Today's Word

[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...

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:2-5

Today's Preaching Insight...

Preaching Must Help People Deal with Suffering

John Piper has written, "If we would see God honored in the lives of our people as the supreme value, highest treasure, and deepest satisfaction of their lives, then we must strive with all our might to show the meaning of suffering, and help them see the wisdom and power and goodness of God behind it ordaining; above it governing; beneath it sustaining; and before it preparing. This is the hardest work in the world -- to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings, and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and exult in their afflictions, and rejoice in the plundering of their property, and say in the end, "To die is gain."

"This is why preaching is not mere communication and "communication theory" and getting scholarly degrees in "communication" are so far from the essence of what preaching is about. . . . The aim of preaching is impossible. No techniques will make it succeed. 'But with God all things are possible.'"

(from "Preaching to Suffering People," in Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching)

Today's Extra...

Marriage, Golf

The room was full of pregnant women and their partners, and the class was in full swing. The instructor was teaching the women how to breathe properly, along with informing the men how to give the necessary assurances at this stage of the plan.

The teacher then announced, "Ladies, exercise is good for you. Walking is especially beneficial. And, Gentlemen, it wouldn't hurt you to take the time to go walking with your partner!"

The room really got quiet. Finally, a man in the middle of the group raised his hand. "Yes?" replied the teacher.

"Is it all right if she carries a golf bag while we walk?"

(from the Humor Haus newsletter)

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins."
Joshua 24:19

Today's Preaching Insight...

IMPACT helps flow of worship

In the May 2003 issue of Baptist Life, Rick Muchow, pastor of magnification at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA, explained that "Music is not worship itself, but a tool to worship." In order to provide an effective flow for Saddleback's weekend services, he uses the acrostic IMPACT:

IM stands for Inspirational Movement, or an energetic song of praise. "In order to wake up the Body of Christ, we have to wake up the body," Muchow says.

P stands for Praise song, which is a song sung about God in the third person.

A stands for Adoration, a praise song sung to God

C stands for Commitment, with songs like "I Worship You" or "I Surrender All"

T stands for Tie it all together, using a song "that summarizes the group's worship of the Lord, sung in the collective third person.

Today's Extra...

This Week's Laugh

Fathers and Mothers

Robert Kopp tells about the woman who was walking with her young daughter. The little girl picked up something from the ground and started to put it in her mouth, but the mother told her to throw it away because it was dirty with germs.

"Mommy, how do you know so much?" the girl asked.

"Well, it's on the mommy test," her mother replied. "You have to know all about such things or you don't get to be a mommy."

The daughter thought about it a moment, then replied, "OK, I get it. So if you flunk the test you have to be a daddy."

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire..."
Matthew 3:11

Today's Preaching Insight...

In his book 360 Degree Preaching (Baker), Michael Quicke offers helpful insights for preachers who want to do more than tread water in the pulpit. Early in the book, he evaluates the challenging context in which much preaching takes place, and then takes to task those who have turned the preaching event into a lost opportunity.

"In too many places, preaching has been reduced to an anemic, religious non-event. Faint is its power to proclaim an alternative reality, the kingdom of God, and faded is its conviction about transforming communities. Gone are its prophetic voice and mission thrust. Missing is its gloriously subversive way of challenging the status quo to create communities of light and service. Preaching has become a shadow of its richly diverse New Testament forbears. Often it merely peddles texts and stories to affirm or, even worse, amuse a cautious remnant. . . .

"Does anyone care about this decline apart from self-interested preachers? When was the last time a non-preacher wrote a book pleading for biblical preaching? Rather than slide into depression, preachers need to confront criticisms and negative factors, assess their validity, and respond honestly."

Today's Extra...

Conversion

US Senator Jim Talent says he prayed to trust Jesus as his Savior in response to an invitation he heard on the radio.  The Missouri Republican gave his Christian testimony at a National Day of Prayer event this month on Capitol Hill.  Talent said he was not raised in any faith, but began reading the Bible in college. After a couple of years, he said, he knew "a lot about God."  But Talent said he did not "know God" until he was driving one day in 1984 and heard evangelist Luis Palau on a Focus on the Family broadcast.  Talent said he pulled over, prayed the sinner's prayer with Palau, and -- in his words -- "passed over from death to life."

