Shamrock Refocus

No, I'm not suddenly a consultant for Ireland! Nor have a made any mission trips to Dublin. (Although I would like that very much!) Shamrock is a church up the street and Refocus was the theme for their revival. We finished up last night and hopefully, prayerfully, the people are filled Spiritually for awhile.

Their pastor, Roy, asked our DOM and me to preach for them. I led twice Sunday and then Monday night and Tuesday night, our DOM Jimmy led Wednesday. The theme God wanted was apparently on refocusing on His will for the lives of the people at Shamrock, as both Jimmy and I targeted that message.

The will of God for our life is often camouflaged by the busyness and stress of living in a world of full of distractions. It is one thing to be uncertain about the will of God and miss it, but it is a totally different matter to know will of God and still refuse to do it. The classic example of this in all of the Bible is the story of Jonah.

The word of the Lord cam to Jonah, the son of Amittai saying... It does not matter what the word was, it was clear and distinct. Jonah was to Arise and go to Nineveh and preach. But he did not want to do it, so he arose and went to Tarshish. Complete and unabashed disobedience.

When we run from God's will for our lives we put time and distance between our relationship with God and our service and availability to be used by God. This is what Jonah wanted--to not be used by God. How horrible.

Are we modern day Jonahs? Do we become so comfortable and complacent in our luxuries that we don't want God to "upset our apple cart?" That we would rather miss God's will than be disturbed by His calling? Would we rather dodge our duty rather than do His command? In-other-words, have we become so comfortable where we are now, that we are afraid to take a chance on God and find and be somewhere better? God has a plan for each and every one of the elect. However, we must claim our victory and follow God's plan.

The book of Jonah ends with a question. God asks Jonah about why He (God) shouldn't love the Ninevites. (Only two books in the Old Testament end with questions, and both focus on Nineveh. The other is Nahum.) Why does God leave us hanging with a question and no answer? So we will fill-in the rest as an application to our own lives. So I leave you with a question...will you refocus your priority to finding and fulfilling the will of God for your life?

New Name Part Two

So a new name. Again. A Fish Called Grace. When Jonah was swallowed by the fish he thought it was a prison, but it was really a rescue vessel, it was a fish called Grace. In Jonah 3:1 God gives Jonah a second chance. He was rescued by Grace, and given a second chance by Grace. I love my Jesus, and His grace is amazing. Grace, grace, marvelous grace. Grace that is greater than all my sin.

Blessings

Steve

Jonah and the sailors, part 2

So, our boy Jonah is asleep in the belly of the ship, so-to-speak. And there is a great, God generated storm tearing apart the ship, and the prophet is snoozing. Now the captain comes down, probably finds the original Napster behind some cargo getting ready to be tossed, and says, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
This is amazing! The sailors have to ask Jonah about his religious preference. They don’t even know he is a Believer! I wonder…do the people where you work know that you are a Christian? You know I looooove college football. And nobody who is around me for more than a minute or two has to wonder who my team is. How ‘bout them Dawgs! Go you silver britches? Woof! Woof. So let me throw my first football analogy at you. Those wonderful boys in red and black do not receive a free education, great coaching from Brother Richt, and national exposure for no reason. Suppose that they came on the field on a sunny, Saturday, September afternoon in Athens, ran out to the middle of the field, and huddled up. Now imagine that they never broke the huddle. The 90,000 plus in the stands wouldn’t cheer for long. Eventually, they would expect them to get out of the huddle and run a few plays. And hopefully score a few TD’s! People, God did not save us so that we could gather up in our Holy Huddles on Sunday mornings! He saved us so that we could get out there and make a few plays. It is great, in fact needful, to get in the huddle. Sunday mornings are not supposed to be our Christian existence though. We huddle up so that we can learn the plays, then go out on Mondays, and execute.
Jonah told them he was a Believer. And the men freaked. They started to pray to their one gods. Eventually Jonah tells them he has to go for a swim. They don’t like it, but they do throw him in the drink. Instantly. I mean the second his big toe gets damp, the wind stops. What do the sailors do? The believe. And as close as you can make the analogy to an Old Testament event, they get saved! They make vows unto the Lord. Isn’t that what we do when we get saved? Make a vow to God? Absolutely. Jonah wasn’t happy. He was running from Nineveh to keep from having Gentiles saved, and he inadvertently leads to a mass Gentile conversion. One day I want to talk to those sailors in heaven. They are some of the heroes of the Old Testament to me. They were throwing a party, as Jonah was drowning. And why not, the angels were undoubtedly singing.

