When I was a kid growing up in California I lived in the Silicon Valley before there was much silicon. Our street had only six houses on it, all on one side of the road, and in front of our home lay the great adventure land of Mr. Dardanelli's orchard. Behind our back fence was another orchard that belonged to Mr. Ashlock. I recently visited this street and today it is surrounded by a hospital and medical businesses. Things have changed.
In those days most of our shopping was done in San Jose, so we would drive home on Winchester Boulevard. Along the road, and behind a chain link fence, were several percolation ponds that belonged to the local water district. To a little boy's reasoning and imagination, something really special must have been in those ponds to have a fence put around them.
When I was about eight years old, my dad, a man who was a child at heart, enlisted my little brother Dwain and me to join him in an adventure. Dad said he was sure that because it was now late summer, and the water was being drained out of the ponds, that the fish in the shallow water would be easy pickings. Little did my brother and I know what Dad had planned.
The day of the adventure arrived and instead of fishing poles dad brought only gunny sacks that he threw in the bed of his Chevy pick up truck and said, “Hop in boys.” We asked about the gunny sacks and dad simply said, “I will show you.”
You would have to know my dad to fully understand what was about to take place. I am sure the “No Trespassing” signs that hung on the six foot high chain link fence were meant for other people, not the Elkins boys. Dad parked his truck out of sight near some bushes and we made our way to the ponds still not knowing what he had planned. As dad held up the bottom of the chain link fence, my brother and I scooted underneath and then stepped into the world of the percolation ponds.
The water was almost completely drained away and now only about six inches remained. There before our eyes were hundreds of the dorsal fins belonging to blue gill, crappie and bass – all swimming frantically around looking for deeper water. The surface of the water was alive. It looked the movie “Jaws” except with smaller fins and without the terrifying theme music.
My brother and I looked up at our dad and he said, “Go get em' boys!” That was all we needed to hear. Into the shallow water and mud we launched. Fish fins were going in all directions. Some were jumping out of the water. Others were swimming away from us like some Alaskan salmon fighting its way upstream. My brother and I were laughing and shouting as we tried to scoop fish into our gunny sacks. Frantic fish are slippery.
Since grabbing fish with our hands wasn't working out very well, we tried a new tactic - punting. We began to kick fish up onto the banks where we could trap them with our hands and feet. This went on for about an hour until several big gunny sacks were filled. It was an amazing discovery to find out that you could fish without fishing poles.
My mom was a very patient woman. She knew that when dad took her boys on an adventure that they would usually return home in various forms of disarray. We left for this fishing adventure wearing a typical boy's uniform of the 1950's – a white tee shirt, 501 Levis jeans with six inch turned up cuffs, and either P.F. Flyers or U.S. Keds high top tennis shoes. Upon our return home, from head to toe, we were adorned in varying shades of drying brown-colored mud with a little green moss tossed in for color.
After “wrastling” a few hundred fish into our gunny sacks, we also smelled to high heaven. Mom greeted her male offspring and her wayward husband with the command, “Hose off in the back yard and take em' off before you boys come in my house.” Mom said this with a smile on her face.
For the next few hours dad cleaned loads of fish. We ate the blue gill, crappie and bass until they came out of our ears. Our neighbors ate a lot of fish as did dad's construction crew and anyone he met in casual conversation for the next few days. The overall cholesterol level of Campbell, California went down that week because of our fishing expedition.
It was easy to get the fish when the water was low because they had fewer options. Fish have a lot of options when the water is high. They can swim at different levels and in various temperatures zones. They can swim away from danger that appears at the surface or underneath the waterline. But when the water in those percolation ponds was drained away, so were their options.
This reminds me of what is taking place today in our world. The financial markets, declining home prices, and the lack of available credit has drained the water out of the pond. The previous options are gone. People are swimming on the bottom with their dorsal fins exposed at the surface. When circumstances like these develop the church needs to find ways to get in among the fish and harvest them.
In John 4: 34 – 36 Jesus speaks about a time of harvest. “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!”
Most Christians can see the opportunity that is before them in this time. We have been looking and we see a field ready to harvest. God wants His people to think outside the evangelistic box we have worked in for the last twenty years. The water has never been this low in our life time and the opportunity has never been so great.
The percolation pond episode taught me something about the harvest.
If the fish aren't harvested they will die.
Most people think these times are desperate because the money is drying up and their options are evaporating. But the real reason these times are desperate is because eternity is at stake and time is running out. Up and down turns in cultures have taken place for thousands of years. This is nothing new. It is new to the fish who are now in a shallow pond.
The Kingdom of God is about harvesting people to eternal life instead of letting them die in their sin and become locked in a state of perpetual death for all eternity. It is never about having cultural redemption as our primary goal – it is about human redemption. Unless a life is redeemed it will not live. Redeemed lives bring change to dying cultures.
There will always be a fence.
God is asking His people to not allow any barrier to stand in their way. Life, hell, religion and culture will put up the “No Trespassing” signs to keep us away from the fish. Harvesters don't see fences with signs, they see fish. Whatever barrier stands in the way we must move past it to get to the fish. To become a harvester you will have to violate someone's “No Trespassing” sign.
You will get muddy.
The day my brother and I stepped into the muddy water the last thing we cared about was what would happened to our cloths. The fish were all we were thinking about.
I want to be that little boy again in how I go after the lost. Many times we look at our personal image and try to stay clean and invite the fish into the church services that we have designed especially for them. Fish really don't leave the pond. The fishermen must go to the pond. If you end up in the pond, everything you own will be touched. Muddy is OK. Muddy water is where dying fish are trying to survive.
We didn't use fishing poles.
Fishing in the percolation ponds required a method of harvesting different than we would normally use in deep clear water. The fish in the draining percolation pond would never hit a lure or bite a worm. They were dying and the past and predictable methods of fishing would not work in these circumstances. This harvest required a new and unusual methodology – feet, hands and gunny sacks.
