Any Questions?

Every once in a while I wonder what questions I would ask Jesus when I find myself in His presence, as if I would have the capacity. I rather imagine that I’ll be prostrated at His feet curious as to why I’m there and to what purpose I’d been called – is this my final call and what list of charges will I be hearing at my sentencing? You know, hearing all those things I’d done that I can’t imagine Christ forgiving me for?

Still, I think about what I would ask Jesus given the chance to speak in His presence. Years ago I lost one of my best of friends to some drunk driver. The circumstances of his death baffled me. He was the only passenger of five in his car that died and the only one in it not to have a broken bone in his body. I told myself that the first thing I would ask God is why Doug had to die so young and so needlessly. Doug is the first person I led to Christ and it just didn’t seem right for him to be gone so soon after. I held on to that question in anger and anguish so tightly that it became a bitterness that divided me from my Savior. It took the prayers and laying on of hands of a bunch of junior high kids and their adult leaders to heal me of that bitterness more than 20 years after Doug was killed.

What questions do you have? I imagine they are similar to my old question – Why was this or that person taken from me? – Why was I mistreated at the hands of someone I loved and trusted? – Why do good people suffer at the hands of the evil? – Why did my friend lose all hope? - Why was my prayer unanswered and that person not healed? – and so on. I’ve had the question I talked about, all these, and more. I’m not sure I’m strong enough or wise enough to hear the answers.

Questions of faith and doctrine might rest on our hearts but I think those will fade at the sight of His glory and their importance to us vanish.

I believe it is okay to harbor questions for Jesus. Just don’t do it in anger, anger begets bitterness, bitterness separation. (The same can be said of anger toward people) Our separation from God is the very reason Jesus went to the cross and suffered on our behalf. His suffering closes the gap we’ve built, His resurrection is power enough to make mute all of the questions. Don’t hold on to your anger at unanswered questions so tightly you can’t grip the Lord’s hand when it is offered. Even when you do hold too tight, some friend, an acquaintance, a random stranger, or a group of wacky teenagers will come along and do you a kindness that loosens your grip on bitterness and allows you to breathe again. I pray that it to be so for you.

If you need to hold on to a question do so in anguish. Jesus understands anguish better and more thoroughly than anyone can imagine. It was He who said on the cross, “Father, why hast thou forsaken me?” Even though Christ knew the answer He asked it in His darkest hour. In the Lord’s deep understanding of your anguish you will be comforted.

What questions do you have for God? Ponder them for a bit, let the ones go that are too troublesome to your walk with Him, and hold lightly those you have in anguish. Peace.

In His grip,

jerry

Training Diet and Exercise

Training Diet and Exercise

Hebrews 5:11-14 – “¹¹We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. ¹²In Fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

Unless we are able to enter the Holy of Holies on our accord, every time we consume scripture we should feel at least the a pinprick of conviction, both that the Word is true and that we are falling short. I was pinched by verse eleven.

I am slow to learn and always have been, especially where academics are concerned. I read slowly and methodically but with high comprehension. This flummoxed certain teachers during my school years and they assumed I wasn’t learning because I wasn’t learning at their pace. There are times when I set aside texts meant to teach because I’m inching along and would like to race. The Bible is tough for me to be consistent in. It takes time for me to work through the verbiage and so my discipline here is weak.

I put up a self-deprecating post on FB a few minutes ago and was rewarded by the following comment from my best-friend Jim:

“I am a steadfast believer that it is the responsibility of the teacher to teach the student in the manner and delivery in which the student can best receive the instruction. This is to the teacher's ultimate advantage, in that the teacher then is afforded the opportunities from his or her students to learn (woo-hoo!) an endless number of manners and deliveries. Count it all joy.”

I do count it all joy. The most fulfilling times of my Christian walk have been when I’ve taught – scriptures, building, cooking, the fundamentals of basketball – all teaching leads to learning for both teacher and student.