Jonah and the Sailors, Part 1

We last saw our hero Jonah boarding a ship, bound for Tarshish. He is running from the presence of the Lord. He doesn’t like his latest ministry assignment. Go and preach to the Taliban. Convert Osama Bin Laden. So, instead of following God’s instructions, he flees.
“But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.”
A few things for this post. 1) Jonah is running. Notice the Bible says, “But the Lord.” The first “But” is Jonah’s. The last “But” is the Lord’s. He always has the last say-so. 2) The Lord sent out a great wind. The Hebrew term here is Tuwl (pronounced tool.) It means to hurl. God hurled the storm. Here, God means business. He is sending a sign to Jonah. God shows us His will on a consistent basis; many times, we either don’t perceive them, or too often, just ignore them.
The storm is so great that the ship is about to be torn apart. The sailors are doing everything they can to save the ship. They are manning the decks, rigging the line,…row, row, rowing the boat. But to no avail! Finally, in life threatening desperation, they throw the cargo overboard. Remember that this is a cargo ship. They take stuff from here, trade it for stuff over there, and then sell the over-there stuff over here to make a few drachmas. This is their livelihood, people! This storm is so bad that they are willing to sacrifice their fortunes to save their necks, and Jonah, the Lord’s man, the preacher, the pastor, and the calm assuror…is sound asleep!
Let’s camp awhile, shall we? The first thing I see is how our sin affects other people that are around us. Jonah’s sin cost these sailors. When they would get back from Tarshish, their wives would meet them at the docks, with the little rug rats in tow, waiting to go to Joppa Kroger, Joppa Wal Mart, and Joppa Payless (a lot of shoe need to be bought.) But because of Jonah’s rebellious sin, the sailors suffered as well. The principal is crystal clear to me. When we sin and refuse to repent, we hurt those closet to us. A man has an affair, he shatters his family. His wife is crushed, his daughter becomes untrusting, his son mimics his behavior. We lie, those near us suffer. We lose our temper, we hurt those we love. We sin, those close to us pay a cost.
The other thing is that Jonah was asleep! They are about to die and he’s taking a nap! Here is a clear analogy to the church in today’s culture. The world around us is going to Hell in a hand basket, and the church is dead asleep. Outside of our four walls, there is a whole world lost, dying, and on their way to Hell. And we argue about what color to paint the woman’s restroom or how much money we spent on our last Trunk-or-Treat!
In the meantime, the culture is invading the church! Listen, I’m all for becoming culturally relevant. Blend your worship service, put in rotating lighting, and preach wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. But for the love of all that is right and holy, stop making yourselves so culturally reflective that you can no longer tell the difference between you and the world. Jesus said that we are to be a separated people. That’s what “called of God” means. To be separated from the world. Not isolated from the world, but to be a peculiar people. In other words, we are to be different from the world. In the world—but not of the world. Jerry Vines has said it best; “The church is not called to be a thermometer registering the temperature of the culture, we are called to be a thermostat setting the temperature of the culture.” We should show the world that there is something better. We can make adjustments and thereby make the culture want to be a part of our services. But there has to be a point when they recognize that they need something more. And that something is Jesus! WAKE UP, CHURCH! Show these people the Jesus in you.