The harvest will be filled with joy.
The day my brother and I harvested all those fish I wish we could have video taped the event. We yelled and shouted with joy. The expression on our faces said, “Christmas morning!!!” Dad was on the bank laughing and encouraging his sons. The pond that was a place of death was now turned into a place of joy. The harvest made us happy. Even our anticipated return home to mom's smiling directives was filled with joy. Fishing when the water is low promises great joy for those willing to climb under the fence and get muddy.
Years later after I grew up, I came home and drove by those percolation ponds. I stopped and peered through the fence and the memories of that day began to flood back into my mind. I saw a proud father on the shoreline encouraging his two sons. I saw white tee shirts caked in mud. I heard little boys laughing.
That day, as a man looking through the chain link fence, my return home was during the same time of year that we had made our great harvest. There in the mud I saw hundreds of unharvested fish laying at the bottom of the pond rotting in the mud. I was glad my father showed me many years before how to harvest fish when the water gets low.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
"Future Battles" by Garris Elkins
Recently, I watched one of those cable shows about modern technology. They described a new breed of missiles. These missiles have the ability to loiter. Up to this point I always thought “loitering” was something that was prohibited. In the small town where I grew up I can still remember the local policeman walking up to groups of kids standing beneath the “No Loitering Allowed” signs and telling them, “move along.”
Modern missiles can now be launched from hundreds of miles away and sent into a targeted region before an attack begins. Computer savvy warriors fly these missiles in a way similar to a kid using a joystick to play a video game. Once the missiles arrive in the targeted region they simply fly around in circles, loitering behind a nearby mountain range just out of enemy radar. When the time is right, and the target is acquired, a new command is sent to the on-board computer and the smart missile flies over the mountain range and into the adjacent valley destroying the target. Depending on the fuel economy mode some of these missiles can do this for hours and even days, if needed.
As I heard of this futuristic weaponry I thought of prayer and the warfare each Christian faces. Many of us pray for the immediate needs of our families and ministries – the things we see and feel, but have you considered that God has us pray for future battles? In future battles, when our lives have yet to arrive on a distant battlefield, our current prayers are being sent up into eternity to loiter until the time when the Commander of our faith releases them into a future target. As the Spirit prompts us to pray our prayers are gathered and then, in God's perfect battle plan, delivered back into time in a massive onslaught against the encampments of hell. Our prayers wait for the voice of the Lord to deliver their payload of victory.
Revelation 5:8 describes an end-time scenario that speaks of stored prayers that are released at a later date.
"And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”
Some of the prayers that will be released in Revelation 5 will be thousands of years old. You and I are praying some of those prayers right now. In these golden bowls are the prayers of the Apostle Paul and other believers from the Early Church. In these golden bowls are the prayers of the persecuted church of today coming from some distant village deep inside China. The bowls in heaven contain prayers that span thousands of years of Kingdom history.
In the Book of Joshua the great warrior is about to die. He is reviewing Israel's history and future with God and how their battles will be fought. In Joshua 24:12-13 Joshua, speaking for the Lord, said,
“And I sent terror ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory. I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build―the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.”
Maybe this is what Paul was talking about when he told us to put on our spiritual battle garb and simply stand. You and I may show up on a battlefield dressed for war with a sword and a bow, but the battle always belongs to the Lord.
Throughout history, the Church has walked among the ruins of hell's encampment, knowing that God had gone before them. We, also, will walk into places of victory. We will realize that the prayers of our ancestors have been poured out upon our impossible situations. We will be humbled and amazed at what we see around us.
Can you imagine what it will be like to know that many of us are about to walk onto battlefields where we will see the enemy already devastated? Many will walk into the shattered encampments of hell and know that something supernatural has visited the battlefield prior to their arrival.
As we come upon these places of victory what should our response be? As the ruins of hell smolder around us God is asking His people to raise up the sound of worship that may contain words like these;
"God has visited this place in power before our arrival. The sword and bow we brought to the battle did not secure the victory. Before we arrived God became a terror to the things that terrify us. He has poured out His glory and the prayers of His saints and has devastated the work of hell in this place. This victory belongs to the Lord! Blessed be His Name!”
Modern missiles can now be launched from hundreds of miles away and sent into a targeted region before an attack begins. Computer savvy warriors fly these missiles in a way similar to a kid using a joystick to play a video game. Once the missiles arrive in the targeted region they simply fly around in circles, loitering behind a nearby mountain range just out of enemy radar. When the time is right, and the target is acquired, a new command is sent to the on-board computer and the smart missile flies over the mountain range and into the adjacent valley destroying the target. Depending on the fuel economy mode some of these missiles can do this for hours and even days, if needed.
As I heard of this futuristic weaponry I thought of prayer and the warfare each Christian faces. Many of us pray for the immediate needs of our families and ministries – the things we see and feel, but have you considered that God has us pray for future battles? In future battles, when our lives have yet to arrive on a distant battlefield, our current prayers are being sent up into eternity to loiter until the time when the Commander of our faith releases them into a future target. As the Spirit prompts us to pray our prayers are gathered and then, in God's perfect battle plan, delivered back into time in a massive onslaught against the encampments of hell. Our prayers wait for the voice of the Lord to deliver their payload of victory.
Revelation 5:8 describes an end-time scenario that speaks of stored prayers that are released at a later date.
"And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”
Some of the prayers that will be released in Revelation 5 will be thousands of years old. You and I are praying some of those prayers right now. In these golden bowls are the prayers of the Apostle Paul and other believers from the Early Church. In these golden bowls are the prayers of the persecuted church of today coming from some distant village deep inside China. The bowls in heaven contain prayers that span thousands of years of Kingdom history.
