“Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37b)
 
   Now that our 7-week Solemn Assembly emphasis has ended, “now what?” is an understandable question. In seeking to answer that question, let me share briefly some pastoral counsel to you:
 
EMOTIONS: don’t be driven by them. Hopefully, these 7 weeks have had an emotional impact on you. We dare not deny our emotions, but we also dare not allow ourselves to be dictated by them. If you are hoping that the emotional high of Solemn Assembly will last, you are mistaken; and if you determine to wait ‘til the next surge of emotions hit to renew your interest in the church life, you are missing the meaning of walking in the Spirit.
 
EVENTS: don’t depend on them. We are definitely an event-driven culture. “What’s next?” is probably asked more often than “now what?”. We must remember that not every event on the church calendar will be a smash hit, in terms of attendance, interest, or response. Equally important is the reminder that a “successful” church event does not paint the entire picture of a healthy church. If you wait for the next event on the church calendar to determine your level of commitment, you may miss-out on something seemingly mundane but actually meaningful that may precede it.
 
ENTERTAINMENT: don’t be dazzled by it. Our society thrives on entertainment. We demand it in every element of our lives – including, unfortunately, our church. Too many so-called “worship experiences” are nothing more than a stained-glass “American Idol” show, whereby the “spectators” judge the “talents” of whoever is “up on stage” singing or speaking. Somehow we forget the fact that God does not want us to be entertained; He wants us to be engaged.
 
ESSENTIALS: don’t deny them. This doesn’t sound very glamorous, but there’s no escaping the vital essentials needed for a truly healthy Christian (and church) life: living in the Word, persisting in prayer, engaging in worship, being faithful to fellowship, seeking to serve, etc.
 
ENCOURAGEMENT: don’t diminish it. We are prone to underestimate the impact that a simple word of encouragement may have on a brother or sister in Christ. Many within your church family are perishing from a lack of it – and you can supply it!
 
EVANGELISM: don’t delay it. If we’re not careful, our Solemn Assembly experience may prove nothing more than sanctified navel-gazing, unless we realize that the whole purpose of seeking revival is so that we may be energized to GO OUT into our world and faithfully share the gospel. Don’t wait on another moving of your emotions, or the next class on evangelism – just do it!
 
EVERYTHING: deliverance demands it. Having saved us from our sin; having given us what we didn’t deserve (grace) rather than what we did deserve (justice), we should surely realize that our great Savior deserves our everything: our gratitude, our faithfulness, our service, our worship, our devotion, etc. is HE receiving regularly your everything?
 
   Solemn Assembly time is over, but the life and work of the church goes on, until Jesus comes for us, or we go to be with Him. Until that time, may He find us faithful.
 
Dean Sisk

I was asked a question – What is God showing you?  How have you seen Him move?

It would be easy to say, “Oh, I see God moving every day” – but is that true?  I think the more important thing I have to deal with is do I take time to see God moving?  Do I take the time?  Do I allow myself to stop and watch for Him and listen for Him every day?

 If I have learned anything over the last several weeks, during this time of introspection, the answer is probably no.  But, wasn’t that what we went through the process for?  Didn’t we need to take the time to see how God could use us?  Didn’t we need to take time to see what God had to say to us?

As I slow down, allowing myself to set down my “smart phone”, taking my fingers off the computer key board, turning off the radio in my truck and allow myself to stop and listen, I realize that God has amazing things he wants to show me and tell me – but it is up to me to “get it”.
My problem is that I like to be in control and that is not how God works.  He wants me to allow Him to be Lord.  That means I have to allow him to be in control.  I have to take my hands off the wheel.  And when he gets my attention I begin to see things that are going on around me.

Maybe God would have me spend more time with Him and less time concerned about the everyday things.  A friend told me recently that if I would just do what God was asking me to do then He would take care of the rest.  That is a painful lesson to learn and admittedly I struggle with letting go.  I would prefer to worry about it.  I am so good at that and often think it may be one of my spiritual gifts until I learned that it was a sin.

