One month ago we had a Presidential election.  I know, you probably did not even realize the election was going on (especially if you live in Colorado or Ohio).  This election was hotly contested and revealed a country that is very divided.  No matter how the election turned out, roughly half the country was going to be disappointed the outcome.  This election cycle did not begin last January, it began in November 2008 when President Obama won the White House.  Both sides had zeroed in on November 2012, and both sides had promised the moon.  Some people believed all the promises they heard during election season, while others were more cynical.  In the 21 years I have been voting, I have seen my hope in the political process deteriorate from idealism to a great depression.  The endless rhetoric of the election left many tired and wounded.

Regardless of our political fatigue, however, it is hard to argue that who our leaders are makes a big difference in our lives.  This is true of the United States, and it was also true of the nation of Judah in Isaiah’s day.  When Isaiah wrote his prophecy (the Old Testament book of Isaiah), Judah was in political crisis.  After 52 years of being led by “good King Uzziah,” Judah was under different human leadership.  This troubled God’s people and increased anxiety about what would happen to the nation without their previous King.  God addressed their concerns through Isaiah’s prophecy.  In chapter 6, he reminded the nation that God was still on the throne.  In chapter 7, God promised relief from the attacks of Israel and Aram.  In chapter 11, however, God looks further into the future, to remind Judah that their ultimate leader will provide a peace that will dwarf the accomplishments of even their favorite King Uzziah!  Listen to what God promises to His people in Isaiah 11:1-10:

“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot – yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.  And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  He will delight in obeying the Lord.  He will never judge by appearance, false evidence, or hearsay.  He will defend the poor and the exploited.  He will rule against the wicked and destroy them with the breath of His mouth.  He will be clothed with fairness and truth.  In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard and the goat will be at peace.  Calves and yearlings will be safe among lions, and a little child will lead them all.  The cattle will graze among bears.  Cubs and calves will lie down together.  And lions will eat grass as the livestock do.  Babies will crawl safely among poisonous snakes.  Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes and pull it out unharmed.  Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.  And as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.  In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world.  The nations will rally to Him, for the land where He lives will be a glorious place.”

Wow.  What a campaign promise!  To a people facing uncertain national prospects, God promises a future leader who will restore peace . . . not just between people, but with all of nature!  This future leader could only be God Himself to accomplish such a task . . . God coming (as this passage indicates) in the form of a little child.  Jesus was to be the Branch of David’s tree that would be the Messiah for God’s people.  Isaiah wrote this 700 years before Jesus was born, but what is amazing for us today is that the ultimate fulfillment of these promises has yet to be realized.  Jesus will return to this earth one day to fulfill this campaign promise God made through Isaiah 2,700 years ago!  When Jesus comes again, He will establish a government on this earth where the wicked are no longer allowed to rule and the poor and exploited will have a true champion. As surely as Jesus was born in Bethlehem, so we look forward to this future reign of Christ on the earth (for more details of this time, look at Revelation 20.)

This Christmas season as you either celebrate or denigrate the latest chosen American political “Messiah”, I challenge you to lift your eyes up and gain perspective.  We know who the real Messiah is, and He is not a registered Republican or Democrat.  He is Jesus Christ, and the peace we long for will certainly come to pass one day when He returns.  To a people facing political crisis, God encourages us with the campaign promise of Isaiah 11.

This Sunday at Wildwood I am preaching on Isaiah 42:1-9 . . . one of the Servant Songs. I wrote this post last December and it serves as a decent set-up for Sunday’s message. Hope to see you Sunday, December 2 at either 9:30 or 10:50 at WIldwood!

Our context adds content to our worship of God.  In other words, what we see, smell, hear, feel, and think add depth and texture to our worship of God.  Where we are when we worship God matters.

Of course, you may want to argue this point with me.  As Jesus rightly said in John 4:23, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”  This statement was made by Christ in response to a question about where someone should worship (in Jerusalem or in Samaria.)  Jesus’s answer takes worship beyond a building to a connection of our hearts to the heart of God.  Because of Jesus answer, traditions like mine have rightly emphasized truth (the teaching of God’s Word) and the non-physical in worship.  While there is much good that has come from this reformation inspired thought, in our focus on teaching and the non-physical, we sometimes miss the opportunity to worship God fully by only engaging the right side of our brains.

