Right Worship

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Prov. 14:12 NIV

Is possible that our act or action of worship can displease God?

In 2 Samual 6, we read the story of David bringing the ark of God to Jerusalem. It was a festive occasion with great celebration. "David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals." (v.5) What happens next is a shock. The oxen which was pulling the cart, on which the ark rested, stumbled. the ark began to tip and Uzzah, one of the individuals assigned to guide the oxen and cart, reached out to steady the ark so that it would not fall to the ground. "The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God." (v.7) David became angry and refused to bring the ark to Jerusalem. He left the ark with Obed-Edom for three months. David again went back to get the ark of God to bring it to Jerusalem. This time read, "When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets." (vv.13-15)

Act On the Unreasonable and God Does the Impossible

In Luke 5:1-11 we see Jesus working the miraculous catch of fish. In order for the miracle to occur, Jesus asked, no instructed Peter, to launch out into deep water for a catch after having fished all night and caught nothing. In fact, Peter thought the request was unreasonable (v.5) "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything..." Sometimes we allow the methods we are accustomed to, the traditions we are conditioned by, and the repetitions of daily life that we are familiar with, limit what we think God can do. In order to stretch our faith God asks the unreasonable of us. When we act on the unreasonable, He does the impossible which is the miraculous.

Get Up

John 5:1-15

Thirty-eight years is a long time to lie around. Nothing can be accomplished without desire. Jesus asked this crippled man an important question. "Do you want to be healed?" Jesus started with the man's desire.

The difference between a winner and loser is desire. There was a heavy weight champion who had the motto, "Fight One More Round!" It rallied him when his arms were weak and he seemed to tired to lift them up. It brought him out of the corner when every muscle cried out, "Give up!" It kept him going when others would quit. His motto made him into a champion.

This crippled man enjoyed a measure of comfort within his discomfit. I have visted the ruins of the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. I can imagine its past beauty. Where he lay was one of the most attractive pools or health clinic of his day. Bethesda was surrounded by five covered porches. It wasn't an unpleasant place to have to lie around day after day. There was shade from the sun and cover from the storms. He could listen to the sound of the rippling water. Thousands outside of that pool area had to work hard and toil in the heat. I can imagine the merchants pushing their dirty carts. Farmers would be clearing and preparing their fields outside the city. Shepherds probably searched for green pastures for their sheep. It might have been easier to lie down. For this man, suffering ill health may have been easier by lying down. It was his comfort zone in the midst of discomfort.

Casey Stengel is a baseball legend. He led my New York Yankees (Yes you read right, this New Englander is not a Red Sox fan) to five successful league championships and world series victories. How did he do that? Through failure! He failed as a manager in Boston and Brooklyn. There was one season that he was paid in full not to manage. He simply refused to accept failure as final. He did not give up or give in. He pushed on. He stirred up the gifts as a leader and manager within him and out of such desire an amazing string of victories occurred. He got up!

Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be free of whatever it is that is holding you in bondage? Have you become accustomed to lying down?

The crippled man's response is interesting in verse 7. "Sir, I have no one..." That's a favorite alibi of those who lie around. No one seems to want to help me. I've never enjoyed the advantages that others have. The doors closed just before I arrived. I've been neglected my whole life. I have tried, but it never seems to do any good. Self-pity is like a parasite.

Don't look at difficulty. Look at opportunity. The man had a choice to make. There were a multitude of sick and impotent people under those colonades. They were all waiting. He could have chose to look at those problems or he could look to God through Jesus. He exercised his faith on hearing Jesus' words, "Pick up your mat and walk."

Jesus' prescription for healing was simple: (1) desire faith, (2) exercise your faith, and (3) don't do what you have been doing anymore.

The Real Lord's Prayer

So often we call the prayer by Jesus found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11 as "The Lord's Prayer." There he was teaching his disciples and us how we are to pray. In those verses Jesus provided us a model or example as to how to pray.

As I was reading Jesus' prayer in John 17, the thought occurred to me that this is the the real Lord's prayer. He is not giving us just a model of prayer in this passage. He is literally and passionately praying for his disciples and for all in the future who would come to the faith. His prayer was for the present and future followers of Jesus Christ.

Regarding this passage in John 17, The Serendipity Bible for Groups asks the questions, "How are your prayers for others like and unlike Jesus' prayer? Do your prayers reflect the short-term urgent, or the long-term important needs that people have?" Those are good questions for each of us to reflect on. I want my prayers to have lasting impact into the future.

Looking at Jesus' prayer in John 17, I notice the following concerns and cares that he prays:

1. Jesus prays that I would have an intimate relationship with him (vv. 2-3) and his Word (v. 17).

2. Jesus prays that I would not fall away because of the world in which I live, or because of Satan's temptations, or false teachings (vv. 6,11,14-17).

3. Jesus prays that my joy would be full (complete) in him (v. 13).

4. Jesus prays that I would have holy thoughts; to be holy in character and deed (v. 17). "Sanctify" means to make holy, to be separate or set apart. God's Word is "truth." The apostle Paul instructs us how to have holy thoughts in Philippians 4:8.