But when I take my hands off the wheel, God takes me to amazing places.  I am allowed to see Him at work in the lives of my children and grandchildren.  I have been told that we are a reflection of our children and I surely hope that is the case.

 
I see God at work in our church – our body of believers.  I can’t speak for everyone, but I do know that He is using those who are responding to Him.  I have the fortune to serve as one of the church deacons and I see Him at work in our deacon body.  I see the concern and care exhibited by them.  I hear their compassion in their prayers.  

I see Him at work as our church body comes to Him, on their knees with care and concern for our staff, our teachers, our church leaders, for our mission outreach.  But in the quietness of my heart I can also wonder if He is saying where have you been?  I have been waiting – I have been here.

One of my favorite scriptures is found in the Book of Micah.  In Micah 6:8 we find the children of Israel crying out to God, asking the question “What do you expect of us”.  Do you find yourself asking God, especially during the difficult times, during the storms of life – “God what do you want, what do you expect?”

 Micah says the answer is simple, “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you God”

This time, this period of introspection, this time we have spent considering what God might expect of us as a body, I have learned more about what he expects of me.  If I will do as Micah suggests, if I will simply be willing to love those around me, and to walk humble with my God, then He will be faithful to open my eyes and allow me to see Him moving around me.

Solemn Assembly Blog
Chris Madison

Throughout Solemn Assembly, a lot of our focus has been on the condition of our hearts.  In Matthew 5:8, Jesus said- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  I want to take a few minutes to really meditate on this verse.

One obvious truth that comes out of this verse is that when our hearts are pure we will experience God (see Him) in a clear way.  However, the opposite is surely true as well.  When our hearts are not pure, we tend to misread God and not see what God desires and what His ways are.

One of the blessings I have experienced over the course of these past few weeks is some clarity.  At the beginning of Solemn Assembly I was dealing with a particular situation that didn’t feel quite right, but my thoughts and feelings were very cloudy on what to do.  As I began to pray, fast, examine my heart, and receive the prayer support of others, this situation was suddenly illuminated and I was able to clearly see God’s perspective on this situation and exactly what He wanted me to do.

Psalm 15 also mentions that the one who will ascend to the hill of the Lord is the one who has “clean hands and a pure heart.”  The ESV of Psalm 15:1 says that the one who has a pure heart will “sojourn” in the tent of the Lord.  This communicates intimate fellowship and closeness to the Lord.

We should pray for revival in our hearts, families, and in our church over this Solemn Assembly.  However, let’s remember that the greatest reward of a pure heart is intimacy with the Father.  This should be our greatest motivation.
        

i was confronted with a cold, hard truth recently.  the Gospel is not the constant center of my life or my ministry.  while i get busy doing things “for” God or “about” God, i allow other things to take first place and the center of my life and the ministry He has entrusted to me.

this hit me squarely in the face when i was reading through a letter one of the children in ministry wrote to their prayer partner.  this child asked, “what must i do to get saved?”  while part of me was rejoicing over the fact that God was obviously drawing this child to Himself, the other part of me cringed as i thought “how does this child not know?”  is the Gospel not so prevalent in all conversations i/we have with children that the way to God through Jesus is not obvious? i was so convicted that even with all we “do” in children’s ministry, i can often be busy with the stuff and allow the life-changing Gospel to take a back seat.  shouldn’t the Gospel be the very source and goal of all i/we do?

then i glared at myself in the mirror of self-examination.  can i honestly say the Gospel is a constant center of my life? the truth is the center of my world gets so crowded with myself that the fuel of my faith, the Gospel, can get pushed to the side.  my “self” and my sin quench the Spirit and the power it provides, so that when i rub shoulders in everyday life with unbelievers they may not see the Gospel clearly lived out in me.  