While worshipping with the men in prison a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of the power of context in worship.  All my senses were engaged as we worshipped those four nights:

Sight – Seeing the ethnic diversity of the congregation gathered together in worship was a powerful reminder of the unity that is found in the Body of Christ.  On the outside, all too often we all go to our “own” churches.  On the inside, only one church exists, and it forces men from different backgrounds, ages, worship styles, theological backgrounds, races, and languages to worship together in the same room.  This alone was a powerful sermon on the power of Christ.  I spoke on Ephesians 2 and the unity that Christ has bought for us my second night there.  My message paled in comparison to the testimony of those present in the room.  In our world too often the options we have prevent us from living within a context that inspires worship simply by the sight of it.

Sound – At several moments during our time of worship, the men would simply break into applause, celebrating the work of our God in a very culturally relevant way.  The sound of these cheers lifted my heart and reminded me of the reality of the words we were singing.  Too often worship can become like watching a game on television . . . we feel like we are all alone and that we are not needed, so we sit silently watching the action on the screen.  In reality, worship is like being at the game . . . we join the voices and cheers of others because we are on the same team, and our voice absolutely needs to be heard.

Smell – I have been to this prison many times, and I am always reminded of this place by its smell.  I do not mean that it smells bad.  It doesn’t.  It’s just that the entire prison is probably cleaned by the same industrial cleaner, and so every room has a similar scent.  This smell (for me) was a constant reminder of where I was.  This was not a bad thing.  The contrast of freedom in Christ behind physical bars was powerful fuel to my worship.  Singing, “Freedom reigns in this place.  Showers of mercy and grace.  Falling on every face.  There is freedom!” while smelling prison brought me to tears on a couple of occasions.

Feel – On my last night in the prison, the men brought me up on stage after the service, laid hands on me, and prayed.  I can still feel the weight of their hands on my shoulders as they all (some 150 men) prayed simultaneously out loud for God’s provision and protection for me and my family.  It was totally overwhelming.  Feeling the touch of their hands on my shoulders powerfully drove home the fact that they were lifting me up.

Thinking – While not one of our senses, what our brains are thinking about during worship is very important.  I don’t know about you, but when I am singing worship songs, my mouth can be saying one thing while my mind is thinking about something else.  I can be singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” and be thinking about Landry Jones 3 touchdown passes in the Bedlam Game.  This is not a good thing.  Other times, I can be thinking about the words of the songs I am singing, but only in a scholastic sort of way . . . in other words, “Yes, that statement is true of our God, I have read it in the Bible.”  Still other times, however, while I am singing I am thinking of how those words have proven true in my life . . . and those are the moments when my emotions engage in worship.  Last summer while driving home from the hospital after Kimberly’s surgery, I remember tears streaming down my face as I sang “10,000 Reasons” because I was so moved by the notion that God was allowing me to worship Him after such a difficult day “when the evening came”.  Context matters.  What we are thinking matters.  This point was driven home in prison because we were singing truth that was powerfully lived out among us.  One lyric particularly was striking to me.  We sang Chris Tomlin’s “This is Our God” and hearing the men on the yard sing this verse was very moving to me,

A refuge for the poor, a shelter from the storm: this is our God.

He will wipe away your tears and return your wasted years: this is our God.

A father to the orphan, a healer to the broken: this is our God.

He brings peace to our madness and comfort in our sadness: this is our God.

Knowing the background that many of these men had come from (the broken homes, poverty, abuse, etc.) and knowing the fact that these men at some level felt as though their years were being wasted, the lyrics took on powerful depth and texture.  I was able to appreciate our God even more in this context.

Now, I want to make something clear.  I love the worship at my church.  Greg Hill is one of the finest worship pastors and men that I have ever known.  The team he leads does a wonderful job of leading us in worship each week.  The problems I was having in worship had nothing to do with someone else . . . they had to do with me.  I needed to change my setting to remind myself of the importance of context in worship.  The past couple of weeks, I have loved worshipping God with a renewed sense of interest in what I was seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and thinking.

I live in a fairly scripted ministry world. Leading two identical worship services each Sunday will do that to you. The Sundays I preach at Wildwood flow into similar channels. I prepare a message, create slides for that message, develop a thorough outline to guide the audio/video crew through my message, and then I deliver it within a tight 35 minute window in both worship services. I love this format, and do not dread the planned nature of our normal hour long worship services.