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.
Psalm 119:111

Today's Preaching Insight...

Preaching Christ Crucified and Risen

In an article in the Sept-Oct 2007 issue of Preaching, British pastor David Jackman writes, "Luke tells us that when Paul arrived in Athens, "he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and devout persons, and in the market-place every day with those who happened to be there" (Acts 17:17, ESV).  As contemporary pastors, we should rightly be concerned to stand firm in the only apostolic succession which has validity -- that of proclaiming the same gospel of Christ, crucified and risen.

We know that the whole counsel of God needs to be taught within our equivalent of the synagogue, the local Christian congregations, planted around the world.   But it also needs to be argued in the forum and in the specialist contexts such as the Areopagus, in all the public debates of our culture.  However, we have to acknowledge that most of us pastors are more skilled, experienced and comfortable in the congregation, so that the forum is rarely addressed effectively and is more often ignored, although with disastrous consequences.  More than one observer has pointed out that most contemporary Christian preachers are happier in the role of the scribe than that of the prophet.

Even when we embrace the prophetic role in preaching, we tend to have stereotypical and somewhat simplistic views about the prophetic methodology. Typically, the prophet is seen as a purveyor of doom and gloom about the future, and not without some reason, since the message of impending judgment is central to much of the Old Testament prophets' ministry to Israel and Judah.  But they are also great encouragers to those same people, about the covenant blessings which will accompany repentance, faith and obedience, and which a gracious, covenant Lord waits to pour out on a responsive people.

The common content to both strands of their message is that the prophets have been given divine insight into the future and so they are seeking to persuade God's people to act now, in the light of what God has declared he will do.  Present behavior will condition future experience, and so whether it is by warning or incentive, the prophet's task is to persuade his hearers to act wisely here and now.  But if they are going to do that, they will need to be convinced of the truth of what is prophesied and so be motivated to respond to the prophet's call."

Today's Extra...

Prayer

St. Augustine, the early church father and theologian, described prayer as like a man in a hapless boat who throws a rope at a rock. The rock provides the needed security and stability and life for the helpless man. When the rock is lassoed it's not the man pulling the rock to the boat (though it may appear that way); it is the pulling of the boat to the rock. Jesus is the rock, and we throw the rope through prayer.

Prayer is the lifeline that saves the drowning soul. Prayer is the umbilical cord that provides nourishment to the starving spirit. Prayer is the channel by which God's life-giving presence flows to us.  (Rick Ezell, "One-Minute Uplift" newsletter)

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1

Today's Preaching Insight...

Losing the Power

In his classic book Power in Preaching, W.E. Sangster talks about why preachers often seem to lose the power they once felt in the pulpit. One of the most important things a preacher can do, Sangster insists, is to actually believe in preaching. He observes:

"Grasp the fact that the heart of the Gospel is a meeting of God and man, and preaching provides the best medium for that meeting. Many people - many preachers even - find this hard to believe. They believe the Gospel and they believe that it must be proclaimed. What they cannot believe is that there is anything sacrosanct in preaching as the method of proclamation. St. Paul, of course, said that 'it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe' but printing was not invented then, nor the cinema, nor wireless [radio], nor television - and even the drama was in a primitive form. They have come to believe that there are better ways of proclaiming the Gospel than by preaching . . .

"And who can deny some force in this? A thousand will look at television for every ten who go to church. People love a 'show,' and if the show can be sanctified and do the work, need we worry by what road the wanderers travel so long as they travel home?

"Now all this is plausible, but it is not convincing to those who know the nature of the Gospel. That God uses these ancillary methods we do not deny, but we maintain that preaching is primary in the purpose of God. 'It was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of preaching . . .' It is God's good pleasure still.