this time of self-examination hasn’t been “fun”, but has proven fruitful as it has brought me face to face with my defiant sin, to the foot of the cross for forgiveness, and a realignment in center of my heart and mind. (oh, what a day by day process.) i go back to a chapter i love, psalm 51, and think about how david said,
            
               “12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
                     and make me willing to obey you.
                13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
                        and they will return to you.”

it was after his heart was broken and sorrowful for his sin that he experiences the sweet cleaning, restoration, and joy of his salvation.  then, he could be used powerfully to teach sinners the way so they, too would turn back to God.

most of us would say we want to be used by God, but are we really willing to take these hard looks at our sin and what is the center of our lives?  like i said, it hasn’t been fun and at times i have avoided it and grabbed tightly to the comfort of complacency.  i am tired of living that way!

as we seek Him in this special time and in each day and week to come may our prayer be the same as the one who was called, “the man after God’s own heart.”

Psalm 51
 "1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I know my transgressions,  and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.  10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,  and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, ?and sinners will turn back to you. 14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me,  and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,  O God, you will not despise.  18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you;  then bulls will be offered on your altar."

As I was studying 2 Chronicles 34 this past week and meditating on the meaning and manifestations of a “tender heart,” I was particularly drawn to a related text (Deuteronomy 8:2) where Moses says to the people “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that he might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”  I am intrigued by the idea that God is constantly testing my heart. I’m sure He doesn’t do this for His benefit. He understands perfectly well what’s in my heart (Psalm 139:1-4). He does this for my benefit—to reveal to me, if I’m paying attention, whether my heart is tender or hard.
     Through this passage, God has shown me that the difficulties and temptations of this life are not here to punish me or prove I’m a sinner. (That’s a given.) Rather, they are a gift from God—a means by which I can judge whether or not I love Him with all my heart. That’s really what God is after. He wants my whole heart and wants it to be a tender heart that is yielding and submissive to his Word.
     To be honest, I don’t check the condition of my heart enough. And it’s not that the diagnosis isn’t available and regularly updated. I guess I just don’t care enough to stop and look at the results.
     As a people, we tend to be very concerned about our physical hearts. We schedule regular check-ups and spend lots of time and money trying to keep them healthy. May we expend vastly more time and effort in keeping our spiritual hearts in good shape.

Last February I had an experience that most everyone has at some point in life.  I walked up to that cruel measuring stick called a scale and found a triple digit number staring back up at me that was the biggest number I had ever seen.  It bothered me, and if I am being honest it really bothered my vanity more than anything else.  So I made the decision to be more disciplined about what and how much I drank and ate and how much exercise I got and the number began to get smaller and my vanity was appropriately pleased.  But something happened about a month into the change that I was not expecting.

I began to hear God talk to me about this effort to physically be more fit and yet what was I doing to be more spiritually fit? One of the most convicting truths that God brought to bear was the question "if I had been so undisciplined about such basic and obvious things such as what I eat and drink what are the chances that there is a significant lack of discipline in spiritual areas of my life that are often times far more subtle and important?"  I was very uncomfortable with this idea and quite frankly tried to push it out of my mind.  Ultimately, just as with most exercise programs, there were gains and losses throughout the year, and this was true spiritually as well.

The call to prayer and the preparation for the solemn assembly services came at a time where once again my commitment and discipline needed a refocusing and a recharge.  I thought that this emphasis on prayer was going to be primarily just that for me but God as He is wanton to do, started talking to me about what was on His heart and discipline figured prominently once again.  Specifically through Hebrews 12:5-11 God has drawn my heart back once again to understanding and appreciating His discipline.

