship. Several deep theological discussions later (actually it
was one long discussion), we closed the restaurant and headed home. Not surprising, the
discussion spilled out into the parking lot for a few additional minutes.

MY POINT?
I’m not trying to prove anything about how hard or easy my job is to do. Nor is it to
prove to anyone that I actually do something. My point is I love what I do! Most of all I love
serving God and especially how HE is constantly challenging me and stretching me to grow.

Oh, and today began much the same, only I stopped to write in my blog.

Brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 (HCSB)

BIBLE KNOWLEDGE AT ALL-TIME LOW

I spend a lot of time emphasizing the importance of Christians knowing and living by God’s Word.  one reason I am so passionate about Bible study is because the Bible is our instruction book for life. In fact, EVERY relational problem that occurs in any church directly results from ignorance of God’s Word.

Recently I read several articles which presented various survey results that demonstrated a high level of biblical illiteracy among Christians in the United States. These results underscore the need for 100% of church attendees to be involved in a group Bible study.  Here is a summery of those articles followed by my "take-a-way".

In 2009, the National Biblical Literacy Survey demonstrated that biblical knowledge in people younger than 45 years old is in decline.  Of the more than 900 people from faith and non-faith backgrounds surveyed, fewer than one in 20 could name all of the Ten Commandments.  Additionally, 62%  did not know the parable of the Prodigal Son and 60% could not name anything about the story of the Good Samaritan. That is not the worst of it! the survey also showed that young people think of the Bible as "old fashioned" and "not relevant" to their lives. 

Here are two particularly disturbing results that document the lack of Bible knowledge among church attendees.

•  The most widely known Bible verse among church attending adults and teens is “God helps those who help themselves” (not in the Bible and actually conflicts with Scripture).

•  Less than one out of every ten believers possess a biblical worldview as the basis for his or her decision-making or behavior.(Barna Research Online, "Discipleship Insights Revealed in New Book”)

According to Gary Burge, professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, biblical illiteracy is at a crisis in America’s churches.  Burge references research conducted at Wheaton College in which the biblical and theological literacy of incoming freshmen was monitored. These students, who represent almost every Protestant denomination in the United States from every state in the country, have provided some disturbing data. 

•  One-third could not put the following in order: Abraham, the Old Testament prophets, the death of Christ, and Pentecost.

•  Half could not sequence the following: Moses in Egypt, Isaac’s birth, Saul’s death, and Judah’s exile.

•  One-third could not identify Matthew as an apostle from a list of New Testament names.

•  When asked to locate the biblical book where a specific story is found: half did not know that the Christmas story was in Matthew and half did not know that the Passover story was in Exodus. 

MY TAKE-A-WAY
The answer to this growing problem of biblical illiteracy is three fold. 

Step one, Know the Word: Pastors and other church leaders must spend time every day, reading, studying, and memorizing the Bible. Additionally, leaders must encourage church attenders to develop the same habit of a daily devotion to Bible study.

In personal study, we need to place a higher value in the quality of reading than on the quantity of text read.  It is nice to read through the Bible in a year.  However, it is better to take a year to study the Gospels, Paul’s letters, the minor prophets, or any other Bible book.

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. Acts 2:42 (NLT)

Step two, Teach the Word: The Bible holds the answers to a great life here on earth and a greater life in eternity.  The stories are exciting reading and are filled with examples of behaviors to imitate and to avoid.  We need to teach God’s word not as we might teach some boring text, but as it really is, alive, valuable, and exciting.  

The sad truth is people will never grow and mature by listening to a weekly 30 minute sermon.  Real life change occurs through a Bible study group. A place where learners can be discipled through the Scriptures. Churches in the U.S. are going to have to enthusiastically encourage attendees to become a part of a Bible study group, if biblical illiteracy is to be reduced.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NIV)

Step three, Live the Word: The greatest criticism of Christians as a whole and the church in particular is hypocrisy.  That is we don’t do the things we tell others to do.  If the 21st century church is to be effective in our culture, we are going have to live what we say we believe.  This is the hardest part of the three steps, but it is the part that will result in the greatest blessing.  Lets commit today to “BE THE CHURCH” to our world.

This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. Joshua 1:8 (HCSB)

BACK TO BLOGGING

A lot has happened since my last post in July.  I took a break from posting to go to Mexico for a mission trip.  Upon my return I got lost in the busyness of church work.  As a result, the words “next week” became addicting.  At least that is my story and I’m sticking with it.