"It does not turn on what the people like but on what He likes. It is not a question of our particular gifts but of the divine intention. As DR. H.H. Farmer says: 'The activity of preaching is not merely a means for conveying the content of the Christian faith, but it is in a real sense bound up with that content itself.' 'The necessity of preaching resides in the fact that when God saves a man through Christ he insists on a living, personal encounter with him here and now in the sphere of present personal relationships.'"

Today's Extra...

Pride, Entitlement

In an article in the Sept. 30 edition of The Boston Globe, Jean Twenge - a psychology professor at San Diego State University - talks about the "Entitlement Generation," which she says includes virtually everyone born after 1970. The article says: "According to Twenge, these young people were raised on a daily regimen of praise and flattery from their baby boomer parents and from teachers who embraced a self-esteem-boosting curriculum that included activities like the Magic Circle game. Never heard of it? In this game, one child a day is given a badge that says "I'm great." The other children then take turns praising the "great" child, and eventually these compliments are written up and given to the child for posterity. This constant reinforcement, argues Twenge, is largely responsible for those young co-workers who drive you nuts.

"At the University of South Alabama, psychology professor Joshua Foster has done a great deal of research using a standardized test called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). The NPI asks subjects to rate the accuracy of various narcissistic statements, such as "I can live my life any way I want to" and "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place." Foster has given this personality test to a range of demographic groups around the world, and no group has scored higher than the American teenager. Narcissism also appears to be reaching new highs, even within the Entitlement Generation, among American college students. Another national study involving the NPI, conducted by Twenge, shows that 24 percent of college students in 2006 showed elevated levels of narcissism compared to just 15 percent in the early 1990s."

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
1 Peter 3:8

Today's Preaching Insight...

In a Preaching magazine article on "The Preacher as Servant of the Word," R. Albert Mohler reminds us of the centrality of preaching in the minister's calling:

"I believe when the minister of the gospel faces the Lord God as judge, there will be many questions addressed to us.  There will be many standards of accountability.  There will be many criteria of judgment, but in the end, the most essential criterion of judgment for the minister of God is, 'Did you preach the Word?  Did you fully carry out the ministry of the Word?  In season and out of season, was the priority of ministry the preaching of the Word?'

"This is not to say that there are not other issues, that there are not other responsibilities, or that there are not even other priorities, but there is one central, non-negotiable, immovable, essential priority and that is the preaching of the Word of God.  And Paul speaks to this so clearly when he states his purpose, 'That I might fully carry out the preaching of the Word of God.'"]

Today's Extra...

In the book Planet in Rebellion, George Vandeman  writes, "It was May 21, 1946. The place - Los Alamos. A young and daring scientist was carrying out a necessary experiment in preparation for the atomic test to be conducted in the waters of the South Pacific atoll at Bikini. "He had successfully performed such an experiment many times before. In his effort to determine the amount of U-235 necessary for a chain reaction — scientists call it the critical mass — he would push two hemispheres of uranium together. Then, just as the mass became critical, he would push them apart with his screwdriver, thus instantly stopping the chain reaction.

"But that day, just as the material became critical, the screwdriver slipped! The hemispheres of uranium came too close together. Instantly the room was filled with a dazzling bluish haze. Young Louis Slotin, instead of ducking and thereby possibly saving himself, tore the two hemispheres apart with his hands and thus interrupted the chain reaction. By this instant of self-forgetful daring, he saved the lives of the seven other persons in the room. . . As he waited for the car that was to take him to the hospital, he said quietly to his companion, 'You'll come through all right. But I haven't the faintest chance myself' It was only too true. Nine days later he died in agony.

"Nineteen centuries ago the Son of the living God walked directly into sin's most concentrated radiation, allowed Himself to be touched by its curse, and let it take His life ... But by that act He broke the chain reaction. He broke the power of sin.

[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 Incredible Message

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...

Guilt

The minister arose to address his congregation. "There is a certain man among us today who is flirting with another man's wife. Unless he puts ten dollars in the collection box, his name will be read from the pulpit."

When the collection plate came in, there were 19 ten dollar bills, and a five dollar bill with this note attached: "Other five on payday."