After 2 weeks, what happened?

So after two weeks of consecration, what happened? Over the last two weeks, we starved ourselves and/or ate food that was high in nutritional value but, as said in an old commercial, it was certainly “less filling”. We began by asking ourselves: Why am I doing this? And the reason we did all this was to consecrate ourselves. That is, we set aside more time in our personal lives to spend with God in order to pray and to read the Scriptures. So now the question is: What did we come out with that we did not have prior to our consecration? Or simply put, What did we get out of this? The answer is found in one word: DIRECTION. This is what God is directing us to do this year: • We must set aside other times for personal consecration. • We must harvest what we’ve planted, so we must plant good (God) seeds. • We must take more risks for Him (Luke 5:4-10). • We must have more of the attributes of David (1 Samuel 13:14). • We must stop seeking quick fixes for our lives. And finally…. • We must understand the attributes of God if our lives are to be successful. Now the question is: How does all of this tie in with what we’ve heard in the past regarding our lives and our church? How do I proceed into the next eleven months with a clear and concise directive that makes sense? Well, hopefully the following will help us. Remember the theme for our congregation in 2009 is: God’s Spirit to Serve. In his book, What the Spirit is Saying to the Churches, Dr. Henry Blackaby states: • “Wherever God indicated He was working (Spirit), we were obedient to follow (Serve)”. p. 45 • “God was letting us know where He was working (Spirit). We were convinced this was His way of inviting us to join Him in this work (Service)”. p. 47 • “As God took the initiative to reveal His activity to us (Spirit), we responded (Serve). And when we did, He accomplished His greater purposes through us (Service)”. P.47 What does the type of service God desires look like? • It must be FIVE STAR. God expects us to give Him our best effort. • It must involve FAITH. God expects us to take risks for Him. • It must bear...
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Racism in the American Church

One of my pastor friends is white. He voted for John McCain. He did not vote for John McCain because he is white. He voted for John McCain because he believed that John McCain was the candidate who most closely represented his core values. And yet after Barak Obama won the election, my friend did something within his congregation which I believe every leader within the Body of Christ (that is, the church) ought to do as well. He declared that the election is over and it is time to get behind OUR president-elect and pray for his success. This pastor leads a very diverse congregation and many of the black members in his congregation deeply appreciated his leadership on such a passionate and very sensitive subject. Some of my friends who are black pastors voted for Barak Obama. I know them well enough to know that it was more than just because he was black. However, I also believe that Barak Obama clearly does not hold some of their deeply held core values. We’ve had some very deep conversations regarding how we view this election. The one thing we can agree on is that the election of Barak Obama has exposed something very ugly within the Body of Christ: Racism. Racism is defined as “Discrimination (making a distinction) based on race (ethnicity)”. As a black pastor (and no, I am not telling you for whom I voted ), I have told other black folks that when white folks criticize Barak Obama, more often than not, it is due to ideology and not racism. I pointed out to one pastor friend that the religious right would have attacked Senator John Kerry, who is white, when he ran for president four years ago on the very same views Obama supports. We need to be careful not to be so passionate about a black man in the White House that when anybody criticizes him, they’re accused of being racist. But the stuff I hear and read about Barak Obama that is coming from some of our white brethren seems to be both ridiculous and racist. An article in this week’s (11/24) issue of Newsweek magazine sums up the madness: Is Barak Obama the Antichrist? In addition to this, other Christians have compared him to Hitler. Some question whether or not Obama is a Christian, even though Obama clearly stated that he...
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Fresh Bread: Hallow Him!

In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, HALLOWED be Your name. (Matthew 6:9-10; New King James Version) The word “Hallowed” is a word that we do not often hear used in our culture. In fact, the only time we hear the word used much is when people prepare to celebrate “Halloween”, which means “All Hallows Evening”. The purpose of this day was to celebrate the end of the harvest season. It was believed that on this evening the boundary between the living and the dead was dissolved. The dead would then be in the position to cause problems for the living, which included the destruction of one’s harvest. Thus, this evening was used as a time for protection and placating those spirits. It’s interesting that long before this word was used to celebrate a holiday, Jesus taught his disciples (learners) that they should include “Hallowing” the name of God during their time of prayer. One of the definitions of this Greek word “hallow” means “to venerate”. Our English word “venerate” is derived from a Latin word that means to “worship”. The word “worship” means “to adore”. The word “adore” is derived from two Latin words: “ad”, which means “toward”, and “orno”, which means “to embellish or decorate”. As one can see, our English word “ornaments” is derived from this Latin word. So what does all this mean? When God introduced Himself to Moses, He introduced Himself by the name “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”, which means “The Self-Existent One” (Exodus 3:14). It seemed that whenever God did something to make a name, that is, a REPUTATION, for Himself in an area of a person’s life, God expected them to add to His name a description of what He did for them. So, when Abraham experienced God’s provision of a sacrifice to replace the life of his precious son Isaac, Abraham called Him “Jehovah” but added the description or decorated God’s name with an ornament called “JIREH”, which means “provider”. The following are some of the decorations and ornaments people attached to God’s wonderful name (reputation). He is Jehovah: 1. Jireh = Provider (sees, perceives, looks out, gives attention to) 2. Nissi = Banner (standard, signal, sign) 3. Tsidkenu (Tsid-kay-noo) = Righteousness (justice) 4. Shalom = Peace (completeness, soundness, prosperity, safety, quietness) 5. Shammah = There (present) 6. Roi or Ra’ah = Shepherd (feeder, ruler, teacher, companion) 7. Rophe or...
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Fresh Bread: Overcomers! (A review)