In the Book of Joshua the great warrior is about to die. He is reviewing Israel's history and future with God and how their battles will be fought. In Joshua 24:12-13 Joshua, speaking for the Lord, said,
“And I sent terror ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory. I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build―the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.”
Maybe this is what Paul was talking about when he told us to put on our spiritual battle garb and simply stand. You and I may show up on a battlefield dressed for war with a sword and a bow, but the battle always belongs to the Lord.
Throughout history, the Church has walked among the ruins of hell's encampment, knowing that God had gone before them. We, also, will walk into places of victory. We will realize that the prayers of our ancestors have been poured out upon our impossible situations. We will be humbled and amazed at what we see around us.
Can you imagine what it will be like to know that many of us are about to walk onto battlefields where we will see the enemy already devastated? Many will walk into the shattered encampments of hell and know that something supernatural has visited the battlefield prior to their arrival.
As we come upon these places of victory what should our response be? As the ruins of hell smolder around us God is asking His people to raise up the sound of worship that may contain words like these;
"God has visited this place in power before our arrival. The sword and bow we brought to the battle did not secure the victory. Before we arrived God became a terror to the things that terrify us. He has poured out His glory and the prayers of His saints and has devastated the work of hell in this place. This victory belongs to the Lord! Blessed be His Name!”
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
"The Bottom-line of Everything" by Garris Elkins
I like getting to the bottom-line of things. If I know the bottom-line in a given situation I know where I stand and I know what I am required to do even when life is confusing and seems directionless.
Maybe it was all the years I spent as a cop responding to emergency situations where I developed an appreciation for “just the facts.” I had to make split-second decisions with lives hanging in the balance. Knowing the bottom-line was essential for a proper response.
In Mark 12:28 a man came to Jesus with a legitimate question – he asked, “What is the most important commandment?” – in other words, what is the bottom-line?
28 “One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
32 The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
The man asking the question actually got it right. Jesus realized that this man understood truth and told him that he wasn't far from the Kingdom.
When the church in the West shares its reason for existence we use phrases like, “Loving God and Loving People” to define our calling. In fact I have used those words myself. But there is more. The Great Commandment really has three parts. Jesus stated another component that some have not included in the definition of the Great Commandment.
Before we can love God and love people we need to understand what Jesus said just before, and in conjunction with, the statements about loving God and people. Jesus said, “‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.” Some translators have rendered this to read, “The one and only absolute God.” Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6 a phrase that devout Jews still quote today.
If you follow the logic of what Jesus quoted He was saying, “Listen, people, this one and only absolute God has a one and only Son and my name is Jesus and I am standing right in front of you.”
Some in the Church are loving God and loving people without publicly mentioning the name of the one and only Son of the one and only Lord. It is too easy to simply blend in with the good deeds of an NGO or some other serving group and lose the distinctive personality that drives our efforts.
For 2,000 years of Church history people have been martyred because of the name of Jesus. While the Church has been called to do good works - to feed the poor, to build houses and to serve in soup lines - no one was every killed because they handed out a sandwich to someone. People were martyred because of the name of the Son of the One and only true God, who confronted the darkness in a culture.
The good works are important – please do them. But the work and the message of the Church is all about the Name. The Name redeems, not the works of the redeemed. All that we do has to be connected to the Name.
About ten years ago when I came to Medford I noticed that we had a stack of cards on the lobby counter. On the cards were the printed words of St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” I am sure that when those words were penned they were powerful and relevant. They still are in many ways. But I had a problem with them in the context of our current American church culture.
One night when I was alone in the lobby I threw those cards in the trash. I threw them away because for the previous four years I had been working in Eastern Europe, where I saw a church that had survived horrible persecution because of the Name. To even whisper the Name in the public square could mean prison and in some cases death.
Jesus said in Mark 9:41 “I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” The giving of just a cup of water contained a reward when it was attached to the name of Jesus.
The Great Commandment is about selling ourselves out to God in totality and doing the good works in the name of Jesus. Without attaching the name of Jesus to the cup of water we blend in and become just another nice voice in the crowd.
It was the Name that got the Apostles martyred. It is the Name that still makes the demons shudder today. It is the Name that changes the atmosphere of a cocktail party where any form of degrading conversation is allowable. It is the Name that has the power to do the impossible.
The Church has been called into the market place to be a witness to the one and only true God representing His one and only true Son. Our calling is to live out fully committed lives and to do many good works in His Name. Our calling card to our culture must have His name printed on the front of the card or we are not fully living out the Greatest Commandment.
Maybe it was all the years I spent as a cop responding to emergency situations where I developed an appreciation for “just the facts.” I had to make split-second decisions with lives hanging in the balance. Knowing the bottom-line was essential for a proper response.
In Mark 12:28 a man came to Jesus with a legitimate question – he asked, “What is the most important commandment?” – in other words, what is the bottom-line?
28 “One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
32 The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
The man asking the question actually got it right. Jesus realized that this man understood truth and told him that he wasn't far from the Kingdom.
When the church in the West shares its reason for existence we use phrases like, “Loving God and Loving People” to define our calling. In fact I have used those words myself. But there is more. The Great Commandment really has three parts. Jesus stated another component that some have not included in the definition of the Great Commandment.
Before we can love God and love people we need to understand what Jesus said just before, and in conjunction with, the statements about loving God and people. Jesus said, “‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.” Some translators have rendered this to read, “The one and only absolute God.” Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6 a phrase that devout Jews still quote today.
If you follow the logic of what Jesus quoted He was saying, “Listen, people, this one and only absolute God has a one and only Son and my name is Jesus and I am standing right in front of you.”
Some in the Church are loving God and loving people without publicly mentioning the name of the one and only Son of the one and only Lord. It is too easy to simply blend in with the good deeds of an NGO or some other serving group and lose the distinctive personality that drives our efforts.