As I was driving over to the prison for night three of my series, however, I felt the Spirit of God leading me to abandon my plan and preach on something entirely different that night. Inside the prison, I did not have an AV crew to coordinate with . . . I did not have a bulletin with my sermon title and verses already printed on it . . . I did not have slides to change . . . so I decided to follow the Spirit’s lead and trash my already completed message in lieu of different one. My original sermon came out of the New Testament, but God was nudging me in the direction of the Old. My original sermon was more theological in nature, but God was leading me to be more practical and challenging. So, I trashed my original message and began allowing the Spirit of God to write a new message for me to deliver that night. Driving 75 mph down the turnpike toward the prison, I started composing a new message in my mind . . . a message that was not fully written until after it was delivered to the inmates that night.

The new message centered around Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25:29-34. In this passage Esau makes quite possibly the most lop-sided trade in history. He traded his birthright (which gave him money, power, and blessing) for a bowl of stew. I talked about how stupid it was for Esau to trade something so valuable for something so transient. This message no doubt hit home with the congregation, as every man in that room was incarcerated for making a similar bad trade at some point in their lives. Though their situation is more obvious than ours (in some ways), all of us can relate to this principle. Sin always tempts us to make bad trades.

On that night in the prison, I spoke for about 30 minutes about the temptations and effects of making bad trades in our lives. As I was thinking through this message on the drive over, however, I knew I could not leave these men with just a cautionary tale . . . I needed to simultaneously bring them hope as well, but I was not exactly sure how to end the message. Since I was writing the message somewhat as I went, about 2/3 of the way through my message, I invited the worship team to come up and lead us in the singing of a couple of songs as we all pondered the impact of Esau’s example. About halfway through the second verse of the second song, the Lord brought the following passage to mind:

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave for free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. . . And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. – Galatians 3:25-29, 4:6-7

At the conclusion of the second song, I stepped back up to the podium and reminded everyone in the room that the inheritance we have traded away because of our sin has been restored to us because of the Son. What happened next is hard to describe. A sense of joy filled the room where remorse and sorrow once dominated just moments before. It was as if Jesus had shown up at that moment to set the captives free . . . and not just the captives in the prison issue coveralls . . . the captive who is writing this post as well. The Gospel truth was liberating to us that night. The Law incarcerates us by showing us our sin and reminding us of it’s consequences, but the Gospel unlocks the gates, removes our shame, and gives us back the inheritance we once lost! After expounding on this blessed truth, we concluded with another worship song which may have been the most joyous time of worship I have ever been a part of.

I am so thankful that God led me to change my message that night, and I am so thankful that He authored the perfect conclusion to the message as well. The sermon was off my script, but on Jesus’s script and He gave me His words pointing to His Gospel at just the right time.

I want to praise God for that Thursday night in prison. He took a perfectly good sermon and had me lock it up in solitary, so His Gospel might walk the yard and set the captives free.

Recently I was given an incredible speaking opportunity.  I love to preach, and rarely turn down a chance to do so . . . but my most recent set of messages was delivered in a very unique setting.  At one level, the setting was quite familiar . . . inside a church, after singing a collection of Chris Tomlin songs, and standing alongside a baptistry.  At a deeper level, however, I felt like I was playing a “road game.”  It is not every day that I have to show my ID before speaking.  It is not everyday that the entire congregation is wearing the same clothes.  It is not everyday that I have the opportunity to preach in a prison.  Two weeks ago, however, I had the chance to do just that, delivering four messages in five days to a thriving church of inmates inside one of Oklahoma’s correctional centers.

In my time over five days with the men on the inside, I had an amazing time of ministry.  God simply showed up each night, and it was a joy to watch Him move within this group of believers.  It was a true church experience.  I brought my gift (preaching the message) but others brought theirs as well (encouragement, prayer, praise and worship, etc.)  I really think that I received most of the blessing from my week there.  Each night I spoke to a mostly packed room of men who have become somewhat defined by a bad choice(s) they have made.  Over the course of five days, however, I developed a very strong affection for these men.

