Today's Word

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9

Today's Preaching Insight...

The Message Entrusted to Us

Speaking to a renewal conference some time ago, former Asbury Seminary President Maxie D. Dunnam said, "An incredible message has been entrusted to us, a powerfully compelling message of an earth-shattering, world-changing, person-transforming fact. At the heart of it is Jesus, His incarnation, life, teaching, death and resurrection."

"People within and outside the church are starving spiritually. Within the church they ask for bread and are given stones. Witnesses abound. Persons in pain and sadness share stories of their long endurance in one of our mainline congregations, but they could take it no longer. Their pastors not only disregarded, they denigrated the authority of God's word. So the person sought another congregation where Scripture was honored and preached . . . They were starving for the Word.

"People outside the church are starving as well. They are starving because the church has betrayed her first love, has become so ideologically bound that she is spiritually barren. Committed to theological pluralism and making diversity redemptive within itself, we are diverted from the core dynamic of the Christian faith: what Christ can do for persons and for society.

"Redemptive, transforming power is in the Cross of Jesus - His sacrificial death for our sins. ... The fire is there to burn up the filthiness, decadence and destructiveness of sin and unrighteousness. The energy and fire are there in the fact that God became incarnate, walked the earth, died, rose again and turned evil's seemingly supreme triumph in its most crushing, irrevocable defeat."  (The Layman Online, October 31, 2002)

Today's Extra...

This Week's Laugh

The children's Sunday School class was learning about the Second Coming of Christ. Meanwhile, next door, another group was preparing to see a drama about a Bible story, and the man in costume was standing in the hallway. When one of the children stepped out of his own room and spotted the man in robes, he turned back to the class and shouted, "He's here now!"

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
John 20:29

Today's Preaching Insight...

Not Professionals

"We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry," John Piper writes in his book Brothers, We Are NOT Professionals. "Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry."

Professionalism leads to spiritual decline, Piper believes: "For there is no professional childlikeness; there is no professional tenderheartedness; there is no professional panting after God."

In the chapter, "Brothers, Fight for Your Life," he urges pastors to take 20 minutes a day, six days a week, just to read.

"Without time of unhurried reading and reflection, beyond the press of sermon preparation, my soul shrinks... For your own soul and the life of your church, fight for time to feed your soul with rich reading."

Today's Extra...

Time

A friend said, "My problem is that I have surrendered my time to work, to other people, and to bad habits." We should first surrender our time to God. God owns it anyway. Our task is to manage properly what has been entrusted to us until he returns or wants it back, including our time.

Think about a compass and a clock Two very important tools, but two very different instruments. One would be wise not to confuse the two. To surrender our time to God is to be governed by a compass rather than to be controlled by a clock. A compass provides a sense of direction, purpose, vision, perspective, and balance. A clock measures duration, the expenditure of time. A compass determines effectiveness-doing the right tasks. A clock determines efficiency-how long it takes to accomplish a task. Both have their place. But, the compass must come before the clock, therefore, effectiveness before efficiency. The "mega priorities" of the compass subordinate the "mini priorities" of the clock.

A compass, therefore, becomes a symbol of an internal guidance system that provides us with our values and convictions based on God's Word. This non-negotiable governs our lives. In the same manner that the gravitational force pulls the compass needle; it is God that governs the drive of our lives. We surrender to his force.

Our time should be surrendered to God daily. I asked a friend who is engaged in many pursuits successfully, how he managed it all. He said, "I give my first minutes to God, then I commit the remainder of the day to his Lordship. And amazingly I work more effectively and efficiently."

Have you surrendered your time to God?  Is your time in his hands? (Rick Ezell, One Minute Uplift newsletter)

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
John 20:29

Today's Preaching Insight...

Not Professionals

"We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry," John Piper writes in his book Brothers, We Are NOT Professionals. "Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry."

Professionalism leads to spiritual decline, Piper believes: "For there is no professional childlikeness; there is no professional tenderheartedness; there is no professional panting after God."