For 2,000 years of Church history people have been martyred because of the name of Jesus. While the Church has been called to do good works - to feed the poor, to build houses and to serve in soup lines - no one was every killed because they handed out a sandwich to someone. People were martyred because of the name of the Son of the One and only true God, who confronted the darkness in a culture.
The good works are important – please do them. But the work and the message of the Church is all about the Name. The Name redeems, not the works of the redeemed. All that we do has to be connected to the Name.
About ten years ago when I came to Medford I noticed that we had a stack of cards on the lobby counter. On the cards were the printed words of St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” I am sure that when those words were penned they were powerful and relevant. They still are in many ways. But I had a problem with them in the context of our current American church culture.
One night when I was alone in the lobby I threw those cards in the trash. I threw them away because for the previous four years I had been working in Eastern Europe, where I saw a church that had survived horrible persecution because of the Name. To even whisper the Name in the public square could mean prison and in some cases death.
Jesus said in Mark 9:41 “I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” The giving of just a cup of water contained a reward when it was attached to the name of Jesus.
The Great Commandment is about selling ourselves out to God in totality and doing the good works in the name of Jesus. Without attaching the name of Jesus to the cup of water we blend in and become just another nice voice in the crowd.
It was the Name that got the Apostles martyred. It is the Name that still makes the demons shudder today. It is the Name that changes the atmosphere of a cocktail party where any form of degrading conversation is allowable. It is the Name that has the power to do the impossible.
The Church has been called into the market place to be a witness to the one and only true God representing His one and only true Son. Our calling is to live out fully committed lives and to do many good works in His Name. Our calling card to our culture must have His name printed on the front of the card or we are not fully living out the Greatest Commandment.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
"I Want To Live!" by Garris Elkins
When I was a police officer I saw many strange things. My life in law enforcement was many years ago, but the memories still linger.
One morning I got a call right out of the station to meet a man who would lead me to the site of a motor vehicle accident located on a rural highway out in the country. It took me the better part of thirty minutes rolling Code 3 to get to the scene.
Highway 9 connects the Santa Cruz area on the Central California coast with the small town of Saratoga where I was assigned as a patrol officer. This highway is notorious for its sharp turns and horrible accidents.
When I arrived at the scene I was met by the man who had called in the initial report. He worked on a nearby ranch and on his drive to work he noticed an overturned vehicle at the bottom of the canyon. The man and I walked to the edge of the roadway and looked down the steep embankment. Several hundred feet below me was a small sports car that had obviously skidded off the road and then rolled over several times coming to rest upside down at the bottom of the canyon.
Our only access to the accident was to drive farther up the highway and then enter the canyon via a ranch access road. We came to the end of the dirt road and began to hike in to the accident scene.
As we approached, I saw a set of legs sticking out from one side of the little car and another set of legs sticking out from the opposite side. My walk became a run.
Arriving at the driver's side, I put my face down to the ground level, peered in and yelled something. Then I heard a faint voice call back to me, “Help!” The voice was just above a whisper speaking under the compressing weight of the vehicle.
I called for rescue on my radio and then began to dig a tunnel under the car with my bare hands to get closer to the person behind the voice. It took me a few minutes to make a tunnel large enough to get me face and chest under the car. The dawn was just breaking so the light was limited, but it was enough for me to make out the two faces of the people who were trapped under the car.
Both girls were laying on their stomachs, face to face. Their faces weren't more than twelve inches apart. Now my face was also inside that dimly lit space and I could see that the passenger had already died. I had to be careful not to move the car for fear of adding injury to the survivor.
The girl spoke again and said, “I want to live.” I told her she would live and to keep talking to me until rescue arrived - we would get her out of there. As we waited I encouraged the girl to keep talking, telling me her sad story.
One morning I got a call right out of the station to meet a man who would lead me to the site of a motor vehicle accident located on a rural highway out in the country. It took me the better part of thirty minutes rolling Code 3 to get to the scene.
Highway 9 connects the Santa Cruz area on the Central California coast with the small town of Saratoga where I was assigned as a patrol officer. This highway is notorious for its sharp turns and horrible accidents.
When I arrived at the scene I was met by the man who had called in the initial report. He worked on a nearby ranch and on his drive to work he noticed an overturned vehicle at the bottom of the canyon. The man and I walked to the edge of the roadway and looked down the steep embankment. Several hundred feet below me was a small sports car that had obviously skidded off the road and then rolled over several times coming to rest upside down at the bottom of the canyon.
Our only access to the accident was to drive farther up the highway and then enter the canyon via a ranch access road. We came to the end of the dirt road and began to hike in to the accident scene.
As we approached, I saw a set of legs sticking out from one side of the little car and another set of legs sticking out from the opposite side. My walk became a run.
Arriving at the driver's side, I put my face down to the ground level, peered in and yelled something. Then I heard a faint voice call back to me, “Help!” The voice was just above a whisper speaking under the compressing weight of the vehicle.
I called for rescue on my radio and then began to dig a tunnel under the car with my bare hands to get closer to the person behind the voice. It took me a few minutes to make a tunnel large enough to get me face and chest under the car. The dawn was just breaking so the light was limited, but it was enough for me to make out the two faces of the people who were trapped under the car.
Both girls were laying on their stomachs, face to face. Their faces weren't more than twelve inches apart. Now my face was also inside that dimly lit space and I could see that the passenger had already died. I had to be careful not to move the car for fear of adding injury to the survivor.
The girl spoke again and said, “I want to live.” I told her she would live and to keep talking to me until rescue arrived - we would get her out of there. As we waited I encouraged the girl to keep talking, telling me her sad story.