I met all these men after their arrests, and know virtually nothing of what they did that led to their incarceration.  Because of that, I did not relate to them as an inmate, I related to them as brothers in Christ.  When I looked at them, I did not see them for what they had done wrong . . . my brief time visiting the prison had convinced me they were “doing their time” for the crimes they had committed.  When I looked at them, I saw simply the Body of Christ . . . and it was beautiful.

As I left there the second night, I wondered how I would feel about these men if it was my child they had the inappropriate relationship with; if it was my parent they had defrauded; if it was my friend they had sold drugs to.  If I am honest, I would have to say that my emotions would have certainly been mixed at best, jaded at worst.  I would have wanted some measure of justice or revenge.  As I pondered this point, however, I was overcome by the fact that because I met them as the church, I was looking at them more concerning their future than their past . . . more about their Savior than their sin.  I knew they had screwed up, but I did not care.  At that moment, we were worshipping together on the level field at the foot of the cross.

I am a sinful man and my vision of people is almost never clear, however, on that night I think God pulled back the curtain to let me know a little bit of how He looks at you and me.  We are all people who could very easily be identified by the bad choices that we make.  The Bible tells us that we are all sinners and all fall short of God’s glory.  Each one of us like sheep have gone astray.  Our sin should define us.  This is what hell is all about . . . an eternal prison where we do unending time for our bad choices as God’s justice is being satisfied.  However, when God looks at us, He does not see our past, He sees our future with Him.  Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, those who are trusting in Him are defined by our Savior and not our sin.  Jesus has already “done the time” that our sins deserved, so we are free to walk out of the imprisonment of our failure and into the freedom of His grace.  He sees us as the Body of His Son . . . and He loves His Son.

So, if you are trapped inside the prison of guilt and despair because of your bad choices, know that the key to unlock the gate of your failure is resting in the Hand of One who loves you.  He offers to set you free through His death on the cross so that we are not defined by our wrongness, but by His righteousness.

My perspective changes based on what I know, but His perspective never changes because He already knows it all.  In His grace, He chooses to see Christ in us, our hope of glory.  May we as His followers have His vision for all people . . . including ourselves.

 

Do you ever send an email and then wonder if the recipient ever read it?  While you may wonder immediately if the letter has been opened, your curiosity truly kills the cat (or at least may make you want to kick it) when days and days go by and you still have no response from your friend.  If this situation describes your email life, then Microsoft Outlook designed a cure for you.

I discovered Microsoft’s answer for our email enigma a few years ago.  You see, I had a friend who would attach a “read receipt” onto her emails to me.  This friend works in sales, and she got tired of always wondering if her clients were reading their emails so she started attaching read receipts to all of her emails just to be sure.  When I get emails from her, Outlook lets me know that a confirmation has been sent informing the sender of my receipt of the message.

I was thinking about this technology as I was reading Revelation 5-8.  Scattered throughout these four chapters is Jesus’ continued revelation of heaven to the apostle John.  When Jesus gives John a tour of heaven, He points out to him on several occasions one of the items that has arrived in heaven.  Listen to the words of Revelation 5:8 and 8:1-5: “And when He (Jesus) had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb.  Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. . . When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.  And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.  Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.  He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.  The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.  Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”

As you read those verses did you see the item I was referring to?  In the dwelling place of God . . . before His very throne . . . is a beautiful bowl consisting of the prayers of the saints.  (NOTE:  Saint is a term that refers to anyone who is a Christian.  This bowl contains not just John the Apostle’s prayers, but yours and mine as well!)  These prayers, like fine incense, are a welcome aroma to Jesus Himself.  Though many years had gone by and many prayers John had prayed, no doubt, had gone “unanswered” from his perspective, John was now granted the most impressive read receipt ever.  Indeed the prayers John and others had prayed had gotten through, and Revelation chapter 8 tells us that at the right time, these prayers will be answered with awesome power . . .being returned to earth with an answer and ground shaking force.

This was probably never more pronounced than with John’s prayers for the return of Christ and justice to be brought to the earth.  John had seen many of his friends die for their belief in Christ, and He was on the island of Patmos as a prisoner, when this revelation came.  No doubt, John had prayed many prayers for Jesus to protect His friends, to bring justice on the earth, and to set things right.  Yet all these prayers had gone unanswered.  Over all this time, John’s curiosity had to be killing him.  Were his prayers really getting through?  Then in one sweet vision, Jesus removes all doubt.  The Reader of our hearts had gotten every one . . . and He was getting ready to act.