In all areas of our life we need to progress from a diet of mother’s milk to protein rich foods. We do this by the process of maturation in both the physical and spiritual realms. The lamb in the field goes from taking mother’s milk to eating grasses. Our puppies are weaned and go onto puppy food and a progression of foods that dazzle most dog owners. Walk down the pet food aisle of any store and you’ll see a progression of foods designed for every stage of a dog’s life. Go into Petco and be overwhelmed at aisle after aisle of foods for every size, age, and dietary need for your dog.

While we consider this and what it means to us in our personal spiritual state we cannot escape verse fourteen, “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

Our maturity as Christians is a training issue. We must have a training regimen that includes a specific diet if we are to excel. The best training regimens have a regular interval and opportunities to adapt as our conditioning improves. Distance runners carbo-load before a big race. Basketball players ease into maintenance mode in the weight room as the season nears and govern their diets according to the schedule of games. We pace the intake of scripture with our need to teach, worship, and pray.

We need to attach ourselves to a teacher/trainer that will encourage us, set up our personal regimen, and kick our butts when we need it. The Holy Spirit is just such a teacher. It is up to us to come to the table, it is up to the Holy Spirit to teach us, convict us, goad us, and confirm us.

We also need a place to exercise our maturity. To do that we need to identify our call and pursue it while teaching and feeding the spiritually young.

Find your level, work toward a pace, and come to the table to eat. Then ‘count it all joy’ as you lift a heavier burden or watch a student exceed your own skills.

In His grip,

jerry

photo courtesy of graphicstock.com via subscription

A Call to Prayer for LCPC VBS 2017 - Week 5

Pray for the children to know Jesus

Our VBS Prayer Train is about to pull into the station and this is the final week leading up to our weeklong VBS. We’ll host around 250 children with 70 or so volunteers, workers in the field. Pray for us.

We have a tall order from Ashley for prayer. Pray this week “that these children will leave having accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That they will leave excited about having a relationship with Him. That those who are not involved in a church would find a solid church home to encourage them and their families in faith.”

For many of these children VBS will be their first exposure to the Gospel and hearing the Good News that Jesus loves them, cares for them, died for them, and rose again so that they can have a relationship with Him and know God.

“God gives us joy” is our point of emphasis for Friday, our last day to affect change in the children (and ourselves). The Bible verse is Nehemiah 8:10 – “Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (NIV)

The Bible story for the day is from Acts 16: 16-40, the account of Paul and Silas in jail. I love this story. The disciples teaching and preaching was all fine and good until their actions reached into the pocketbooks and shut off the easy money men were making from the spirit-possessed woman. Paul and Silas were flogged and put in a cell in the bowels of the prison. And they worshipped God and shook the foundations of the prison and were freed from their chains. Rather than flee they stayed and brought the Word of God to the jailer and he along with his whole family were saved and baptized.

Verse 34 gives us the point: “The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.”

This is the joy we want to impart to the children at VBS. To impart something, we must have something.

Pray for our VBS staff to be filled with joy and that the hearts of the children will be opened and receptive to the Good News.

In His grip,

jerry

VBS theme is 'Passport to Peru' and I like llamas

A Call to Prayer for LCPC VBS 2017 – Week 4

It's all about the children, God's children

Passport to Peru

This week we focus our prayers at a critical juncture in the lives of the children. We first asked God to give the children understanding of Him as a shepherd and followed that up by asking God for the kids to trust in His timing in their lives. Last week we focused our prayers so that the children know that Jesus is all powerful. This week we tune our prayers to the finer focus that will lead to discipleship allowing us to fulfill the command to make disciples. We pray this week that the children will trust Jesus as their Savior and begin to understand the sacrifice He made for us.

It is a big step coming to this understanding and in it we have to perceive our personal need for salvation and our separation from God without it. Please pray for our children to gain that understanding and for our teachers and volunteers to have the Holy Spirit present in our lessons and interactions throughout the week.

The Thursday scripture and point for VBS week is that God gives us love. We see this in I Corinthians 13:13:

“¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of theses is love.”