The front page of the October 10th issue of USA Today read “Fear’s a Slippery Slope for Stocks”. Another cover story read, in even bolder letters, “Confidence Cracks”. On July 20, we began a sermon series based on Revelations Chapter 12 entitled “The Overcomers”. Little did we know that almost three months later, our nation would find itself in one of its worst financial crises in decades. God always prepares His people prior to times of crisis. So what has He taught us thus far? 1. “The Great Escape” reminded us that our opponent (Satan) wants to destroy the God-given purpose (the baby) within us. King David is an example of how God will take us through Three Wildernesses to prepare us to accomplish great things for Him (1 Sam. Ch 23 & 24): • Zin = The Place where God refines and perfects us. (1 Kings 17:10) • Maon = The Place where God protects us. (Psalms 91:1) • Engedi = The Place where great leaders are developed. (Jeremiah 50:8) 2. “The Dragon” is Satan. He is the one who gives us his “deadly” glance (perspective). There are three perspectives Satan tries to give us in order to destroy our perception of life. • Passionate (lustful) 1 John 2:15-17. • Pessimistic (negative) Numbers 13:31-33. • Panic (fearful) 1 Samuel 13:11-14. 3. “Who are the Overcomers?” These are individuals who get the “upper-hand” in life. Like Jabez, they get the hand of God involved in their life circumstances (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). 4. “The Blood” of the Lamb. One of the least appreciated reasons that the Blood of Jesus is essential to our lives is its ability to “release” our consciences (minds/thinking) from initiating actions that lead to death (Proverbs 14:12) so that we can serve God in an appropriate manner (Hebrews 9:14). 5. “CSI (Crime Scene Investigation)”. Revelations 12:11 states “They overcame the dragon by… the word of their testimony…”. The word testimony means “evidence”. This sermon taught us that when God’s hand gets involved in our circumstances, He leaves His fingerprints as evidence. Therefore, what God does in our lives becomes a crime (a wonderful act of God that makes no natural sense). The result is the initiation of an investigation by those around us in an attempt to discover how God did such an unexpected deed in our lives. 6. “CSI: Exhibit #1”. The overcomers got God’s...
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I’m Voting for Barack Palin!

That’s right! You heard it here first. After last evening’s debate between the Vice-Presidential candidates, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, I am one of the undecided independents who has made up his mind about for whom I will vote: Barack Palin. I was going to vote for Sarah Obama but the way blogs are these days, I’d be accused of voting for Barack Obama’s fictitious first wife, who is a white witchcraft-proofed Pentecostal, who divorced her Muslim husband in Indonesia, who, after they split up, moved to Alaska while he moved to Chicago, only to be reunited on the grandest of stages 20 years later. Of course, this story is completely made up. So I’m voting for Barack Palin instead, and let me explain why. After watching the debate last evening, I saw a common characteristic that I admired in both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. Both of these individuals recognized a once in a lifetime opportunity, and were not afraid to seize it. It’s been said that the Chinese symbol for the word “crisis” means “eminent danger and incredible opportunity”. Make no mistake, both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin were chosen as candidates. Sarah Palin’s journey to candidacy was fairly straightforward. Regarding Barack Obama, there is a CNN documentary that covers his rise and shows how he was chosen to run for president. After delivering such an electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention (another seized opportunity), he traveled the country campaigning for other democratic candidates. He was such a draw everywhere he went that one of the democratic heavyweights convinced him that he himself should become a candidate. What I am most impressed by is that these two candidates seized their opportunities, even though the timing seemed wrong. I did not think Barack should have run against Hillary Clinton. I thought he would have been better off waiting until 2012 to have a better opportunity to win. I was wrong! I thought that Sarah Palin was not ready for primetime, especially after her interviews with Katie Couric. My opinion was that she’d have been better served if she had simply “stayed up there” in Alaska. Yet, after last evening’s performance, if John McCain were to lose this election there is no doubt that she is now in the mix for 2012. So, love them or hate them, when the door of opportunity opened, they fearlessly walked into...
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Fresh Bread: Leadership! (What We All Need in Difficult Times)

Then the LORD told Moses, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land… Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must LEAD my people Israel out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:7-10, NLT) This year has got to rank as one of the most unsettling years in recent history. People’s anxieties are surely being tested, especially when we consider the political events of both the primary and presidential elections, the destructive impact of the recent hurricanes, and the recent economic crisis which former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, says is the worst he’s seen in his lifetime. It seems like at more than any other time since September 11, 2001, our country is in need of God-given leadership. It always amazes me how independent we as Americans claim to be until crisis hits our lives. It’s then that we realize how important it is to have good leadership. In the Bible, God shows us time and time again the important role that good leadership plays in His plan. In fact good leadership, whether it’s a president, a coach, a pastor, a boss, a spouse, or a parent, is the mechanism by which God blesses (provides preferential treatment) to people. And if this is true, then the absence of good leadership reflects the absence of God’s blessing. There are many sophisticated ways one can try to measure or identify good leadership, but I believe it can be summed up in a phrase Ronald Regan stated almost thirty years ago: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” And that’s really the question. Are you better off now than you were before? If the answer is yes, then praise God for blessing you with good leaders. If the answer is no, then pray that God will send someone into your life whom He will use to lead you out to the place He desires for you. PRAYER: Holy Spirit, during these times of uncertainty...
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