Connecting Points

Monday, April 04, 2011

Today’s Topic: Contrasts

Today’s Text: Isaiah 40:10-11 (New Living Translation) Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in all his glorious power. He will rule with awesome strength. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

I hope you are not getting bored with all the stories of the mission trip I took to the Bayou of Louisiana. I prayed before I left that the Lord would combine my reflections on Isaiah 40 with the applications of the trip, and that is what He did. These articles are the product of that.

Contrast makes things more visible. Try this right now: on your computer screen find the contrast control and set it to its lowest setting. How does that look? Washed out, isn’t it? Now set it to its highest setting. Quite a difference isn’t it. Contrast makes things stand out more clearly.

My dear friend Pastor Jerry is man of contrasts. How I admire and respect him. God is using this humble man to accomplish great things for God’s glory. His long full beard seems out of place in the hot and humid weather of the Bayou. It may be a carry-over from the hippie days on the west coast when he ministered to that generation alongside people like the late Keith Green.

On the outside he appears rough. However, on the inside he’s soft and supple. By his own admission he struggles with frustration, but in reality the Holy Spirit shows more than his flesh. He is to me the model of meekness like Jesus. He is a man of great strength but it is under the absolute control of the Holy Spirit so that his nature is that of a shepherd.

I watch Pastor Jerry a lot when I am there. I am learning to appreciate his sense of humor that is revealed by the gleam in his eyes. I am blessed by his sensitive heart that is seen by the tears in his eyes. His strength is revealed in the calluses on his hands. His compassion is revealed as he uses those same hands to care for his wife and the sheep of his flock.

Strength under control: that’s what meekness is. That’s who Jerry is. That’s who Jesus is.

The Sovereign Lord is coming in glorious power. He will rule in awesome strength. And when He comes to His people He has all of that power under control. How thankful we must be for that, or we would surely die. Yet Jesus comes to us as a shepherd. He feeds us. He carries us. He holds us close to His heart. He gently leads us. He doesn’t force us. He doesn’t push us. He doesn’t manipulate us. He doesn’t overpower us. He comes along side of us and befriends us.

I need to be more like Brother Jerry. I need to be more like Jesus. Far too many times I fall back on my own strength and let it rise to the forefront of my circumstances and relationships. I take control. I push. Oh that I would be more gentle in spirit and let the Lord Jesus not only shepherd me but then shepherd others through me.

Maybe you have issues of control. Maybe your strength comes to the surface more than it should. It’s possible that the way you communicate with and respond to people comes across harsh and frustrated. It may be that some wrong of the past corrupts your present relationship with someone. Maybe it’s your own insecurities that you cover with an attitude of power and strength and control.

Whatever it may be, will you seek the heart of Jesus and learn meekness? Fine tune the contrast on the screen of your life so Jesus is more clearly visible.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Friday, April 01, 2011

Today’s Topic: Boldness

Today’s Text: Isaiah 40:9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

It was a thought-provoking question. It came from a sincere desire to be a better witness for Jesus Christ at her place of work. “How can I be more bold to talk about my relationship with Jesus? Why do I fear doing that at the workplace?”

I discerned in her question an attitude of fear based on a misconception that witnessing means convincing and convicting. I believe that is true for many of us. We have the idea that being a witness means winning others to Christ. While that is our ultimate objective, the actual process of introducing someone to Jesus Christ should be much less threatening. A witness is not someone who convinces others of what they need – that’s the Holy Spirit’s ministry in their heart. A witness is someone who testifies to what they have experienced personally in their own life.

As I explained this to her, she was delighted. It released her from the fear that had gripped her and kept her silent. “Just put your everyday conversations into the context of praise and thanksgiving to God and let that be your witness. You don’t have to convince people that they need God – you just have to show them the reality of God in your own life.”

That leads me to ask this question to myself and all of you – “How do the people of the world see the reality of God in our lives?” They certainly don’t see that I trust God when we complain about the financial crisis of higher gas prices and lower income. How can they see the peace of God when we worry about the political crisis in our city, state, nation, or world? They are unable to see the reality of the love of God when all they can see is the love we have for self and the world. People need to see those who claim to love God making sacrifices for the Kingdom of God and for people in need.

We claim to have been transformed by the love of God. We claim to trust Him. We claim to walk by faith and not by sight. Yet the unsaved people of the world claim that they cannot see the reality of God because we look so much like they do. We have the good news of the Gospel and yet it seems what dominates our conversations is the bad news of the world.

It is time for us to stand up boldly and tell the world about our God. Not condescendingly, but compassionately. Not arrogantly but passionately. Not with fingers pointed at people but with hands lifted in praise to Jesus our Savior.

Lift up your voice with a shout and with no fear. Proclaim to everyone that Jesus is Lord of your life. And let the way you live prove it.

Pastor John