Our story for Thursday to show God’s love is the death and resurrection of Jesus. Luke, chapters 22 through 24 are used for reference.

As they should be, these are the most sobering moments in history. During this week's Men’s Group reading of John MacArthur’s ‘One Perfect Life’ we found ourselves reading section 193 – The Final Three Hours on the Cross. MacArthur boiled down the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and concentrated them into three short paragraphs. The weight and import of them was almost too much for me to bear

Jesus was utterly forsaken by the Father and was alone on the cross. To know the depth of his love for me at that moment is unfathomable. He willingly took that place. At any point in time Jesus could have taken up his divinity and come down from the cross. But He did not and completed the greatest example of sacrificing his life for his friends.

Greater love has no man than he sacrifice his life for his friends. (John 13:13)

Please pray. Pray for this message to be so written on our hearts that it is the first and foremost thing people see in us and know us by.

In His grip

jerry

It should be clear by now that I just think these goes are cool looking.

Pieces of Eight - An LCPC Men's Group Review

photo credit to Geoff - thanks

Eight of us gathered this morning about the two long tables fashioned in what passes as square. Each brings his unique self to the tables early Wednesday mornings to pray, sing songs of worship and praise, and study God’s word. (Question – had I not corrected myself and left ‘work’ for ‘word’ would there have been much difference?) These men are God’s gift to me as are the others who come as they are able. Doug is there with his acoustic guitar and leads our singing of blessedly unrehearsed praise. Our only requirement when we sing is to open our hearts when we open our mouths to sing. Next to him sits Geoff with his handsome fretless bass guitar hooked to a small amp we keep in the closet, I love his style and appreciate the photo record he keeps.

Moving on, we have Ron who more often than not is the third man through the door and thereby destined to offer the opening prayer. If you thought of us as a sports broadcast team Ron would be the color commentator. We all have our stories and opine at times but Ron is not shy to point out something significant out as our morning moves along. He enriches us. There is John, a significant contributor to our tool chest of care and concern for others. He keeps a watchful eye on those around him to lend support as needed. Oh, and he brings the donuts; would we be a men’s meeting without them? 

That puts us to Jim to my right, a personal joy to me. Not only has he lent is sons and wife to Missions Arizona, he stood with me and backed me up with the rummage sale. Jim brings a balance to the table fare with wood (nut-based breakfast bars) and fruit, this morning citrus. Next to Jim is Jim, generally first or second through the door and pushing a coffee cart in front of him. I’ve written of him before, he inspires me with his quiet devotion to God’s word and his people.

This brings us to the other side of the table and facing the door. Phil is our leader and first or second through the door with Jim. I know that each of us there could take the lead if called upon and do on occasions when Phil is taken out of town. He sits facing the door to welcome each man as they walk in. Next to him is a white-board with our agenda for the morning penned in. Thankfully it’s a white board and things can be added or moved around as needed or scratched altogether if a more pressing need comes in with one or another of the men. I appreciate Phil’s leadership and his willingness to guide us. I love the opportunity to come in and sing and read and pray without the worry of leadership.

I know I’m likely to take some flak for talking about each man but, and I’ll use the PG term, tough luck. I’ve sat in similar groups with my best friend Jim and my dad and am thankful they’ve played a similar role their lives. The common thread with these groups are they are full of men who care for each other and love God and His word.

Peace men.

In His grip,

jerry

PS: We are currently reading through One Perfect Life - The Complete Story of the Lord Jesus. I had started out to look at this morning's passage and just got going about these guys. I think Jesus understands but I better make up for in the next couple of days.

LCPC VBS Call to Prayer – Week 3

The LCPC VBS Prayer Train is at the midpoint now and cresting the summit and we should be able to have a long view ahead of us to see the finishing point and still be able to look back over the tracks we used to get here.