We had a great time in Mexico and best of all, we participated in God's ongoing work there.  Each morning we had a different activity,  Two different days we walked around the city praying at different locations, two other days we worked on a new church building.  Of course, on Sunday we attended worship with a local congregation.  In the evenings we led Bible school for the children.

The last night in Mexico, I had the great honor to lead a joint Mexican and American communion service. We sang and read scripture in both languages, several prayed aloud in their own language, and through an interpreter I led in the observance of The Lord’s Supper.  Through out the entire service, Mexicans and Americans were unified by the Holy Spirit through koinonia. (See note below)

I have been on many other mission trips prior to this trip, however, on this trip the Holy Spirit has really helped me to understand what it means to “be the church.”  I wish I could point to a particular experience, a theological reflection, or another benchmark of the trip where I received an epiphany.  But that is not the case.

God has (and is continuing to) motivated me to embrace the importance of contemporary believers understanding that we are the church. Additionally, we are to be the church to our world.  This means we can no longer depend on pastors to do the work of ministry.  It means believers have to understand that while the church may gather at the church building, the purpose of gathering is to be scattered into the communities as Christ’s ambassadors.  (See: 2 Corinthians 5:20)

Most importantly, if we are to be the church, we must become consistent with our loyalty to God and become devoted to following Christ in every area of our lives.

Note: Koinonia is a Greek word that is very difficult to accurately translate into a single English word. Basically it describes a special relationship and intimate participation among people. The word is frequently translated as “fellowship” in the New Testament. However, koinonia implies a stronger, more intimate bond between people that the modern usage of “fellowship” describes. 

PARENTING TIPS FROM A SURVIVOR - 2

Part 2: SELF-CONTROL: It is Caught More than Taught.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (HCSB)

Perhaps the greatest thing that a parent can do for his or her children is to say no. Children may not like to hear that word, but they soon learn, one of the ways parents communicate love is by saying “no”.  It is the primary task of each and every parent to protect their children from harm.  The danger may be perceived or unperceived.  It may be immediate or potential.  Regardless of the details, it’s the parent’s job to protect their children from others, other things, even themselves.

This is where self-control comes into the picture. Lack of self-control will place our children into a multitude of immediate and delayed dangers. The obvious dangers involve things like financial harm, poor health, over (or under) weight, chemical abuse, harmful relationships, and a long list of addictions. 

God does the same thing in our lives.  He says “no” to lots of things we think are ok or even good for us. For example, we apply for a new job or position.  To us this might seem like the right thing to do, but God closes the door.  Maybe we decide to purchase a car.  The price is right, the vehicle is in good shape, there is no Biblical reason preventing us from this deal.  Again, God says no, we don’t know why, but He does.  Sometimes He will tell us later why He said no, sometimes He never tells us. 

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the advancement of the gospel, Philippians 1:12 (HCSB)

Wise parents are always trying to teach their children when to say no, but in truth the lessons of self-control must begin with the parents.  When parents demonstrate the ability to say no to their own wants, they communicate the value of self-control to their children.  If children are to learn to understand restraint, then parents need to prove that they can and will say no to immediate gratification. 

Remember:
The values parents demonstrate are the values that will be caught and developed in the lives of their children. Self-control is not limited to fits of anger.  It includes our language, our passions, our priorities, and our purchases. Children will imitate their parents in how they treat people, the church, and God. 

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 2 Peter 1:5-7 (HCSB)

PARENTING TIPS FROM A SURVIVOR

Part 1: IMITATION: Be An Good Example

An old experienced college professor once taught me that as a football coach, “It is never an excuse to say, 'I told him!'”  What am I trying to illustrate? Telling children to develop or not to develop certain behaviors is a waste of good air (as a SCUBA diver, I value air very much).

If we want our children to become good citizens and devoted Christians, we have to do more than just tell. The biblical model for parenting doesn’t focus on what we are to “tell our children” but rather it focuses on what we are to “teach our children.”(see: Dt 4:9;  Dt 11:19; Ps 34:11; Ps 78:5).

Teaching involves several steps.  The first step is demonstrating a desired behavior or value.  Secondly, it involves getting the student to imitate that action.  Then as the student performs the action, the teacher encourages, corrects, and compliments the student's performance.  In simpler words, parents demonstrate and get children to imitate.

