Whatever you do; do to the glory of God – Whatever you do; do to the Glory of God. How do we best fulfill this command? We must realize that however we treat the people around us is how we are treating God; however we are treating them, mistreating them, loving them or not; we can say we love God, but if we do not love our brother, than the truth is not in us.
Let me tell you just in case you have forgotten or just in case you have never been told; we are all in the people business or should be, at home or at work, wherever we might be.
I am not in the funeral business; I am in the people business. I am not in the process business or the program business or in anything other than the People business.
Whoever you are, whatever you do; if you sell shoes, you are not in the shoe business; if you are an attorney, you’re not in law, if you are an entertainer, you are not in show business; you are in the people business.
The moment you become about what you do and not who you do it for you lose your soul, perhaps not literally, but you certainly eliminate any higher purpose of doing whatever it is you do.
There are thousands in the business of stacking dollars in their bank accounts, accumulating possessions which they will ultimately abandon when they leave this life; others waste years to earn a nameplate on a desk or on a door that will only remain as long as they do.
But you; if you want to add any eternal value to what you do; if you desire your life to live beyond your own existence, than you must invest yourself in people. Whatever you do; make certain you are in the people business and it is certain that what you do will also bring glory to God.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
For Debbie Holbrook and My Wife - Covenant Woman - Bob Dylan
Covenant woman got a contract with the Lord
Way up yonder, great will be her reward.
Covenant woman, shining like a morning star,
I know I can trust you to stay where you are.
And I just got to tell you
I do intend
To stay closer than any friend.
I just got to thank you
Once again
For making your prayers known
Unto heaven for me
And to you, always, so grateful
I will forever be.
I've been broken, shattered like an empty cup.
I'm just waiting on the Lord to rebuild and fill me up
And I know He will do it 'cause He's faithful and He's true,
He must have loved me so much to send me someone as fine as you.
And I just got to tell you
I do intend
To stay closer than any friend.
I just got to thank you
Once again
For making your prayers known
Unto heaven for me
And to you, always, so grateful
I will forever be.
Covenant woman, intimate little girl
Who knows those most secret things of me that are hidden from the world.
You know we are strangers in a land we're passing through.
I'll always be right by your side, I've got a covenant too.
And I just got to tell you
I do intend
To stay closer than any friend.
I just got to thank you
Once again
For making your prayers known
Unto heaven for me
And to you, always, so grateful
I will forever be.
Way up yonder, great will be her reward.
Covenant woman, shining like a morning star,
I know I can trust you to stay where you are.
And I just got to tell you
I do intend
To stay closer than any friend.
I just got to thank you
Once again
For making your prayers known
Unto heaven for me
And to you, always, so grateful
I will forever be.
I've been broken, shattered like an empty cup.
I'm just waiting on the Lord to rebuild and fill me up
And I know He will do it 'cause He's faithful and He's true,
He must have loved me so much to send me someone as fine as you.
And I just got to tell you
I do intend
To stay closer than any friend.
I just got to thank you
Once again
For making your prayers known
Unto heaven for me
And to you, always, so grateful
I will forever be.
Covenant woman, intimate little girl
Who knows those most secret things of me that are hidden from the world.
You know we are strangers in a land we're passing through.
I'll always be right by your side, I've got a covenant too.
And I just got to tell you
I do intend
To stay closer than any friend.
I just got to thank you
Once again
For making your prayers known
Unto heaven for me
And to you, always, so grateful
I will forever be.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Some thoughts - reassurances
Spiritual understanding comes to each of us in strange ways. As we wander and grow, God speaks to us and teaches us and enlightens us. What we once would have considered heresy may now bring us unspeakable joy and undeniable comfort. Our “world-view” of the Kingdom of God is so enlarged that none are denied the possibility of salvation and certainly none are separated from the love of God regardless of their own personal imperfections.
To the religious such talk sounds threatening and spiritually naïve, however to the man or woman listening for the whisper of God, the once-embraced claims of spiritual perfection obtained on this earthly plain screams of intellectual dishonesty and religious manipulation.