The night before, she and her life-long best friend, decided to go to the beach in Santa Cruz for the day. After a day of fun and sun they put the top down and rode home on a warm summer night. Somewhere on their journey home they entered a turn too fast and went over the edge. They were just a couple of young giggly girls enjoying a beautiful day at the beach. They were every dad's little girl. This was an innocent trip that turned tragic.
The girl told me that around 11:00 p.m. she took one of the hairpin turns too fast and went over the side. She recalled rolling several times before the sports car came to rest at the bottom of the canyon atop both of them. For the first couple of hours the girls talked and cried out for help. After awhile they knew no one would hear them.
The girl told me that sometime in the night her friend started to sound faint and finally stopped talking. She called out to her, but received no response. In the middle of a dark night at the bottom of a very lonely canyon, a grim reality began to set in.
I could not imagine what it would have been like to have been under that car for the last nine hours. I could not imagine what it would have been like to see the coming light of dawn that would reveal the dead face of my best friend. I just couldn't imagine what this girl was going through.
It took about thirty minutes before the rescue units finally arrived. Once rescue was on the scene, the car was secured and eventually lifted off of the girls. The living girl was placed into an ambulance and taken away to the hospital. Her wish to live was granted. I waited for another hour with the dead girl, now covered with a bright yellow plastic blanket, until the coroner's unit came and took her away in a black plastic bag.
The events that day taught me about the power of hope. In Hebrews 6:19 the scripture says, “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary.” This kind of hope is not put in jeopardy by the events we suffer here on earth. It is anchored in an eternally secure place. No matter what this life throws at us the anchor will hold.
When Paul wrote to the church in Rome he talked about hope in a future glory that gives context to our present suffering. In Romans 8:18 he wrote, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
Even the Church can lose hope when she does not compare this life and its suffering with the glory that will be revealed. This hope of our future eternal glory needs to be compared to the temporary pain and suffering we experience in this life. Paul couldn't write verse 18 unless he had made the comparison. Neither can we.
Where we miss it is when we fail to make the comparison. Sometime we simply go on with life's struggles and end up focusing only on the pain – like the girl under the car. She looked at death in the face and wondered when she would join her friend. She stopped crying out for help because her situation seemed so isolated that no one would hear her cries. She began to lose hope.
We can also feel alone under the crushing weight of what life brings our way. After awhile that weight becomes more than we can bear and we give in to the crushing weight of hopelessness.
Romans 8:21 gives us the context in which this hope is experienced. “The creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
Creation is groaning because it still remembers what it was like before the fall.
The apple tree your backyard, or the grass in your neighbor's field, is looking forward to the reversal of sin's effect that began in Eden. All creation wants to go back but it can't until God's plan is fulfilled in His people. Creation is groaning in anticipation of what is coming. But it is not just creation that is groaning.
Romans 8:23 “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.”
We groan because who we have been destined to become is not yet fully realized. We groan because we know there is more. Hope is the bridge through the seasons of groaning until the future glory is revealed.
Romans 8:24 tells us, “We were given this hope when we were saved.” Those who follow Jesus Christ already possess this hope. Hope was deposited in us the day we said “yes” to Jesus. We don't have to wait for anything to change. We can speak hope now.
In a world where hopelessness weighs down on people each day, the word of hope becomes a powerful tool for change. When we live in the “eager hope” of rescue, the words we speak bring life to situations that appear hopeless. The girl under the car cried, “I want to live!” My reply to her, that her rescue was coming, changed everything.
When you come across a life trapped under hopelessness, and you hear the words, “I want to live,” you and I have something to say. We have hope.
The girl told me that around 11:00 p.m. she took one of the hairpin turns too fast and went over the side. She recalled rolling several times before the sports car came to rest at the bottom of the canyon atop both of them. For the first couple of hours the girls talked and cried out for help. After awhile they knew no one would hear them.
The girl told me that sometime in the night her friend started to sound faint and finally stopped talking. She called out to her, but received no response. In the middle of a dark night at the bottom of a very lonely canyon, a grim reality began to set in.
I could not imagine what it would have been like to have been under that car for the last nine hours. I could not imagine what it would have been like to see the coming light of dawn that would reveal the dead face of my best friend. I just couldn't imagine what this girl was going through.
It took about thirty minutes before the rescue units finally arrived. Once rescue was on the scene, the car was secured and eventually lifted off of the girls. The living girl was placed into an ambulance and taken away to the hospital. Her wish to live was granted. I waited for another hour with the dead girl, now covered with a bright yellow plastic blanket, until the coroner's unit came and took her away in a black plastic bag.
The events that day taught me about the power of hope. In Hebrews 6:19 the scripture says, “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary.” This kind of hope is not put in jeopardy by the events we suffer here on earth. It is anchored in an eternally secure place. No matter what this life throws at us the anchor will hold.
When Paul wrote to the church in Rome he talked about hope in a future glory that gives context to our present suffering. In Romans 8:18 he wrote, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
Even the Church can lose hope when she does not compare this life and its suffering with the glory that will be revealed. This hope of our future eternal glory needs to be compared to the temporary pain and suffering we experience in this life. Paul couldn't write verse 18 unless he had made the comparison. Neither can we.
Where we miss it is when we fail to make the comparison. Sometime we simply go on with life's struggles and end up focusing only on the pain – like the girl under the car. She looked at death in the face and wondered when she would join her friend. She stopped crying out for help because her situation seemed so isolated that no one would hear her cries. She began to lose hope.
We can also feel alone under the crushing weight of what life brings our way. After awhile that weight becomes more than we can bear and we give in to the crushing weight of hopelessness.
Romans 8:21 gives us the context in which this hope is experienced. “The creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
Creation is groaning because it still remembers what it was like before the fall.
The apple tree your backyard, or the grass in your neighbor's field, is looking forward to the reversal of sin's effect that began in Eden. All creation wants to go back but it can't until God's plan is fulfilled in His people. Creation is groaning in anticipation of what is coming. But it is not just creation that is groaning.