If you wonder if God really hears your prayers . . . if He got your message, then read Revelation 5:8 and 8:1-5 and take heart.  Your prayers are still there before the throne like sweet incense before the King.  The Reader has Received Your message, and He will respond soon.

 

Cortes roamed the  New World for years in search of El Dorado (the City of Gold).  Ponce De Leon scoured Florida for the Fountain of Youth.  Indiana Jones braved great danger in search of the Ark of the Covenant.  Monty Python spoofed a quest for the Holy Grail.

One common element of mythologies is a search for the sacred city or the prized possession.  These mythologies go beyond the pages of books; they flavor our understanding of holidays.  For instance, take Halloween.  Growing up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, I had a great love of this holiday.  As a kid I loved to dress in costume and I loved candy.  Because of that, Halloween was a win/win.  There was a certain mythology, however, that developed around Halloween in my hometown.  We had rumors that somewhere in town, people gave out FULL SIZE CANDY BARS!  In my neighborhood, the FUN SIZE was all that could be found.  Since I thought the big boys would be more fun, I always wanted to trick or treat on the other side of town where the rich people lived, believing that if you lived in a 3000+ square foot home, you could not buy bite sized anything.  For all my years trick or treating my way around town, though, I never found the sacred city.

Then came last night.  I am no longer trick or treating myself (though I did have one house give me some candy . . . thanks Kerri!).  I am now ushering my 5 year old son around the block in search of candy.  Since he is only 5, he has not yet been tempted with the notion of finding the Fountain of Food.  However, something surprising happened last night . . . we found it.

By “it,” I do not mean we found a house giving out full size candy bars.  I mean we found IT . . . a house giving out KING SIZED CANDY BARS.  I immediately had the urge to call Clifton Railsback and tell him that after 35 years of trick or treating, I had finally found candy Nirvana.  It was that significant a moment.

Now, I share that experience with you today NOT so that you can take your kids to this house next year.  (I have found the honey hole, and I am not sharing GSP coordinates on an open blog).  I share this with you today because I think that as Christians, we have a mythology about missions that we propagate in our minds.  In our minds, missions occurs somewhere else, requiring me to move in order to participate.  In order to join Jesus on mission in this life, we need to search around and find the forgotten city in some unknown country with people who look very different than us.  Living a life of purpose, at times, feels like searching for El Dorado in our suburban comfortable lives.

Over the past few months, I have become increasingly convinced that God’s mission is local.  The holy grail of purpose is located in our own zip code.  We have a chance to join Christ on mission without moving . . . but not without action.  Of course, the Great Commission is global in scope, but it is local in application.  Acts 1:8 tells us that we will be His witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  God’s mission includes our town.  We can join Him here.

This Sunday at Wildwood, we will be continuing our “Ready for Takeoff” series by looking at God’s plans to use us locally.  We look forward to the chance to worship with you this Sunday and reflect more — both theoretically AND practically — about what it looks like to be on Mission with Christ in Norman, Oklahoma.  Looking forward to seeing you in either our 9:30 or 10:50 service!

From October 21-December 2, Wildwood is starting our “Ready for Takeoff” initiative.  In order to effectively communicate what this initiative is all about, we put together a video overview.  Though this video is somewhat long (14 minutes), it covers a lot of ground about some very exciting things happening at Wildwood.  Even if you don’t attend Wildwood, take a minute to hear more of what is going on in the days ahead . . .

 

From October 21 – December 2, we will be flying over the top of Wildwood’s future at 10,000 feet regarding our local and world outreach efforts.  Some very exciting and unique opportunities are presenting themselves to us as a church.  Check out this preview of the coming attractions and join us in the worship services to find out more.

Today, John Abernethy sent me a link to this video about a Wake Forest University Baseball player who received a kidney transplant from his coach.  It is a 13 minute video, but something well worth your time.

This video makes me grateful for what God has done in our lives, providing a kidney for Kimberly from her sister Angie last July.  It also reminds me that echoes of the Gospel . . . laying down our lives for another . . . are heard in many places, including ESPN.  Men everywhere, you can now devotionally watch television 🙂