What if God’s ways are indeed higher than our own? What if, it is true that He looks at the heart, while we can only know the exterior of a man? Is it then not possible that some whom we would never expect to see in Heaven are already there before us? Is it also not possible that some of the religious folks who have so carefully walked to follow religious rule, but with impure hearts will hear, “Depart from me, I never knew you”? We know by God’s word it is true; the thief on the cross made it into the Kingdom of God before any of the disciples whom had forsaken all to follow Christ. Indeed the thief could be considered the 12th apostle, who took Judas’ place at God’s banquet table.
Who is to say that God’s forgiveness doesn’t extend further into lives that we reject? What if a man is truly spiritual, but somehow remains enslaved to an addiction, is that possible? The religious man shouts “no!” But did Jesus not say to the religious leader s of his day that some drunks and some prostitutes would see the Kingdom God before them? The assumption has always been that they would most certainly need stop their destructive behavior before being worthy of the Kingdom, but we speak in terms of spiritual warfare; in war there are prisoners of war and there are those who are missing in action. While many MIAs are dead, some are found alive and when they are found they are no fewer patriots than the comrade who has already returned home safely. When a man is being tortured and kept caged, he is no less loyalist to his country than the man back home walking his dog in the park. Could it be believers who have been abused by church leaders and the religion of Christianity are seen by God as being missing in action? While they may no longer attend religious services their hearts still long for the presence of God?
I have personally seen such a man, he had for years been a pastor’s “best friend” and head Elder. For years he and his family shared life with the Pastor and his household. Holidays were spent together, vacations shared of course every church function and celebration, every triumph and heartache the two men stood side by side, closer than most natural brothers. The little church grew from handful of faithful to a thriving congregation of several hundred. The elder continued to serve as faithfully as ever, but the pastor’s heart began to focus upon “His Ministry”, the prospect of national recognition, radio, television and a huge building program. The pastor's focus became more and more inward, while the outreach that had driven the growth of the church and attracted so many died away.
The Elders of the church became alarmed and tried to caution the pastor, but he not only rejected their counsel, he became paranoid and suspicious. Old friendships were broken; lives long intertwined were torn asunder by the Pastor's greed and hunger for everything the enemy offered Christ in the desert. The men were called disloyal and traitorous and worse. They were accosted verbally and publically until all the elders including the chief elder, the pastor’s “best friend” was all forced to resign. In the years that followed, not only did the pastor refuse to communicate in any manner with any of these men, not even his former “best friend”, but he forbid anyone in the church to communicate with them in any manner as well. Most of those men never walked through the doors of another church. The chief elder who had served so diligently day and night, loved the pastor as his brother, raised their children together, shared holidays and vacations, never stepped foot again in church.
And yet, on his deathbed, though unconscious he talked aloud to the Lord. I stood at his bed side on his final day; he hadn’t spoken in days at this point. Suddenly, he startled his wife and I and one of the other Elders who were there; he cried out in a loud clear voice, “Hey, wait!” He raised one hand toward the ceiling, eyes closed, smiling, he pointed to an unseen friend, someone he knew well and though lying on the bed, began “walking." HE raised one foot, then the other off the bed, stepping and following and in just a little time was gone from this world. There was no doubt who he was following and though he had never stepped a foot back into church this side of Glory, even though he was MIA, if you will; missing in action, there is no doubt he walked into Heaven. We witnessed it. The Elder’s former “best friend” didn’t attend the funeral, didn’t call, nor did he send a note or flowers.
In the same way I have come to believe that there are prisoners of war; men and women who have been redeemed, tasted the salvation of God, love Jesus and yet do not fully taste the promised abundant life of Christ. They find salvation, and while Christ offers them complete freedom, they are for whatever reason prisoners within themselves. While their liberty is available, they become prisoners of war. It is so easy to cast judgment upon these believers, but to criticize them is to ridicule the skill and resolve of the man who is captured by the enemy. “If he were a good soldier” we say, “He wouldn’t have been taken prisoner!” Does becoming a prisoner of war make you less of a soldier or a patriot; does, for whatever reason, not finding your deliverance through a lifetime of struggling make you less sincere in your love for God than the person who has never faced the battle of addiction?
Is God’s grace insufficient to overcome our weaknesses? Is His mercy limited by our understanding or is it HE who measures the man by the integrity of his heart? God evaluates King David as a man with a heart after God and yet by the actions of David, we no doubt, would judge him unfit to come to our churches, let alone serve again in ministry.