I have been using Ashley’s suggested prayers, a series of prayer areas for the five weeks leading up to VBS, which she put in the VBS Leader Booklet. I’ve taken the daily scripture and stories that will be used during the five days and outlined them in the posts to give you all an understanding of what is being taught in order to give you a more focused approach to your prayers for the week of VBS. And, it will give you the added blessing of being a part of our week.

During week one we prayed for understanding to rest on the children and wisdom upon the teachers. We followed that up with a week of prayer for trust in God’s timing and patience. This week the call is to pray for the children to know that Jesus is all powerful and uses His power to help them because He loves them. With that we pray for the VBS staff to find ways to show Christ’s power.

Our scripture for Wednesday of VBS week is John 14:27 where Jesus says, “²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Here, Jesus had been instructing the disciples and telling them of the Holy Spirit that will be coming upon them after His resurrection. Jesus has calmed storms, fed the multitudes, and performed many signs and wonders and knows that when he leaves to be with the Father the disciples will face trials and tribulations that will rock them to the core. Jesus leaves us with peace, not as the world gives but a peace that surpasses all understanding – thus our need for the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday’s story is Jesus calming the storm and we take the account from Mark printed below:

Jesus Calms the Storm

Mark 4: 35-41 (NIV)

“³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’

⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’

When I look at this story and see that Jesus quiets the storm and then questions the disciples on their faith and wondering at their fear I have to ask myself how Jesus would have preferred it then and how he wants me to go through the storms of life now. Are we to pray for the storm to cease? Or, rather do we pray for the peace of Jesus to be on us so that we can walk through the storm without fear? For me, I think it is the later. Storms will come and go but Christ’s peace should be on us no matter what. No easy task there so my prayer is for God to grant that I can walk in peace in the midst of the storm and project that peace for those I am around.

A couple of decades ago our Youth Ministries used a summer theme of “Fear Not!” working off of Nike’s trademarked “No Fear” campaign. I loved this theme and the scripture we used and I’ll close my call to pray for VBS and this post with it. Here is a command from God as given us by Isaiah.

Isaiah 43:5 (ESL): “Fear not, for I am with you.”

In His grip,

jerry

Simeon and Anna Got Patience

Ely Nevada Steam Engine

Our prayer train should be picking up steam now. And passengers - we need the prayers of those all around us. All aboard!

We pray now that the children will trust in God’s timing in their lives and know He keeps His promises. And we pray that VBS will help them grow in that trust and be a place to explore what this all means to them.

Our Bible point for Tuesday, day two of VBS, is ‘God gives us patience.’ The Bible verse we’ll be using to support the point is Psalm 27:14 – 

“Wait on the Lord;

    Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

    Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (New King James Version [NKJV])

The account of Simeon* and Anna from Luke 2: 21-40 will be told as an example of patience in God’s timing.

“²¹And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising him, his name was called JESUS, which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. ²²And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. ²⁵And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷And he came in the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the law, ²⁸then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

“²⁹Now lettest thou thy servant depart, Lord,

    According to thy word, in peace;

³⁰for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

    ³¹Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;

³²A light for revelation to the Gentiles,

    And the glory of thy people Israel.

³³And his father and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him; ³⁴and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; ³⁵yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul; that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.

³⁶And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, ³⁷and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day. ³⁸And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks unto God, and spake of him to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. ³⁹And when they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

⁴⁰And the child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.”

Pray that the VBS teachers and story tellers will be blessed by the Holy Spirit just as Simeon and Anna so we can teach the children from a point of revelation and wisdom. Pray that the children can open their minds to gain comprehension about what it meant for these two to wait so long for God’s personal word to them to come to pass. And, pray that we can all find the faith and patience to wait on the Lord for the fulfillment of His word to us.

Thank you for your partnership with the LCPC VBS staff in our quest to raise children to discipleship, one story and one act of caring at a time.

In His grip

Jer Bear

*My grandfather’s middle name is Simeon after this priest who had the word of God come to him regarding the Lord’s Christ. An extra tidbit that makes this account that much more special to me.

Peruvian children - traditionally dressed and with
their llamas