Romans 8:23 “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.”
We groan because who we have been destined to become is not yet fully realized. We groan because we know there is more. Hope is the bridge through the seasons of groaning until the future glory is revealed.
Romans 8:24 tells us, “We were given this hope when we were saved.” Those who follow Jesus Christ already possess this hope. Hope was deposited in us the day we said “yes” to Jesus. We don't have to wait for anything to change. We can speak hope now.
In a world where hopelessness weighs down on people each day, the word of hope becomes a powerful tool for change. When we live in the “eager hope” of rescue, the words we speak bring life to situations that appear hopeless. The girl under the car cried, “I want to live!” My reply to her, that her rescue was coming, changed everything.
When you come across a life trapped under hopelessness, and you hear the words, “I want to live,” you and I have something to say. We have hope.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
"God is Talking" by Garris Elkins
Several months ago while I was in my study at church a dove landed on the sidewalk just outside my office. I like doves so I got up from my desk and went to the window and spent some time enjoying the bird. The next day the dove showed up again. This went on for the better part of a week - everyday. Towards the end of the week I finally asked the Lord, "Is there something here You are trying to say to me?" In an instant I heard the Lord speak to my heart, "Invite My peace into the church." There were no issues going on in the church. No problems. In fact, it was a great season of God's presence in our body - but in simple obedience I said, "Lord, I invite Your peace into this church." I felt that my simple prayer was a deposit for the future.
The next week I was driving to the church as scheduled on a particular day each week that the Lord has me arrive very early to be alone with Him. The staff honors this time for me so no one shows up. I have the sanctuary and facility all to myself. I can walk around and pray loudly. I can lay down before the Lord. I can do all kinds of things with just me and the Lord. I am usually at the church by 4:30 a.m. There is never a need to set the alarm for this day of the week because the Lord wakes me up. I think He loves this time with me also and He nudges me awake to be with Him.
On this particular morning as I arrived at the church and began to turn into the dark driveway - the sun was still an hour away. There it was - a dove nesting on the parking lot. I slammed on the brakes and just looked at the dove. Doves don't nest in parking lots like this in the middle of the night. This dove was not standing on it's legs. It had nestled down and had made itself comfortable waiting for me. This is unusual for a dove, or any bird for that matter, as the trees are the only place predators can't get at them during the night.
As the dove and I sat in our respective spots and stared at each other the Lord spoke again, "I am bringing My peace into the dark and fearful places in peoples lives." As soon as I heard those words the dove flew away. What was very interesting for me was that I was coming into the office that morning to finalized a message on the peace of God in the dark places of our lives.
I had doves on my mind by now. As I kid I grew up in Central California where there were lots of dove. Now those creatures were being used by God as His props through which He was speaking to me.
A week after the dove in the parking lot incident I came to church as I normally do with the sun up and life as normal. The pastors were meeting this morning for prayer so we all get there an hour before we open the doors for business. As I turned onto the street where the church is located I could hardly imagine what I was seeing. Just above the driveway entrance to the parking lot were 10 dove all bunched together on a telephone wire immediately above me. I actually stopped and counted them - ten in all.
After I parked the car and got out the 10 dove had flown away. When I was settled in my office I couldn't get this last group of dove out of my mind. I pulled out a reference book and checked into what "ten dove" might mean. I knew dove were a symbol of peace, but I sensed there was more with this incident. As I researched the dove I felt directed to look at biblical numerology and found that the number ten is a number that means "testimony." In that moment the Lord spoke and said, "I am going to give you something to testify about!"
I love it when I sense the Holy Spirit is speaking to me. A new faith arose within me in the anticipation that God was bringing Living Waters something to testify about. Then I realized that this exact month was the 10th year of my ministry in Medford.
I haven't see many dove since those three appearances, but I have processed those events and the Lord's instructions to me. Several things began to become clear.
I was in a season when I was more sensitive to God than normal. In that season I was open to Him speaking to me. As a result I didn't dismiss natural things, like doves, as having nothing to say to me. After all, God created these animals and He could use them to get my attention.
The dove were not the issue - the word of the Lord that followed the dove appearing was the thing God wanted me to grasp. As beautiful as dove are the word of the Lord is magnificent and wonderful beyond imagination. His word, not what He uses to get our attention, is the main thing.
I never want to get so busy doing the ministry that I become numb to the voice of God trying to speak to me. I want to cultivate a sensitivity to the world around me. I have started to look more intently at what is taking place around me. God is always trying to get our attention. He loves to use what He created to get our attention so He can encourage us in each season of our lives.
As a funny side note, just last week I was driving in my car heading to an appointment when all of a sudden a dove flew out of the sky and flew right next to my window. I must have been doing 35 m.p.h. in traffic. The dove paced himself with my car for a moment - a moment long enough for me to be reminded that God had spoken those previous words to me about peace. Once I realized that the dove flew away. God didn't want me to forget.
Look around at your life and realize that God is wanting to get your attention so He can speak to you. His words might be just behind some natural things that are taking place in your world. Take a moment right now and look up. He might have something trying to get your attention so He can tell you how much He loves you. Living in the anticipation of God speaking to us changes everything.
The next week I was driving to the church as scheduled on a particular day each week that the Lord has me arrive very early to be alone with Him. The staff honors this time for me so no one shows up. I have the sanctuary and facility all to myself. I can walk around and pray loudly. I can lay down before the Lord. I can do all kinds of things with just me and the Lord. I am usually at the church by 4:30 a.m. There is never a need to set the alarm for this day of the week because the Lord wakes me up. I think He loves this time with me also and He nudges me awake to be with Him.