Qualification Team; “what are your qualifications for serving in our church?”
DAVID; “Well, I was the youngest in my family – so I guess I don’t have the leadership skills of a first-born. I was a shepherd by trade – not really on par with the religious training of the Scribes and Pharisees. I do play some instruments, Saul likes my playing, but I was never good enough to play in Temple. I killed a man, a really big man – a giant in fact and he was an enemy of Israel. I did become a King of Israel and a valiant warrior.
Qualification Team: We have heard that you are adept at killing.
DAVID: Well, I suppose you could say that, a lion, bear, tens of thousands on the battlefield….
Qualification Team: How about Uriah? What is the story behind your newest wife? We’ve heard some talk.
DAVID: “Well, yeah – Uriah; uh, Bathsheba. Well, I do have several wives, but to be honest, I was a little negligent one day; I should have been out leading the troops in battle . . .
QUALIFICATION TEAM; But you weren’t, where were you? What were you doing?
DAVID: I was at home, out on the roof and I saw this woman bathing . . .
QUALIFICATION TEAM; Uriah’s Wife. .
DAVID: Yes, but I didn’t realize that at the time, I just saw this really beautiful naked woman. I knew I had to have her and being King gave me the authority to have her brought to me and so I did.
QUALIFICATION TEAM: And did you uphold the Word of God or did you sin?
DAVID: Look, I’ve already told all this to Nathan . .
Qualification Team; if you are looking to work in this church, we need to know
David: I prefer to say that I made love to Bathsheba. She is like my soul mate
QT We would say you committed adultery and fornication, it all began with you coveting what wasn’t yours, another man’s wife,
DAVID: “But remember at the time I didn’t even know she was married
QT seems to us there was some lying and manipulation and sexual impurity and how did this all end?
DAVID; Bathsheba and I got married and made things right
QT But Bathsheba was already married to Uriah, what happened to Uriah?
DAVID: Uriah died in battle, ok, I placed Uriah on the front line where I knew he would get killed and being a loyal soldier to me, he did what I asked of him and indeed he was killed”
QT; So in fact, in order to have Bathsheba for yourself, you had her husband killed
Would you hire such a man for your church? Would you and your wife fellowship with such a believer? We only see the outward results of the sin that branded David’s life and yet God sees his heart and proclaims it to be knitted to His own.
My father struggled throughout his life with the bottle. He was, what most would call a functioning alcoholic. He grew-up with a Christian mother and an unbelieving father. Through the years I saw my father delight in God and at other times struggle with the booze which branded his life and yet, even though he died with a high level of alcohol in his blood, I have always been assured in my Spirit that he is with Our Father in Heaven. Again and again, God has reassured me that while my father was in fact a prisoner of war, he was in the end still a child of God whom was ushered into His Kingdom. Some, no doubt would say such reassurances are merely the hope born of love of a son for his father, or it could be said instead that such assurance comes from the abundant love of the Father, which covers a multitude of sin.
Last night God gave me another such assurance; I dreamed I was organizing a night of worship. I was surrounded by various worship musicians and singers and we were going to have an unscripted time of praise. The aforementioned pastor who turned his back on his elders tried to get into the room but was denied entrance.
As I was standing with a group of singers warming-up an arm reached around my right side from behind as I turned toward it, a large left fist was playfully pushed into my belly like a mock punch. It was my father slowly sneaking up behind me and smiling all the way. “Bet you didn’t expect to see me here, did you?” He asked with a smile. “I don’t suppose so” I said. In truth, I was at first startled, then overjoyed to see him. I had long ago forgotten that my father used to do this gesture of sneaking up behind me and giving me a belly punch as a way of playing with me. So not only was this dream a reassurance of my father’s security in God, but also a reminder of something personal that I had long ago forgotten and that as we worship before the Father we are always joined by an unseen host of our loved ones who have gone on before.
It has been said and is eternally true; we will find in Heaven, many we would never expect to see there and many will be missing whom we thought would be. Truly only God decides who abides within His Kingdom.
To the religious such talk sounds threatening and spiritually naïve, however to the man or woman listening for the whisper of God, the once-embraced claims of spiritual perfection obtained on this earthly plain screams of intellectual dishonesty and religious manipulation.