In the chapter, "Brothers, Fight for Your Life," he urges pastors to take 20 minutes a day, six days a week, just to read.

"Without time of unhurried reading and reflection, beyond the press of sermon preparation, my soul shrinks... For your own soul and the life of your church, fight for time to feed your soul with rich reading."

Today's Extra...

Time

A friend said, "My problem is that I have surrendered my time to work, to other people, and to bad habits." We should first surrender our time to God. God owns it anyway. Our task is to manage properly what has been entrusted to us until he returns or wants it back, including our time.

Think about a compass and a clock Two very important tools, but two very different instruments. One would be wise not to confuse the two. To surrender our time to God is to be governed by a compass rather than to be controlled by a clock. A compass provides a sense of direction, purpose, vision, perspective, and balance. A clock measures duration, the expenditure of time. A compass determines effectiveness-doing the right tasks. A clock determines efficiency-how long it takes to accomplish a task. Both have their place. But, the compass must come before the clock, therefore, effectiveness before efficiency. The "mega priorities" of the compass subordinate the "mini priorities" of the clock.

A compass, therefore, becomes a symbol of an internal guidance system that provides us with our values and convictions based on God's Word. This non-negotiable governs our lives. In the same manner that the gravitational force pulls the compass needle; it is God that governs the drive of our lives. We surrender to his force.

Our time should be surrendered to God daily. I asked a friend who is engaged in many pursuits successfully, how he managed it all. He said, "I give my first minutes to God, then I commit the remainder of the day to his Lordship. And amazingly I work more effectively and efficiently."

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Matthew 24:7-8

Today's Preaching Insight...

Preaching the Beatitudes

David Buttrick is author of Speaking Jesus: Homiletic Theology and the Sermon on the Mount (Westminster John Knox). He notes:

"We must be careful: The Beatitudes are not law and not moral instruction. They are neither didactic teachings nor rulebook rules. Preachers can urge congregations to be forgiving or to work as peacemakers, but look out, for there are complicating factors. First, we must not forget that human sinfulness runs deep. Not only is there a strange reluctance in each of us to choose God's will over our own dreams and desires, but when we are 'packaged,' that is, put together in social groups - corporations, nations, clubs, clans, even churches - we are doubly dangerous. To tell congregations to go out and make peace everywhere is unhelpful moralizing unless you spell out how difficult it will be to ignore prejudices, political alliances, social pressures, patriotisms and the like, all of which are formed by sin. In view of sin, the Beatitudes rely on God's own innovative grace."

Today's Extra...

Grace, Divine Protection

In his book The Red Sea Rules, pastor Rob Morgan writes, "Several years ago, I was walking down a sidewalk in East Nashville, making a pastoral visit. Suddenly I saw a German shepherd flying across a lawn, barking, snarling, teeth bared, mouth frothing. I was so startled that as it lunged at me, I screamed and jumped backward. But between me and my would-be attacker, there was a chain-link fence. The dog struck the fence full force. My heart was racing, but I was utterly safe because of the protective fence.

"Satan can growl and bark, lunge and threaten. But when we're enclosed by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, he can do us no real or lasting harm."

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
Mark 13:22-23

Today's Preaching Insight...

Preaching That Confronts Injustice

With God in the Crucible: Preaching Costly Discipleship is an Abingdon Press book that contains sermons by Peter Storey, former President of the Methodist Church of South Africa and Bishop of the Johannesburg/Soweto area for thirteen years. The book contains sermons preached in the midst of a society crippled by apartheid along with sermons reflect the nation's deliverance from that oppressive system. (Storey is now on the faculty of Duke Divinity School.)

One of the sermons, "When God Turns the Tide," was preached just days after the 1990 announcement of the abandonment of apartheid. Here is a powerful moment in that sermon.

"When President DeKlerk made those dramatic announcements that opened the prison gates of despair, I stood still for a long time, transfixed and emotionally overwhelmed. Then I walked to our kitchen window. From there you can see a distant hill, and on that hill there stands a church where, back in the 1950s, a young priest once ministered to the people of a vibrant black township called Sophiatown. It was there that he tried to stop the military trucks that came in the night to take the people away and the bulldozers that smashed their houses down.

