The Aroma of Christ

Wow, its been a while since I've posted. Perhaps its time to get the internet at church so I don't have so much competition for the computer.

The last couple of Sundays we've been studying 2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6. We've talked about being the aroma of Christ and the fact that God uses us to spread the fragrance of life to those who are being saved. Last week we talked about being involved in a spiritual ministry. True ministry consists not in attempting to get people to behave by following rules, but in being used by God to help transform the human heart. We are competent for this type of ministry only because of our relationship with Christ. It is obedience to Him that allows us to be competent to minister to others.

I was thinking about the disciples this morning. They had spent three years with Jesus. They heard the teachings, saw the miracles and watched Jesus up close. They were blown away by the resurrection and spent time with Him before he went back to heaven.

They certainly knew enough about Jesus to teach a Sunday School class or lead a Bible Study! But Jesus had an important message for them. He told them to wait in Jerusalem until they had been baptized by the Holy Spirit and that this Holy Spirit would empower them to be witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:4-8).

Why was this necessary? They knew enough to teach others, but they were told to wait for the Holy Spirit. As we read the book of Acts, we see that the disciples were led by the Spirit in their ministry. Being "led by the Spirit" is not a blanket phrase to cover all that is done in the name of Christ, rather it is a description of how they did ministry. They waited on and followed the directives of the Holy Spirit as they sought to spread the gospel. This was a key for their ministry.

How much more do we need to be Spirit-led in all we do! Yet many are unfamiliar with the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their own lives. Let us all take time to examine our lives regarding whether we know the Holy Spirit by experience. If we don't, let us ask God to fill us with His Spirit that we might be truly led by the Spirit.

How Old is Too Old?

This morning I just got finished watching Brett Favre throw an 80+ yard touchdown pass to win the game in overtime. What makes this amazing so amazing is that he is 38 years old and is playing with the joy of a kid in the backyard. His experience and enthusiasm, along with his ability to influence his teammates (many of whom are almost young enough to date his daughters), has led the Pack to a 6-1 record this year.

Brett Favre, when it comes to football, is old. For the last several years retirement rumors have swirled, but he's kept playing. This year the team is enjoying phenomenal success. Quite simply, where would the Packers be this year without him? (Answer: They'd be a lot like the Vikings!)

Let's think about the church for a moment. Sometimes as people get older they think, "I've done my job, now I'll retire from involvement" or "The young people don't need me" or "I don't have much to offer anymore." The fact is that older Christians have a lot to offer. They provide experience, leadership and wisdom that younger believers need.

I know most of the readers of this blog are young so let me challenge you to hook up with some older Christians and learn from the battles that they have fought. Gain from their wisdom. Ask them to be your mentor. Ask them to be your prayer partner.

Some of you who read this consider yourselves to be "old." Be challenged by Brett Favre. He's having an incredible year. Not only that, he is using his experience for good. This month he and his wife are working to raise people's awareness of breast cancer. The Favres are using what they have to have as much impact as they can during the remainder of his career.

Does the Kingdom of God deserve anything less from us? Why not make the decision to have as much influence as possible during the rest of the years the Lord gives?

Why not leave it all out on the field?

Revival...It is Possible

I read some startling comments the other day about the conditions on college campuses and on the conditions in the United States generally during the 90s.


Substance abuse is epidemic. The streets are not considered to be safe after dark. A poll taken at Harvard discovered not one believer in the whole student body. At Princeton they discovered only two believers. A mock communion was held at Williams College, and anti-Christian plays were performed at Dartmouth. A Bible was taken out of a local Presbyterian church and burned in a public bonfire. Christians were so scarce on campuses that they met in secret and kept the minutes of their meetings in code so that no one would know.

These comments are adapted from J. Edwin Orr's message on "Prayer and Revival". They describe America in the 90s...the 1790s!

It is hard to believe, but its true. America was turning away from God. But then something happened. It started in Great Britain through William Carey as he and others founded the Union of Prayer. Then it jumped across the ocean and landed in America. People began to pray and soon the Second Great Awakening occurred. As the Spirit moved across America, missionary societies were formed, slavery was abolished, Sunday School was invented, and Bible Societies distributed the Bible far and wide.

Could it happen again? The first thing God does when he sends revival is he burdens his people to pray. Not surface, selfish prayers, but sobbing, soul-rending prayer that grabs a hold of the throne of God and won't let go.

Let us pray.

And pray some more.

Until revival comes.

Growing a Healthy Church

On Tuesday I attended a "Growing a Healthy Church" seminar in St. Paul put on by our District Office. The seminar covered the basics of what a healthy church should be doing. Surprisingly, many churches are not doing what the Bible says should be our primary task: Making disciples.

We should be working at reaching those who do not Christ and helping them become mature reproducing followers of Christ. As one person put it, "The task of the church is to turn atheists into missionaries." If all we are doing is educating, edifying and entertaining believers and their families, we are not doing what the Lord wants, nor are we a healthy church.

The seminar talked about measuring the number of people that become Christians through the ministry of the church and go on to be discipled by the church. The teacher urged us to focus on that number. "How many people are becoming disciples through the ministry of the church?" Most churches that are growing are growing because of transfer growth rather than conversion growth.

How many people should a healthy church be reaching? They suggested that churches should expect 10% conversion growth. That is, a healthy church of 100 should see 10 people come to Christ and become integrated in the life of the church each year.