Hebrews 12:5 encourages and warns me to not take the discipline of the Lord lightly or to find it wearisome when He reproves me.  But we all know as verse 11 will say later that no one enjoys being corrected or disciplined when it first happens.  Often times our reaction ranges from justification, shifting the blame, or downright rejecting the discipline that has been given by man or even God.  The reason this is so crucial is spelled out in verse 6, "For the Lord disciplines the one He loves."  Did you catch that?  The discipline of God is a demonstration of God's love for me.  Verse 7 goes on to say that it for discipline that I must endure because it is actually the confirmation that He is truly my Father and that He loves me.  I am not wandering around this world as an illegitimate child but I truly have a Father who is working towards my good.    Ever feel like that even though you know that God loves you, you struggle to believe it ?  Ever wonder if God is really listening to your prayers because it feels like they are simply ricocheting off the ceiling and getting nowhere?  What if this is not simply a faith issue, but also a refusal to accept God's discipline which in turn short circuits our ability to experience His love?

Maybe I have missed the fullness of knowing His love because I continue to reject His discipline.  I have been encouraged by the beginning of this year, and the desire to look to the Lord's discipline that I may know His love more and more.  To take the prophet Ezekiel at his word as inspired by the Holy Spirit that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but to turn from wickedness that I might truly live.  That I might truly live in and by the fullness of His love.


He must increase, but I must decrease...

Jerel Olson
Belle Aire Baptist Church--College Pastor

     For those of you who don’t know me very well – I am a HUGE baseball fan. Baseball is my sport and the love of it has been a part of me since I was in the 5th grade. At the Major League level, baseball is a sport with coaches that can and will help with almost any aspect of a player’s game. The “Hitting Coach” has his own ideas of what will make a hitter more successful at the plate. Many down through the years have become famous for coming up with hitting techniques that have been adopted by many players. A lot of those players have improved dramatically by using a particular coach’s technique. Charlie Lau was one of the most famous – he was never a good hitter himself, but he came up with techniques that made many players considerably better when they started using them. Four players that come to mind are George Brett, Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire, and Carlton Fisk. Brett and Fisk have both been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Consider this: what if Lau’s hitting style was “guaranteed” to make any hitter considerably better if they used them? If that was true, then I would say that almost 100% of the Major League hitters today would be a Lau Disciple at the plate. But what if there was a player that really believes what is said about Lau’s hitting discipline: he knows exactly how to do it, knows that it will help him, has seen the success that other players are having – but still does not want to make the commitment to using it himself. Wouldn’t that be crazy?
     This illustration reminds me of the recent study that I went through with a college student I am mentoring. We studied through the book of Hebrews. Hebrews was written to a Jewish community perhaps somewhere near Greece that had been evangelized by New Testament apostles and prophets. The overall theme of Hebrews is the superiority or preeminence of Christ: He is better than anything in the Old Testament – any prophet, priest, king, or ritual. He is better than anyone and everything else.
      This book was mainly written to Hebrew Christians – those who had come out of Judaism and received Jesus Christ as their personal Messiah and Savior. Because of their belief, they suffered persecution from their families and were tempted to go back into some of the old patterns and practices of Judaism. The book was written to give them confidence as they floundered in their commitment, and to encourage them to courageously live out their new relationship in Christ. The primary message of the book was written to these Hebrew Christians.
But, weaved in and out of the book of Hebrews are warnings to two other groups of people in the same location. One of those groups was Hebrew non-Christians, those not convinced of the Gospel or of Jesus being the Messiah. This book was written to show them the truth of Jesus being the Messiah and that salvation was only through Him.
The last group reminds me of my illustration about the ballplayer who knew what Lau taught, believed it, knew there was a guarantee with it, but didn’t commit to it. They were Hebrew non-Christians who were intellectually convinced that Jesus is who He claimed to be, but were not willing to make the commitment of faith in Him – even though they knew that Jesus Christ gives a real “guarantee” of salvation, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.
      A real-life illustration of this concerns my brother Norm and myself back when we both still lived in Sothern California in the 1970’s. We were raised in a wonderful Christian home by two loving parents who loved the Lord and taught us His love. We went to church all our lives and were very involved in church in many different ways as kids and teenagers. My brother was the president of our high school youth group at the church we attended in Washington state.
    Later on, we were both married to wonderful Christian ladies and lived in Los Angeles area. Norm and his wife attended Grace Community Church where John MacArthur was and still is the pastor. Cathy and I were still attending a smaller church where we were married.
     One Sunday afternoon my brother called and asked if we wanted to come with them to Grace Community that evening for a baptismal service. I said “Sure… is anyone we know getting baptized?” He said “Yeah, I am.” I was shocked – I had accepted the Lord at the age of 10 at a summer camp in Arizona. I assumed my brother had made a decision at some other time in our youth. He and I were even both baptized at in that church at the same time. But he said – “No, I have been sitting under MacArthur’s teaching through Hebrews and realized that I had been a fake all these years.” He said he was convicted by MacArthur’s sermon on “The Tragedy of Rejecting Full Revelation” from the sixth chapter of Hebrews.