"I looked out on the white suburb that rose on the ruins of Sophiatown. I remembered the final insult in the naming of that suburb, Triomf. [The Afrikaans word for "Triumph."] I remembered the little book written by that priest to expose apartheid's evil to the world, called Naught for Your Comfort.

"The priest was admonished by his bishop and sent home to England. But he took with him his book to alert the world, and he left behind a young black teenager who had been his altar boy and whom he had faithfully visited in the hospital when the boy had tuberculosis. The priest's name was Trevor Huddleston. The altar boy was Desmond Tutu. Huddleston's book may be dated now, but the altar boy is not. Huddleston's impact on South Africa through Desmond Tutu is immeasurable. There is a direct line between his witness in Sophiatown and this moment.

"There have been many, many others who have stood for the truth. They have been a minority, but together, the convictions of that minority and their commitment to obey God and stand for God's truth have made it possible for this moment of God's intervention - God's turning of the tide. Never underestimate the importance of ordinary people standing for the truth, because they also enable others to play their part."

Today's Extra...

This Week's Book

Guide to Ministering to Alzheimer's Patients and Their Families

More and more families are dealing with the ravages produced by Alzheimer's disease. Pat Otwell, who has ministered to such families for two decades, shares her insights with fellow ministers in her book Guide to Ministering to Alzheimer's Patients and Their Families (Routledge). This book is packed with practical guidance and helpful ideas and resources.

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 1:8

Today's Preaching Insight...

War

In a past issue of his Breakpoint commentary, Chuck Colson observes, "This fallen world is dangerous, and out of mercy, God has given legitimate governments the power of the sword to protect us. The just war doctrine, derived from Scriptures, enables us to evaluate and hold our national leaders accountable when they must use the sword.

"We know from 2 Chronicles that King Jehoshaphat of Judah was a great warrior with a large, seasoned army. But when Jehoshaphat was confronted with an invasion, instead of riding out to meet the invaders, he led the people in prayer. "We do not know what to do," he prayed, "but our eyes are on you." And God's deliverance came in a thoroughly unexpected way. Jehoshaphat's army didn't fire a shot.

"Christians should follow the example of Jehoshaphat in prayer. Yes, we have the finest fighting men in the world... But remember that prayer is mightier than our armies, and God alone gives the victory or defeat."

Today's Extra...

This Week's Laugh

A pastor went into the pulpit one Sunday morning wearing a pair of new bifocals. The reading portion of the glasses improved his vision considerably, but whenever he looked through the top portion of the glasses he got dizzy. He explained to the congregation that the new glasses were causing problems, then said, "I hope you will excuse my continually removing my glasses. You see when I look down I can see fine, but when I look at you, it makes me sick."  (from George McCracken in www.sermonfodder.com)

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
1 Cor. 10:13

Today's Preaching Insight...

Preparing to Preach

In a paper at the meeting of the Evangelical Homiletics Society, Michael Quicke observed, "The more casual and unprepared that listeners are as they come to worship the less likely they are to experience God. All worshipers, preacher included, should make space and time for genuine prayers of preparation. "Who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully" (Ps 24:3,4). Snatched seconds of perfunctory routine before worship smothers spiritual possibilities within worship.  "True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" (John 4:21) and be sensitive to God who is spirit. Spiritual insensitivity to God beforehand can condemn to spiritual insensitivity during worship. The outcome is a Unitarian utilitarianism - preachers "do their own thing" which may or may not have any relevance to hearers "doing their thing."

"Preachers need to include themselves in more rigorous practice of prayerful preparation that stills the spirit (Psalm 37:7) and raises expectation that God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are involved in a spiritual happening in worship for the whole community.  God's word does not return empty. God's seed in good soil can make an astounding difference--"bearing fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold. " Worshipers should prepare with openness to what fruit they might bear. If you think a sermon is going to be a waste of time, nine times out of ten it will be. If you believe in an active present God anything could happen.