What if God’s ways are indeed higher than our own? What if, it is true that He looks at the heart, while we can only know the exterior of a man? Is it then not possible that some whom we would never expect to see in Heaven are already there before us? Is it also not possible that some of the religious folks who have so carefully walked to follow religious rule, but with impure hearts will hear, “Depart from me, I never knew you”? We know by God’s word it is true; the thief on the cross made it into the Kingdom of God before any of the disciples whom had forsaken all to follow Christ. Indeed the thief could be considered the 12th apostle, who took Judas’ place at God’s banquet table.
Who is to say that God’s forgiveness doesn’t extend further into lives that we reject? What if a man is truly spiritual, but somehow remains enslaved to an addiction, is that possible? The religious man shouts “no!” But did Jesus not say to the religious leader s of his day that some drunks and some prostitutes would see the Kingdom God before them? The assumption has always been that they would most certainly need stop their destructive behavior before being worthy of the Kingdom, but we speak in terms of spiritual warfare; in war there are prisoners of war and there are those who are missing in action. While many MIAs are dead, some are found alive and when they are found they are no fewer patriots than the comrade who has already returned home safely. When a man is being tortured and kept caged, he is no less loyalist to his country than the man back home walking his dog in the park. Could it be believers who have been abused by church leaders and the religion of Christianity are seen by God as being missing in action? While they may no longer attend religious services their hearts still long for the presence of God?
I have personally seen such a man, he had for years been a pastor’s “best friend” and head Elder. For years he and his family shared life with the Pastor and his household. Holidays were spent together, vacations shared of course every church function and celebration, every triumph and heartache the two men stood side by side, closer than most natural brothers. The little church grew from handful of faithful to a thriving congregation of several hundred. The elder continued to serve as faithfully as ever, but the pastor’s heart began to focus upon “His Ministry”, the prospect of national recognition, radio, television and a huge building program. The pastor's focus became more and more inward, while the outreach that had driven the growth of the church and attracted so many died away.
The Elders of the church became alarmed and tried to caution the pastor, but he not only rejected their counsel, he became paranoid and suspicious. Old friendships were broken; lives long intertwined were torn asunder by the Pastor's greed and hunger for everything the enemy offered Christ in the desert. The men were called disloyal and traitorous and worse. They were accosted verbally and publically until all the elders including the chief elder, the pastor’s “best friend” was all forced to resign. In the years that followed, not only did the pastor refuse to communicate in any manner with any of these men, not even his former “best friend”, but he forbid anyone in the church to communicate with them in any manner as well. Most of those men never walked through the doors of another church. The chief elder who had served so diligently day and night, loved the pastor as his brother, raised their children together, shared holidays and vacations, never stepped foot again in church.
And yet, on his deathbed, though unconscious he talked aloud to the Lord. I stood at his bed side on his final day; he hadn’t spoken in days at this point. Suddenly, he startled his wife and I and one of the other Elders who were there; he cried out in a loud clear voice, “Hey, wait!” He raised one hand toward the ceiling, eyes closed, smiling, he pointed to an unseen friend, someone he knew well and though lying on the bed, began “walking." HE raised one foot, then the other off the bed, stepping and following and in just a little time was gone from this world. There was no doubt who he was following and though he had never stepped a foot back into church this side of Glory, even though he was MIA, if you will; missing in action, there is no doubt he walked into Heaven. We witnessed it. The Elder’s former “best friend” didn’t attend the funeral, didn’t call, nor did he send a note or flowers.
In the same way I have come to believe that there are prisoners of war; men and women who have been redeemed, tasted the salvation of God, love Jesus and yet do not fully taste the promised abundant life of Christ. They find salvation, and while Christ offers them complete freedom, they are for whatever reason prisoners within themselves. While their liberty is available, they become prisoners of war. It is so easy to cast judgment upon these believers, but to criticize them is to ridicule the skill and resolve of the man who is captured by the enemy. “If he were a good soldier” we say, “He wouldn’t have been taken prisoner!” Does becoming a prisoner of war make you less of a soldier or a patriot; does, for whatever reason, not finding your deliverance through a lifetime of struggling make you less sincere in your love for God than the person who has never faced the battle of addiction?
