Seek The Fire

11/02/2012

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The lone prophet Elijah challenged King Ahab and 450 prophets of the god Baal and the base of this mountain.Elijah challenged them to a contest. Each would build an altar to their own god, Elijah to the one true God and the 450 prophets to Baal.

The 450 prophets went first. They slaughtered a bull, placed it on the altar and prayed to Baal to send fire. They danced, they sang, they shouted, they cut themselves with knives and spears. They did this all day. Nothing happened.Then it was Elijah’s turn. Here’s what 1 Kings says happened:

30 Then Elijah called to the people, "Come over here!" They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, 32 and he used the stones to rebuild the LORD's altar. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. 33 He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Then he said, "Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood." After they had done this, 34 he said, "Do the same thing again!" And when they were finished, he said, "Now do it a third time!" So they did as he said, 35 and the water ran around the altar and even overflowed the trench. 36 At the customary time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself." 38 Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the ditch! 39 And when the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried out, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"  1 Kings 18:30-39
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Church on top of Mount Carmel
Perhaps you need to rejuvenate your faith. Maybe you lost your faith and you want to find it again. Where have you been looking? Are you dancing around all the options? Where are you placing your faith?

I encourage you to stop dancing around your problems. Stop cutting yourself with the dagger of doubt and drop the spear of a wavering faith. Place your fears upon the altar. Call upon the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and may His Holy Spirit come down on you like fire and burn away every doubt and fear so there is nothing left but His presence.

May you filled with the fire of His Spirit today.
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Go to Church or Go to Jail

09/29/2011

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An Alabama Judge is giving people convicted of non-violent misdemeanors a choice: Go to church for a year or go to jail.

The program is simple, offenders can pay a fine and do jail time, or they can pick one of 56 churches that are participating and attending each Sunday while checking in with the pastor and their parole officer. After a year, their case is dismissed.

See the story here

This story of jail versus church makes me think. As a pastor, every Sunday I see people attend church. They arrive at the same time, right on schedule. They wear their Sunday morning uniforms. People file in an orderly fashion and sit in their “assigned” seat. (Ever visit a church and sit in someone’s “spot”? I have. Get ready for a beat down. There’s a caste system here buddy… better learn it.) Sometimes someone tries to do something different that challenges the caste system and they get punished. They get shanked with the evil eye or a sneer, or get ostracized for messing up the system. There’s the church, and then there’s the “family” within the church that you are either born into or pass some test allowing you to join it. Once you’re in, your family. You’re on the inside now.

Of course I’m exaggerating. But there’s some truth to this isn’t there? Think about the youth of the church. In my experience when many kids who grow up in the church no longer have to attend, they simply stop going. There’s a common saying, “When kids graduate high school, they graduate God.” There’s an opportunity for them to “break out.” And for many couples that attend, when one can’t make it, the other doesn’t come either. Why go when you don’t have to?

The truth is we all do jail time, whether we are imprisoned by our own sin or allow ourselves to be taken hostage by God’s love. We are all serving a sentence. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10).

Jesus has come that you might have life. He is offering you a sentence of life. To be set free of the chains of sin. Chains that bind us to all of our inadequacies, all of our failures and all of our faults. And he has offered you life. A life of being hostage to his love. To be set free from the things of this world, and to serve a life sentence in a world without limits.

I hope those offenders choose the alternative to jail. But even more so, I hope that after attending church for a year, they choose to accept the life sentence that Jesus has to offer.

So what do you think? Is this a good idea?
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Don't Be a Monkey

05/11/2011

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How do you catch a monkey? It’s easier than you might think. Here’s one way I’ve heard about. Take a coconut and cut a hole in it just large enough for a monkey to place his paw into it. Then affix the coconut to a tree or something large and solid where you’d typically find a monkey.  Then place something sweet like a piece of fruit in the coconut and wait.

When a monkey approaches and sees the fruit, he’ll allow his greed to get a hold of him. He’ll squeeze his paw into the coconut. But once he grabs hold of the treat inside he won’t be able to withdraw his paw. When this happens the hunter can walk up to the monkey and trap him. All he has to do is let go of the treat and he’ll be free. But in his panic and greed, he’ll hold onto the treat and be “trapped.” It’s not so much the monkey that has a hold of the fruit, it’s the greed that has a hold of the monkey.

So what is in your life that your holding on to that has you trapped?  Where are you allowing your greed to have its claws wrapped around you? Is it time to let go of it? Like the saying goes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Jesus said, “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:33)

Sometimes letting go of something is the best way to be set free of it.
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