"Preachers have a responsibility to model sensitive preparation for worship. In the crescendo of interruptions often leading up to the service prayer should not be treated as a routine to be squeezed out by more important matters, but the foundation for prepared minds and hearts of everyone. Listeners can be encouraged to pray in the days leading up to worship by specific information. Preachers can share next week's Scripture text and theme and ask listeners to prepare by reading and reflecting themselves as well as supporting the preacher in preparation. The more seriously preachers reflect personal conviction about the Trinitarian dynamic of worship and preaching, the more seriously listeners will prepare with them."

Today's Extra...

Faith, Prayer, Atheism

There was a little old lady who would come out every morning on the steps of her front porch, raise her arms to the sky and shout, "Praise the Lord!"

Well, one day an atheist moved into the house next door. Over time, he became irritated at the little old lady. So every morning he would step out onto his front porch and yell after her, "There is no Lord!"

Time passes with the two of them carrying on this way every day. Then one morning in the middle of winter, the little old lady stepped onto her front porch and shouted, "Praise the Lord! Lord, I have no food and I am starving. Please provide for me, oh Lord!"

The next morning, she stepped onto her porch and there were two huge bags of groceries sitting there. "Praise the Lord!" she cried out. "He has provided groceries for me!"

The atheist jumped out of the hedges and shouted, "There is no Lord. I bought those groceries!"

The little old lady threw her arms into the air and shouted, "Praise the Lord! He has provided me with groceries and He made the devil pay for them!"

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Today's Preaching Insight...

Going to the Fishing Lodge but Never Fishing

The last time we were up on the island one of the men in the church shared a memorable story. He told about his friend who owned a popular fishing lodge. Guests come year after year and spend their days fishing. Then at night they gather around the fireplace and tell tall tales about 'the one that got away'. This man told about one guest who came to that lodge. He was outfitted with the finest gear. He looked like a real fisherman. But he never fished! Day after day he spent reading or maybe walking along the lakeshore. But he never dropped a line in the water.

Finally someone asked him why he stayed at a fishing lodge but never fished. The man simply said, "Well, I used to fish, but not so much anymore. You can't find finer folk than fishermen. So I just come to be around them and to listen to their stories." (This story is adapted from Lloyd Oglivie, The Other Jesus, Word, 1986, p. 199).

It's hard to imagine, isn't it? With bluegill and bass just waiting to nibble and strike, this man preferred to sit in the fishing lodge or stroll along the shore! It's always easier to talk about something than to go out and actually do it. But does staying in a fishing lodge make you a fisherman? I think not. The lake, not the lodge, is where the fish are biting. The only fish that end up in a fishing lodge have already been caught.

Let's think about this from a spiritual standpoint. Fishing, of course, is a metaphor in the Bible for missions and faith sharing. Along with worship, discipleship, service and fellowship — our outreach to nearby ponds and to distant oceans fulfills one of the five purposes Jesus intends for us to carry out as his church.

So when it comes to faith sharing and missions, we're not talking about a "resort vacation". Instead, as Jesus' disciples, we're talking about our real vocation. We're talking about decisions and deeds today that can make a real difference in persons' lives for all eternity.

(To read the entire article, "Got Fish" by Gary Bruland at Preaching.com, click here).

Today's Extra...

Birth in a Grave

Human tragedy is never ultimate. Purpose often springs out of chaos and light from the darkness.

Paul Tillich tells of a moving event that came to light during the Nuremberg War Trials. It seems that in Wilna, Poland, in an effort to escape the clutches of the Nazis, several Jewish people resorted to hiding in graves in a nearby cemetery. There, in such an unlikely place, a young woman gave birth to a child.

An 80-year-old grave digger was the only one there to assist in the birth; and, as he saw what was happening, he said in awe: "Great God, hast thou finally sent the Messiah to us? For who else but a Messiah could be born in a grave?"