On this particular morning as I arrived at the church and began to turn into the dark driveway - the sun was still an hour away. There it was - a dove nesting on the parking lot. I slammed on the brakes and just looked at the dove. Doves don't nest in parking lots like this in the middle of the night. This dove was not standing on it's legs. It had nestled down and had made itself comfortable waiting for me. This is unusual for a dove, or any bird for that matter, as the trees are the only place predators can't get at them during the night.
As the dove and I sat in our respective spots and stared at each other the Lord spoke again, "I am bringing My peace into the dark and fearful places in peoples lives." As soon as I heard those words the dove flew away. What was very interesting for me was that I was coming into the office that morning to finalized a message on the peace of God in the dark places of our lives.
I had doves on my mind by now. As I kid I grew up in Central California where there were lots of dove. Now those creatures were being used by God as His props through which He was speaking to me.
A week after the dove in the parking lot incident I came to church as I normally do with the sun up and life as normal. The pastors were meeting this morning for prayer so we all get there an hour before we open the doors for business. As I turned onto the street where the church is located I could hardly imagine what I was seeing. Just above the driveway entrance to the parking lot were 10 dove all bunched together on a telephone wire immediately above me. I actually stopped and counted them - ten in all.
After I parked the car and got out the 10 dove had flown away. When I was settled in my office I couldn't get this last group of dove out of my mind. I pulled out a reference book and checked into what "ten dove" might mean. I knew dove were a symbol of peace, but I sensed there was more with this incident. As I researched the dove I felt directed to look at biblical numerology and found that the number ten is a number that means "testimony." In that moment the Lord spoke and said, "I am going to give you something to testify about!"
I love it when I sense the Holy Spirit is speaking to me. A new faith arose within me in the anticipation that God was bringing Living Waters something to testify about. Then I realized that this exact month was the 10th year of my ministry in Medford.
I haven't see many dove since those three appearances, but I have processed those events and the Lord's instructions to me. Several things began to become clear.
I was in a season when I was more sensitive to God than normal. In that season I was open to Him speaking to me. As a result I didn't dismiss natural things, like doves, as having nothing to say to me. After all, God created these animals and He could use them to get my attention.
The dove were not the issue - the word of the Lord that followed the dove appearing was the thing God wanted me to grasp. As beautiful as dove are the word of the Lord is magnificent and wonderful beyond imagination. His word, not what He uses to get our attention, is the main thing.
I never want to get so busy doing the ministry that I become numb to the voice of God trying to speak to me. I want to cultivate a sensitivity to the world around me. I have started to look more intently at what is taking place around me. God is always trying to get our attention. He loves to use what He created to get our attention so He can encourage us in each season of our lives.
As a funny side note, just last week I was driving in my car heading to an appointment when all of a sudden a dove flew out of the sky and flew right next to my window. I must have been doing 35 m.p.h. in traffic. The dove paced himself with my car for a moment - a moment long enough for me to be reminded that God had spoken those previous words to me about peace. Once I realized that the dove flew away. God didn't want me to forget.
Look around at your life and realize that God is wanting to get your attention so He can speak to you. His words might be just behind some natural things that are taking place in your world. Take a moment right now and look up. He might have something trying to get your attention so He can tell you how much He loves you. Living in the anticipation of God speaking to us changes everything.
"We Really Never Get Past Jerusalem" by Garris Elkins
As Jesus was about to leave the earth after His resurrection He set in motion the final preparation of His disciples to carry out His mission on earth. Pentecost was coming soon. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said to His disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
I used to look at these words as the progressive unfolding of the church geographically - and yes, that is true. What started in Jerusalem migrated from region to region until most of the earth has been covered with the witness of Jesus Christ. But there was more to that understanding that I was about to learn.
A couple of years ago I was preparing a teaching on missions for a group of pastors in an Eastern European nation. As I prepared to speak the Spirit said something to me, "You never leave Jerusalem." I found that statement odd since I knew what was in the text. The Spirit was about to deepen my understanding of the mission of the church.
When we send out missionaries to the ends of the earth, or to an inner-city mission, we are sending people to those distant places to raise up leaders and plant churches who will eventually reach their city. To those being reached their city is their Jerusalem. For the last 2,000 years those cities have been found in places described as the "ends of the earth." In that sense, all of our sending enterprise is a ministry that sends people to distant lands or people groups to train them to reach their own Jerusalem.
Having spent some years overseas in different nations, I can remember the first few times I traveled outside the U.S. It was exciting. It was really an "uttermost part of the earth" kind of experience. As those experiences became more frequent, and eventually became a physical assignment overseas, I realized that the people of Berlin, Germany lived in their own Jerusalem. Berlin was not a distant land to them. It was distant to me. Berlin was home to the Berliners. The people of Kingston, Jamaica lived in their own Jerusalem. To the residents of Kingston, Kingston was their Jerusalem ,not a Judea or a distant Samaria. If I was going to be successful in my calling I would have to go to a distant land and actually see it through the eyes of those living in their Jerusalem. I was not going to those places to help them reach an unfamiliar place. They lived, worked and ministered in a familiar Jerusalem. Jerusalem is all around us. It is the street we live on. It is the workplace we enter each day. It is the parking lot we walk across to attend a worship service.
The indicator that we have grown in our calling and Kingdom assignment is when we begin to see the need to invest and serve beyond the boundaries of our own Jerusalem. A healthy church or ministry is always looking beyond it's own sphere of influence towards Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. As we faithfully serve the assignment God has given to each of us He will begin to stir up that Acts 1:8 Spirit-breathed calling to go as His witnesses to help people repeat the same process in their city. When that stirring takes place the church begins to move past what is familiar and her footprints will be found beyond the known Jerusalem in the streets of Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. In one sense we never really get past a Jerusalem mindset as we journey towards the ends of the earth. Wherever we go we will eventually arrive in someone's Jerusalem.