Here is part of what my brother heard that convinced him:
“… (Those) who have, on the outside, made a profession of faith in Christ, but who are not real believers...They know the truth. They believe it. They even follow some of the patterns of Christians, but they aren't for real; and they are warned periodically through the Book of Hebrews that they better be for real lest having heard the Gospel so much and become so familiar with it, they find themselves falling away into an evil heart of unbelief, and it is impossible for them to be saved.”
Let this be a warning to all of us to search our hearts and ask ourselves if we are really convinced and committed to Christ as Lord and Savior. Or, are we one of those who are “intellectually convinced” but not willing or ready to make that step of “commitment.”

Gaining Heavenly Perspective – Molly Oliver

My mother once commented that I was “self-sufficient by the age of four.”  Many of my parents’ friends have even said that as a child I acted as though I was “four going on forty!”  As I approach the latter denomination, I am convicted that this character trait of mine is not all it’s cracked up to be.   Sure, my self-sufficiency has been beneficial in some ways.  It has given me an internal drive and has helped me manage tasks well for which the world has been quick to commend.  After years of accolades for this trait, I have found it unnecessary to “give it up” and lay it at the feet of Jesus because after all, the world says it’s wonderful!

Now, however, I find this trait to be the biggest hindrance in my relationship with the Father – I have essentially refused to let Him be Lord over the things that I feel I can handle myself.  As we began the Awaken 2012 study, I felt God pulling me to release everything to Him not just once, but D-A-I-L-Y!  Ouch!  He began peeling layers off of me like an onion and, staying true to the analogy, it too made me shed some tears.  This process has exposed the vulnerable, tender places that I have held in such high, self-sufficient regard and I have found myself less and less proud to be called self-sufficient.

I believe that as a church, we can fall into the trap of self-sufficiency and never realize that we are sinning against God.  It is a discreet crack in the armor of a body of believers that Satan can use to gain a stronghold and render us ineffective for the kingdom of God.  So how do we defend against such a stealth foe?  The answer, for me, lies in another lesson on dependency.  Jesus, in His sweet way, has been showing me how depending on Him (and not myself) results in true freedom.  

As a part of our commitment to Awaken 2012, my family has begun carving out a few minutes to read the same devotional independently, write down our thoughts, and then come together at the end of the day and discuss what we learned.   This process has brought us all closer to one another and to our Savior-such joy!  It has been through these daily journal entries that dependency has been revealed as my choice, but that the choice begins with a change in my perspective.  

It’s like the first time I jumped off the diving board into the deep end of the pool.  My dad, an excellent swimmer, was in the water, arms raised high to catch me and keep me from going under.  I was perched on the tip of the diving board staring at what looked like a very small person in the ocean-like body of water.  The distance from me to my dad seemed like the Grand Canyon.  I was afraid.  I backed off the board and walked around to the side of the pool and looked at my task from a different angle and realized that the distance between us was not that far, it just looked like it from atop the board.  Still anxious, but with much more confidence, I worked my way back to the tip of the board and  jumped off into the safety of my dad’s arms – a conqueror indeed!