Is God’s grace insufficient to overcome our weaknesses? Is His mercy limited by our understanding or is it HE who measures the man by the integrity of his heart? God evaluates King David as a man with a heart after God and yet by the actions of David, we no doubt, would judge him unfit to come to our churches, let alone serve again in ministry.
Qualification Team; “what are your qualifications for serving in our church?”
DAVID; “Well, I was the youngest in my family – so I guess I don’t have the leadership skills of a first-born. I was a shepherd by trade – not really on par with the religious training of the Scribes and Pharisees. I do play some instruments, Saul likes my playing, but I was never good enough to play in Temple. I killed a man, a really big man – a giant in fact and he was an enemy of Israel. I did become a King of Israel and a valiant warrior.
Qualification Team: We have heard that you are adept at killing.
DAVID: Well, I suppose you could say that, a lion, bear, tens of thousands on the battlefield….
Qualification Team: How about Uriah? What is the story behind your newest wife? We’ve heard some talk.
DAVID: “Well, yeah – Uriah; uh, Bathsheba. Well, I do have several wives, but to be honest, I was a little negligent one day; I should have been out leading the troops in battle . . .
QUALIFICATION TEAM; But you weren’t, where were you? What were you doing?
DAVID: I was at home, out on the roof and I saw this woman bathing . . .
QUALIFICATION TEAM; Uriah’s Wife. .
DAVID: Yes, but I didn’t realize that at the time, I just saw this really beautiful naked woman. I knew I had to have her and being King gave me the authority to have her brought to me and so I did.
QUALIFICATION TEAM: And did you uphold the Word of God or did you sin?
DAVID: Look, I’ve already told all this to Nathan . .
Qualification Team; if you are looking to work in this church, we need to know
David: I prefer to say that I made love to Bathsheba. She is like my soul mate
QT We would say you committed adultery and fornication, it all began with you coveting what wasn’t yours, another man’s wife,
DAVID: “But remember at the time I didn’t even know she was married
QT seems to us there was some lying and manipulation and sexual impurity and how did this all end?
DAVID; Bathsheba and I got married and made things right
QT But Bathsheba was already married to Uriah, what happened to Uriah?
DAVID: Uriah died in battle, ok, I placed Uriah on the front line where I knew he would get killed and being a loyal soldier to me, he did what I asked of him and indeed he was killed”
QT; So in fact, in order to have Bathsheba for yourself, you had her husband killed
Would you hire such a man for your church? Would you and your wife fellowship with such a believer? We only see the outward results of the sin that branded David’s life and yet God sees his heart and proclaims it to be knitted to His own.
My father struggled throughout his life with the bottle. He was, what most would call a functioning alcoholic. He grew-up with a Christian mother and an unbelieving father. Through the years I saw my father delight in God and at other times struggle with the booze which branded his life and yet, even though he died with a high level of alcohol in his blood, I have always been assured in my Spirit that he is with Our Father in Heaven. Again and again, God has reassured me that while my father was in fact a prisoner of war, he was in the end still a child of God whom was ushered into His Kingdom. Some, no doubt would say such reassurances are merely the hope born of love of a son for his father, or it could be said instead that such assurance comes from the abundant love of the Father, which covers a multitude of sin.
Last night God gave me another such assurance; I dreamed I was organizing a night of worship. I was surrounded by various worship musicians and singers and we were going to have an unscripted time of praise. The aforementioned pastor who turned his back on his elders tried to get into the room but was denied entrance.
As I was standing with a group of singers warming-up an arm reached around my right side from behind as I turned toward it, a large left fist was playfully pushed into my belly like a mock punch. It was my father slowly sneaking up behind me and smiling all the way. “Bet you didn’t expect to see me here, did you?” He asked with a smile. “I don’t suppose so” I said. In truth, I was at first startled, then overjoyed to see him. I had long ago forgotten that my father used to do this gesture of sneaking up behind me and giving me a belly punch as a way of playing with me. So not only was this dream a reassurance of my father’s security in God, but also a reminder of something personal that I had long ago forgotten and that as we worship before the Father we are always joined by an unseen host of our loved ones who have gone on before.
It has been said and is eternally true; we will find in Heaven, many we would never expect to see there and many will be missing whom we thought would be. Truly only God decides who abides within His Kingdom.
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