The old man was wrong as to the identity of the child because the emaciated mother had no milk and very soon the child died. But he was right in another sense, for only God could do something as incredible as cause life to be born in a grave.

This is exactly what did happen on Easter morning and is the greatest of all symbols of God's ingenious resourcefulness. Out of that awful matrix of death and tragedy, healing began to flow.

(Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations, 1955, chapter 20. Sadly this book is out of print but this insightful chapter can be seen online here. Quoted in Easter Sermon by John Claypool, Tragedy and Hope.)

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Psalms 31:14-15
Today's Preaching Insight...

The Joy of a New Thing

I like new beginnings: a new book or a new class; a new art project or a new car; starting a new job or repainting a room. There is a deeper new thing, too -- a renewed spirit and enthusiasm after a satisfying vacation, Waking up to the singing of the birds as they celebrate a new sunrise, experiencing the mercy of God again and knowing that everything is going to be OK. A new thing.
A new thing is exactly what God promised to do for Israel in Babylon. You remember the Babylonian captivity. A whole nation driven away from home into a foreign country. A different language. Different customs. Different religion. Far from home. Disorienting, and disillusioning. The Psalmist recorded that the people of Israel sat down by the river Babylon and wept ... wept against the day they used to sing songs to God. Zion songs. "How can we sing songs to God in a foreign land?" they asked.
But now God was about to do a new thing. "I will break down all the bars in Babylon. I will make a way in the sea. I will make a path in the mighty waters, I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" A new thing.
God doesn't leave us parched and dried up. God doesn't leave us without hope. God doesn't leave us without a way. "I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself, so that they might declare my praise," says the Lord." "I am about to do a new thing."
(To read the entire article, "Newness: A New Thing Isaiah 42:16-21; John 12:1-6" by William Jacobsen at Preaching.com, click here).
Today's Extra...

The Jesus You Can't Ignore

In The Jesus You Can't Ignore (Thomas Nelson), John MacArthur paints a picture of Jesus unlike that offered by many. He demonstrates that the Jesus of the New Testament was blunt, confrontational, and passionate about drawing people to the Kingdom.

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
Today's Preaching Insight...

Mark Batterson: Reaching the De-Churched

Preaching: The vast majority of your people come from an un-churched or de-churched background. How do you go about reaching those "de-churched" folks?

Batterson: That's just someone who grew up going to church but quit going. I've read statistics that as many as 61 percent of 20-somethings quit going to church at some point, and we kind of get them on the rebound. It's amazing how many people were checked out for five or 10 or 15 years, and we find them or they find us on the rebound. We love being a church for those folks who left the church for one reason or another. That's really who we're targeting and part of the reason why we're trying to meet in marketplace locations. It makes it a little bit easier for them to walk in our front door.

(To read the entire article, "Preaching to the De-Churched: An Interview with Mark Batterson" by Michael Duduit at Preaching.com, click here).

Today's Extra...

Limitations and Fear

Passengers on a small commuter plane are waiting for the flight to leave. They're getting a little impatient, but the airport staff has assured them that the pilots will be there soon, and the flight can take off immediately after that.

The entrance opens, and two men walk up the aisle, dressed in pilots' uniforms -- both are wearing dark glasses, one is using a seeing-eye dog, and the other is tapping his way up the aisle with a cane.

Nervous laughter spreads though the cabin; but the men enter the cockpit, the door closes, and the engines start up.

The passengers begin glancing nervously around, searching for some sign that this is just a little practical joke. None is forthcoming.

The plane moves faster and faster down the runway, and people at the window realize that they're headed straight for the water at the edge of the airport territory.

As it begins to looks as though the plane will never take off, that it will plow into the water, panicked screams fill the cabin -- but at that moment, the plane lifts smoothly into the air. The passengers relax and laugh a little sheepishly, and soon they have all retreated into their magazines, secure in the knowledge that the plane is in good hands.

Up in the cockpit, the copilot turns to the pilot and says, "You know, Tony, one of these days, they're going to scream too late, and we're all gonna die."