That sounded like a lot to me until I started putting it in perspective. If every family in our church committed themselves to and were successful at leading one other family to Christ every 10 years, that would give NAC a 10% conversion growth rate. That sounds very doable to me, how about to you?

Do you think it is reasonable for you lead another person to Christ in the next decade? If not, what is standing in the way? Let's remove the obstacles and go for it!

Rushing Through the Bible

Growing in our relationship with Christ takes commitment. There needs effort needs to be put forth or the relationship will slowly wither. An one of the best things that you can do to grow your relationship with the Lord is to set aside time each day to spend reading the Bible and praying. Some people call this their "quiet time." If you are married, you might associate it with setting aside time each day to enjoy the company of your spouse.

This year I have been reading through the Bible in my quiet time. I've amazed myself. It's the end of October and I'm still on schedule! Most years my attempts to read through the Bible in a year end about the third week in January. I'm not sure why this year its working and other years I have failed, perhaps I am just getting older and can stay on task longer than I used to be able to.

Yesterday I noticed something, though. There is a danger to what I was doing. I read throught the chapters assigned for the day, closed my Bible and started to do some of the chores that needed to get done around the house. Then it dawned on me: I had read my Bible, but I had not encountered Jesus. Reading those chapters had become just something on my "to do" list. Instead of nurturing my relationship with Jesus, I was rushing through a task that needed to get done. It was like saying to my wife, "You pick up the kids and I'll pick up the milk. See ya, bye." Necessary? Perhaps. Better than nothing? Maybe. Growing a relationship? No.

Years ago I heard someone say that one of the keys to growing in your Christian life was a daily unhurried time in the Word of God. Unhurried, because we need to take the time to really enter into God's presence. That is what I was failing to do. I needed to slow down and realize that reading the Bible was good, but it was only a means to the end...a relationship with Christ.

So today I'm going to slow down for a moment. When a passage seems to be speaking to me, I'm going stop and listen. If when I read I don't seem to hear anything, I'm going back and reading a second and perhaps a third time because I know that Jesus is talking. I just need to tune in to what he is saying.

I know some of you are struggling with the issue of time. Who has any unhurried time? One way to deal with this during your quiet time is to cut down on the amount of things you think need to happen during your quiet time. For example, to read through the Bible in a year you need to read 3.5 chapters a day. Maybe that's too much to do in an "unhurried" fashion. Perhaps it would be better to take a book like Philippians (only 4 chapters) and make that your "book of the month". Better an unhurried encounter with Christ than rushing through some to-do list in order reach some goal that isn't what you were after in the first place!

God's Timing - Another Thought

God has promised to lead and guide us as we seek to follow him. Sometimes, his way seems perfectly clear, but there are other times when that still small voice of the Holy Spirit does not seem to make much sense. Obedience to the Lord usually brings clarity over time. I recently had an example of this in my own life.

Ever since the snow melted I have been training to run a half-marathon. Each week my mileage inched higher until my training was complete. I could cover the distance comfortably and even enjoyably. I was ready to race!

I planned on running the race in Ashland, Wisconsin. The Whistlestop Marathon and Half-Marathon looked perfect. It was held on a Saturday (most runs are on Sunday mornings), the weather should be cool, and most of the route was on crushed gravel which would be wonderful for these old joints. I was ready to rock!

The funny thing was, the closer race day came, the more uncomfortable I became about going. Something just wasn't right, so I delayed sending in my entry form. As I prayed about it I became more convinced that I shouldn't participate. There was a part of me that really, really wanted to...but that still small voice directed me not to. So I canceled my plans, not really being sure why I did.

Now I understand. You see, the race was the Saturday after Kelli died. There was no way that I could have driven to Ashland, run 13 miles, and driven home. I was emotionally spent, had a sermon and Sunday School lesson to prepare. It just wouldn't have happened.

Hindsight is 20/20. I can now understand why the Lord was telling me not to run the race, even though I had prepared all summer to do so. So was my training wasted? No, I am in much better physical shape than I was. I have the satisfaction of knowing that I can cover the distance. I have developed some healthy disciplines. I don't regret the training or missing the race.

Even more, I have had an experience of hearing the voice of the Lord and learning afresh the importance of obedience.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heard and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6.

God's Timing

It has been a while since I've posted, but I have to stand in awe of the things that God has been doing. I had no idea how "prophetically" I was writing in my last post. I wrote about how amazed I can be at the way God seems to weave the passage that we are studying into the life of the church. As we started 2 Corinthians we were going to be looking at a passage that talks about the troubles and hardships we face as Christians, the ways God comforts us and the reasons for our afflictions.

I had no idea that the day after we started 2 Corinthians that Kelli would be taken to the hospital and would pass away from cancer later that week. As a church we have been living in the middle of 2 Corinthians. It hasn't been fun at all, but God is the God of all comfort and he has been there in the midst of it.

It has been fascinating to watch how the truths of the passage have played out in our midst:

• We have found that the Lord is there with us in the middle of the storm.
• We have discovered that the painful experiences of the past help us to minister in the present.
• We have been joined together in prayer and supporting one another.
• We have been put in the position of relying on God.

While I would rather not go through the struggles and somehow be able to simply learn about them in a book, I know that God's ways are always the best ways. He is building his Kingdom here. He is using us. As we continue to follow him, he will be with us and will bring comfort during the times of trial thereby allowing us to do greater things for his glory.