Here is a good definition I learned from another wise college professor, “Learning takes place when reflective thinking is present and improved behavior is forthcoming.” It is the job of a parent to guide our children to reflect on their actions and evaluate outcomes. 

Children are programed to be imitators and their preference is to imitate their parents (see: Ephesians 5:1).  There is no choice here.  Parents will either be a positive role model or a negative role model, but either way, they will be role models. Lets embrace the office of role model that has been given to us and be positive examples of what good parenting should be!

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise. Ephesians 5:15 (HCSB)

Parents are to live out our lives as an example to follow.  The old “do as I say, not as I do” approach simply will not work.  As parents (note parents, not “best friends”) we need to interact with our children by correcting, encouraging, acknowledging or praising their actions(whichever is appropriate).  Basically, if we want our children to attend church, to volunteer, to be polite, to be obedient, to be safe drivers, etc., then WE HAVE TO BE THOSE THINGS FIRST!           

Set an example of good works yourself, with integrity and dignity in your teaching. Titus 2:7 (HCSB)

Children need our encouragement if they are to meet the challenges of life and mature into healthy Christian adults.

THE PROBLEM WITH WEEDS

I hate weeds. They are ugly and stubborn.  Worse of all, weeds always seem to grow in places where they are lest wanted and the most visible.  For example, my weeds prefer to grow in my brick walk way and  the middle drive way.  They prefer to show up in places where they are glaringly obvious rather than among the other grass and plants where they might blend in. 

I wish I could get them to grow along the edge of my yard, along the lake or next to the vacant lot next door, there I can ignore them and can attribute them to the other properties.  But no!  My weeds want to grow where they are the most obnoxious and the most embarrassing to me.  I believe that my weeds hide until the most opportune moment, then they suddenly make themselves visible and apparant to even the most blind visitor.

Another problem with weeds is I can’t just pull them up or cut them off.  I’ve discovered that to really get rid of a weed I’ve got to get down in the dirt and get to the roots.  Some weeds are so bad that if only a small piece of root is left the plant will grow back from that little piece.  Not only that, but when I do dig them up and get all of the root it leaves a mark, kinda of a temporary scar of sorts.  Often, when I’m not careful, a different type of weed will take root and grow in the very spot where I just removed the original weed. I really hate that.

Hurricanes and tropical storms influence weeds too.  Just as soon as I begin to win my war with weeds a tropical storm or hurricane will blow across my property.  About two weeks later, up pops new weeds.  These are weeds like I’ve never seen before.  They are not common to this area and it takes a new and different type of treatment to get rid of them. 

Finally I have to treat the new weeds like I do with the old ones, get on my hands and knees and pull them out of the ground, one by one.  It is exhausting, dirty, miserable work.  But it is the only way to be sure I get the weeds and their roots out of my lawn.

Right now there are two groups of people reading this article. The first group is asking themselves, “Why are you talking about lawn maintenance?”  The second group is thinking, “OK, I see where you are going, so get on with it!”  So, OK, I will...

Our spiritual lives are much like our lawns. It takes work to keep them in good shape.  Just like our yards, no matter how much we try, the weeds seem to constantly pop up at the most inopportune times and in the most inappropriate places. No matter how much we try to keep the weeds out, they keep showing up.  It takes lots of work to get rid of the weeds we already have.  So much work that we just can’t seem to succeed.

God, however, has provided us with HIS own version of “weed and feed” for our spiritual lives.  The Christian community calls God’s weed removal plan “discipleship.”

Discipleship is “the process of following someone in such a way as to imitate” them.  In this case it is applied to following or imitating Jesus.  Jesus gave three strong commands in the New Testament.  First, He commanded us to love God fully.  Then He commanded us to love people as we love ourselves.  His third command was given right before He returned to Heaven, it is to make disciples.

To “make disciples” we must first become disciples.  Being a disciple involves developing the proper relationship with Jesus. Developing our relationship with Jesus involves spending time alone with him (quiet time), reading and studying the Bible, giving of ourselves, and meeting regularly with fellow believers for accountability. 

These things happen best in a small group Bible study. Each of us become like the people that we associate with and call friends.  Doesn’t it make sense that the best way to develop into a fully devoted follower of Jesus (i.e. a disciple), is to spend time with others who are pursuing the same goal?  Small group Bible studies are just that, a group of believers desiring to become disciples.