I used to look at these words as the progressive unfolding of the church geographically - and yes, that is true. What started in Jerusalem migrated from region to region until most of the earth has been covered with the witness of Jesus Christ. But there was more to that understanding that I was about to learn.
A couple of years ago I was preparing a teaching on missions for a group of pastors in an Eastern European nation. As I prepared to speak the Spirit said something to me, "You never leave Jerusalem." I found that statement odd since I knew what was in the text. The Spirit was about to deepen my understanding of the mission of the church.
When we send out missionaries to the ends of the earth, or to an inner-city mission, we are sending people to those distant places to raise up leaders and plant churches who will eventually reach their city. To those being reached their city is their Jerusalem. For the last 2,000 years those cities have been found in places described as the "ends of the earth." In that sense, all of our sending enterprise is a ministry that sends people to distant lands or people groups to train them to reach their own Jerusalem.
Having spent some years overseas in different nations, I can remember the first few times I traveled outside the U.S. It was exciting. It was really an "uttermost part of the earth" kind of experience. As those experiences became more frequent, and eventually became a physical assignment overseas, I realized that the people of Berlin, Germany lived in their own Jerusalem. Berlin was not a distant land to them. It was distant to me. Berlin was home to the Berliners. The people of Kingston, Jamaica lived in their own Jerusalem. To the residents of Kingston, Kingston was their Jerusalem ,not a Judea or a distant Samaria. If I was going to be successful in my calling I would have to go to a distant land and actually see it through the eyes of those living in their Jerusalem. I was not going to those places to help them reach an unfamiliar place. They lived, worked and ministered in a familiar Jerusalem. Jerusalem is all around us. It is the street we live on. It is the workplace we enter each day. It is the parking lot we walk across to attend a worship service.
The indicator that we have grown in our calling and Kingdom assignment is when we begin to see the need to invest and serve beyond the boundaries of our own Jerusalem. A healthy church or ministry is always looking beyond it's own sphere of influence towards Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. As we faithfully serve the assignment God has given to each of us He will begin to stir up that Acts 1:8 Spirit-breathed calling to go as His witnesses to help people repeat the same process in their city. When that stirring takes place the church begins to move past what is familiar and her footprints will be found beyond the known Jerusalem in the streets of Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. In one sense we never really get past a Jerusalem mindset as we journey towards the ends of the earth. Wherever we go we will eventually arrive in someone's Jerusalem.
"Lovers and Historians" by Garris Elkins
When Jan and I were getting ready to go out and plant our first church our pastor, Roy Hicks Jr., called us into his office for an appointment to solidify some final details before we were deployed. In that conversation Roy asked us if we were ready to pastor and understood what it meant and we ignorantly and innocently responded, "Yes!" Roy smiled and the conversation moved on.
In those precious minutes with Roy he said something else that has followed us for the last several decades as we have ministered in the United States and overseas. Roy said, "When you go to plant the church go there and be a lover of the people and a student of their history." Those words had a great impact on us then and now.
When Roy told us to go as lovers of the people and historians of their culture we were given the gift of freedom. Roy did not send us away with a results-oriented assignment. He sent us away with a wisdom that has followed church planters for the last 2,000 years. We honestly did not have any idea on how to plant a church, but the "lover and historian" thing made sense to us - we could do that!
When we didn't know what to do in a given season of ministry loving people was a great default. When we couldn't figure out why people responded in a negative way to our acts of love a study of their personal history helped us see them in a different light - a merciful light.
When we love people just where they are, and when we know their personal history, a couple of things are deposited into the mix. Loving people always brings a blessing, not only to the one being loved, but also for the one who gives the love. Your love may be rejected, but when you choose to love you are tapping into the very heart of God and that heart will sustain you even when your best attempts to love and lead others seems to be failing.
When we study the history of any group of people we begin to see their lives from the viewpoint of God's mercy. History helps us understand that the painful and hurtful things people do to us are not personal and we should not take them personally. The negative responses to our acts of love are how people have made their painful history work for them. We simply got in the way of their reaction and took a hit. It isn't personal. In each new season of life and ministry take a moment and commit yourself to be a lover and a historian of those you are called to lead. The acts of love you release, and the knowledge of the history you gain, will become a buffer between you and the strident seasons that ministry will inevitably bring your way. Loving people amidst their broken history is a powerful testimony of God's love.
In those precious minutes with Roy he said something else that has followed us for the last several decades as we have ministered in the United States and overseas. Roy said, "When you go to plant the church go there and be a lover of the people and a student of their history." Those words had a great impact on us then and now.
When Roy told us to go as lovers of the people and historians of their culture we were given the gift of freedom. Roy did not send us away with a results-oriented assignment. He sent us away with a wisdom that has followed church planters for the last 2,000 years. We honestly did not have any idea on how to plant a church, but the "lover and historian" thing made sense to us - we could do that!
When we didn't know what to do in a given season of ministry loving people was a great default. When we couldn't figure out why people responded in a negative way to our acts of love a study of their personal history helped us see them in a different light - a merciful light.
When we love people just where they are, and when we know their personal history, a couple of things are deposited into the mix. Loving people always brings a blessing, not only to the one being loved, but also for the one who gives the love. Your love may be rejected, but when you choose to love you are tapping into the very heart of God and that heart will sustain you even when your best attempts to love and lead others seems to be failing.
When we study the history of any group of people we begin to see their lives from the viewpoint of God's mercy. History helps us understand that the painful and hurtful things people do to us are not personal and we should not take them personally. The negative responses to our acts of love are how people have made their painful history work for them. We simply got in the way of their reaction and took a hit. It isn't personal. In each new season of life and ministry take a moment and commit yourself to be a lover and a historian of those you are called to lead. The acts of love you release, and the knowledge of the history you gain, will become a buffer between you and the strident seasons that ministry will inevitably bring your way. Loving people amidst their broken history is a powerful testimony of God's love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)