5. Jesus prays that I would be one in purpose and fellowship with fellow believers even as he demonstrated his unity with the Father (vv. 11, 21-22). This requires constant action or vigilance on my part. It is not to be an artificial unity, but authentic.

6. Jesus prays that I would lead others to Christ through my authentic relationship with him and with my fellow believers (vv. 21,23).

7. Jesus prays that my faith would persevere and that I would finish strong (v. 24).

8. Lastly, Jesus prays that I would constantly live in his presence and God's love (v. 26).

Wow! Surely such passionate praying on my part, following Jesus' prayer in this passage, will have lasting and impacting long term affects. We see in Jesus' prayer, the heart of a Shepherd, who truly cares for his flock. What do our prayers reveal about us?

8 Distrinctive Traits of New Englanders

Stephen Macchia in his book, Becoming A Healthy Church: 10 Characteristics, identifies eight distinctive traits of New Englanders. They are:

1. New Englanders tend to resist change.
2. New Englanders tend to value tradition.
3. New Englanders tend to be Roman Catholic.
4. New Englanders tend to have a secular mind-set.
5. New Englanders tend to be self-reliant.
6. New Englanders tend to be reserved.
7. New Englanders tend to favor insiders.
8. New Englanders tend to operate locally.

What think you? Are these really reflective of only New England? Or do they reflect 21st century culture in general? Do these affect how you do ministry? If so, how? If not, why not?

Stay Connected

This morning, Jeanne and I began reading the Holy Week story from the Gospel of Luke in The Message for our devotions. We had an interesting discussion over Luke 22:4

"Leaving the others, he conferred with the high priests and the Temple guards about how he might betray Jesus to them."

Our discussion centered around the phrase "Leaving the others..." How often when we separate ourselves from others, we stumble and fall. When we no longer want to be subject to accountability or we lack followership we become vulnerable. Judas left the group. He did what he had to do. He did what he wanted to do. Don't wander off by yourself. Stay connected and avoid a fall.

Time Travels

I have been on the road the past two weeks attending our sectional councils. These meetings are attended by our pastors and their church delegates. The purpose of these councils are business (election of sectional officers) and fellowship (relationship building). So far, I have traveled over 1900 miles across three states (ME, NH, VT) by car. It has been worth every minute and every mile in spite of some poor travel conditions due to bad weather. I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with our pastors. I think Northern New England has many of the best and faithful pastors in the country. They aren't well known names, but they are doing great things for the kingdom of God in the churches that God has planted them in. These men and women are incredibly talented and gifted.

During my free time in my motel room in the evenings, I have been reading the book Come Back Churches by Ed Spetzer and Mike Dodson. They made the statement, "Most American churches today are well suited for ministry in a different era. All churches are culturally relevant; the question is whether they are relevant to a culture that currently exists in their community or to one that disappeared generations ago." (65) This statement got me to thinking about our rich Pentecostal history.

Maine is rich in Pentecostal history. Charles Parham, led the first revival of the 20th century at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, KS. He was one of the founders of the Apostolic Faith Movement. He was among the first to teach that speaking in tongues was the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The Assemblies of God has its early roots tied to this event in Kansas. However, did you know that Parham had visited Shiloh, Maine and studied under a man by the name of Frank Sandford for several weeks in his Bible school. It was there in 1900 that Parham first witnessed "speaking in tongues." It was from here that Parham went to Topeka, KS and opened a Bethel Bible School and challenged his students to study the book of Acts and determine what was the evidence of the baptism in the Spirit. It was the birth of our present day pentecostal movement.

One of our Aroostook Sectional Council was hosted by Washburn Pentecostal Church in Washburn, Maine. This church was the first pentecostal church organized in the state of Maine. I was excited about being able to visit this church and step back in history. Its history began when a few ladies from Washburn traveled to an Advent camp meeting in Framingham, MA. They came back from those meetings on fire for God and found a railroad engineer named Nelson Magoon, a pentecostal, to begin a church in Washburn. Magoon and his wife rented a small vacant Morman church on main street and held meetings throughout 1915. The church grew rapidly and eventually built a new building (on it present location). When Magoon and others heard about Aimee Semple McPherson's ministry, they invited her to come to Washburn to hold meetings in 1917. A tent was pitched on the ground behind the church (now their parking lot) and hundreds came from Caribou, Presque Isle, Easton and the boader towns of Canada. Before McPherson left for parts south, Magoon laid hands on her and ordained her as an evangelist. Although I was standing in an independent pentecostal church, I recognized I was standing in a moment of history that connected the Northern New England District Assemblies of God (formed in 1954) to a past that very much identified who we are now. It was an awesome moment. Thank God for early pioneers of faith.

We can't live in the past. Museums are nice places to visit and learn but eventually we must walk back outside into the present where culture has evolved over time. Living in my past does not necessarily make me relevant to the present. The message remains, but our methods will change.