I am learning that if I continue to dwell on the things I have surrendered to the Lord, I am not trusting His ability to take care of them perfectly.  In fact, I am saying, “I got this,” when clearly, I do not and am teetering on the end of the diving board without a clear picture of the situation at all!  Dependency requires relinquishing self-sufficiency, placing the thing you think you are capable to handle at the feet of Jesus and then thanking Him for the answers He put into place before the beginning of time – ah, sweet expectancy!  Living with expectancy through a heart of thanksgiving is the key to depending on the Lord without reservation.  It is an exercise of the faith muscles: the more I do it, the better shape I’ll be in!  

So church, what do we do with this information?  We lay everything down, gain some Heavenly perspective and then… J-U-M-P!

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”                        -Ephesians 3:20-21

One of my prayers for us as a church as we go through our prayer emphasis is that our focused prayer and devotion will have an impact on our worship.  It is so easy to become passive with our approach to worship seeing it as just another activity in our week.   What if we began to see worship as THE activity of our week?  I read a lot of material about the corporate worship of the church, and much of what I read these days is talking about the passivity present in modern worship.  One recent article asked whether all our modern technology has led us to be a culture of corporate entertainment rather than corporate worship.  Would we attend a worship service void of a band and video screens?  Do we find ourselves critiquing the worship rather than engaging in it?  Do we attend worship for what we think we can get out of it rather than what we can put into it – what we can offer?  Are our ideas about worship shaped more by our musical preferences or our theological convictions?

As we are examining ourselves, let us also examine our worship.   Do we long for a closer relationship with Christ which will then allow us to worship in a more sincere way?  Do we prepare ourselves to enter the presence of the Lord or do we think we can enter worship with the same mindset we do all other things in life?  Is not the worship of a holy God worthy of more than that?  Could it be that we don’t see God as holy - that what He has done for us is not worthy of worship?  I think most of us would say that is not the case.  Then maybe we don’t see what we do in worship as worthy – worthy of work, effort, preparation, sacrifice.  

I love Psalm 150 because it takes the guess work out of worship.  How can we read it and possibly believe that worship is the responsibility of anyone other than each of us – all of us?  Which part of “let everything that hath breath praise the Lord” leaves room for any of us not to engage in worship?   

I encourage us in this season of self examination to examine our motives for, and participation in,  worship and commit ourselves to the effort – the privilege that is worship.  

Blessings!
Drew

    In a conversation with a friend we were discussing the issues we have with change, both the process of walking through it and accepting it as the new normal.  I shared with her the recent purchase we had made of a new TV and the process we went through in finding the new stand, where to put the old furniture, where to put the old TV, and ect.   After Drew and I spent all day getting it all moved around and in its place, I walked back into our living room and felt my chest get heavy because it looked so different. I was struggling with the change to our living room which had basically looked the same for the past 5 years.  But then I could feel the Spirit speaking to me, and saying, “Seriously Kelly, you are going to get worked up over this?”  The fact is I know this year will be full of change, and I have accepted that.  Drew will be finishing seminary and we pray obtaining a full-time position in ministry and only God knows at this time where that will take us.  And this somewhat silly situation with the TV was just a wakeup call to me that even though 2012 will be a year of change for us, God is always the same!  I need not fear change because my God is constant and His plans for us are perfect.  This focus on preparing for the Solemn Assembly has drawn me to the words of Psalm 63  which says, “O God, you are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.  Thus I have seen you in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.  Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You.  So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.  My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.”  The questions I have asked myself is what am I earnestly seeking?  What am I thirsty for?  The time I have spent working through the It’s Time booklet has caused me to make severe examinations of my life and see how God has always used change for the good.  May we truly be awakened!  May we stop looking to this world to quench our thirst for more, but turn and look to God.  May our flesh yearn for Him!  May our lips praise His name! May we offer Him praises with joyful lips!