The Fruit Of The Spirit Is: Grapefruit?

So the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace and Longsuffering. Stevie asked me the other day what is longsuffering? Longsuffering is kind of like grapefruit. Grapefruit is a hard fruit to eat. For me anyway. I love it. And it is supposed to be healthy. (Isn’t there a grapefruit diet?) But it’s hard. Cut it in half and eat it with a spoon and stingy juice will squirt in your eye. Peel it and eat it like an orange and you have quite a mess with the peelings and the skins. But I love it and so I put up with it. Likewise Longsuffering is a hard fruit of the Spirit. So what is longsuffering? It is, of course, patience and endurance. Listen to James explain this concept...


For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:3-4 (NLT)


The word for complete here means mature. God's goal for us is that we be mature Believers; and complete patience makes for a mature Christian. So why do we need longsuffering? Well, troubles and troublemakers are in our lives to develop patience, perseverance, and persistence. It is by patience we see God's work in us, and it is by perseverance we learn God's will for us.


Do you know why longsuffering is so hard? Because it involves waiting. I am convinced one of the most difficult things to do in life is wait. We wait at red-lights, we wait in line at Wal Mart, we wait for football season to get here, and when it is here we wait for Saturday! But we HATE to WAIT!!! We are a culture that exists on instant satisfaction. Microwave popcorn, fast food, instant Lotto tickets, and (as Luke has discovered) TV dinners. For our culture waiting is a difficult, if not an impossible thing to achieve.


The other day I watched Amazing Grace, the movie about William Wilberforce. If you haven’t seen the movie you should. He spent 50 years in politics with one thing in mind, one goal, abolish slavery in England. On his deathbed, he learned that parliament passed the law. He never gave up. He knew somethings were worth fighting for. Some things require endurance and patience, and...oh, my...Longsuffering. Do we have that type of patience, that ability to see a tough issue through to the end.


James goes on to say, “be patient until the coming of the Lord.” (vs 7) The only reason the world is still here is not because God is powerless, nor is it because God is passive; it is because God is patient. He is longsuffering. Jesus is coming back. Make no doubt about it, that is His promise. The question is, what are we doing while we wait? Be patient with others and spread the good news of Jesus Christ and His Amazing Grace!


Blessings,


Steve


FYI

read more about William Wilberforce here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce

Frustration

It figures! The search committee from Beaver Dam has asked that we put the trial sermon on hold. Someone there spoke with the Graves County Baptist Association and the Landmark thing has raised it ugly head. The problem with this is that we were emotionally invested at this point. You kind of phsyc yourself up once you are asked to preach “in view of a call.” We were planning dates when we might move, Patty had told her principal, and now everything has just come to a screeching halt. And unexpectedly came to a halt at that.

So we spent Labor Day weekend coming to grips. I emailed Jim Phillips, my most trusted counselor to seek advice. Prayed even more earnestly. And sought the face of God.

My conclusions come, as always, through the Word. May I give you my take on the 23rd Psalm?


God is my protector. He gives me everything that I need

When I am stressed, God gives me rest and peace in His hiding places.

This leads to a spiritual refreshment that gives me strength for the fights ahead. He has provided a path for me, so that, by walking this path, I may not mar the great name of my God

And even though I may face uncertainty, terrible times, and incredible stress, I know that these are small things when compared to the big picture. I do not have to be afraid, because the Lord is always with me. His discipline and His loving protection are always there.

I am able to find peace, even in the mist of turmoil. To remain calm, even in the most stressful of situations. Because You, God, are my protector. You God, are my provider, and my provision is abundant.

In the over arching scheme of things, I know that I am on the side of right, and that I am secure in the Lord for all of my life. And even though time are tough on this side of eternity, I know, that I know, that I know, that there is a place in the House of God, where I will spend my eternity, blissfully serving the Lord of lords, and the King of kings.

So we go back to the drawing board and start the process over. I keep telling myself that all good things are worth waiting for. I hope that axiom proves true.

Blessings

Steve

It’s All In The Mix

Another week and another handful of churches have contacted us. I have, much to the relief of my family, told the church in Ohio that we do not feel the Spirit leading us there. That leaves on our active list, the churches in Cassatt, and Olanta in SC, and Perkins and Toccoa in GA. One church in NC called to ask me about their position. “We haven’t elected any women deacons yet, but we have ordained a woman in the past month.” I respectfully told them that I was not their man. Inconceivably, not one church in Atlanta has called us. As we suspected from the beginning, we are small town folk.
We have been asked to preach in view of a call at Beaverdam on September 7. I believe that they will call us, and I believe we will accept. It is ironic that we are excited about Beaverdam. It is the smallest church in the mix. It has the oldest congregates in the mix, and it has the lowest number of youth of any church in the mix.
But aren’t mixes by themselves to be taken as individual negatives that make a positive whole? Stevie called me last night and asked me to bring home some baking supplies. Her concoction ended in a strawberry cake. Think about the mix. Raw eggs? Negative. Flour? Negative. Vanilla extract? Oil? Artificial strawberry flavored andyhexoflenin? All negative. One strawberry cake with cream cheese icing? One very positive. Puppy pulling freight train positive! Slap your grandma positive. Ok enough.
I hope you take the point. It is not what goes into the mix, it is what comes out of the oven. Hopefully the folks at Beaver Dam Baptist Church and our family are the mix that will make a strawberry cake experience for the community of Cassatt, SC. That is our prayer, and I would ask that you pray that as well.

Blessings


Steve

Promises, Promises

When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fires, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. “For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:2-3 NASB)

That is a promise verse. I have several. Someone said that there are 365 promises in the Bible, one for every day of the year. Of course the Jewish calendar is only 360 days long, so it really doesn’t add up right, but anyway… Promises. God makes them and God keeps them. It is our part in this play to claim them for our own situation. I have several. Many I have already shared in this forum. Jeremiah is full of promises. God knows the plans that he has for us. He will not let our enemies have the last laugh. One of my favorites is Jeremiah 51:17, which says, “For all men are stupid and devoid of knowledge.” (NASB) OK, so it’s not a promise, just a truth I go back to often. Especially driving in the ATL.

I was reminded of this promise of God today when a storm came through and caused the ceiling to leak…Though the waters pass over you…and remembered God’s faithfulness. Many times the floods have come. Many times the fire has ravaged. For the last two years it seems that we have been in one drawn out hurricane. But I can honestly say that God has been with us, every step of the way. Through each wind worn day and every fire plagued situation, God has never forsaken us. He is simply teaching us. As we walk through the waters of impatience and doubt.

We have been asked to go to South Carolina and meet with the folks at Beaver Dam Baptist Church. They will show us the church and parsonage and we can explore the area. We have not been asked to preach on Sunday, but I would expect that if everything goes well Saturday, that would be the next logical step.

It really must be a God thing. The Psalm 23 message didn’t hit the mark. As I’ve said, Crestview is a tough crowd. I am reminded of Jesus saying something about prophets, hometowns, and no respect. I don’t think there is a lack of respect, but I never seem to flowwwwww when I preach there.

I guess they liked it. It certainly wasn’t the delivery I would have liked. Crestview has one of those Garth-Brooks-aircraft-controller-head pieces instead of a lapel mike. I envisioned the thin, translucent headpiece. Oh no. We’re talking about 8th grade dental headgear with a windscreen the size of a softball. I would have looked like I was trying to eat a black orange! (A blorange?)

So we will trust God for one more trip (at least) and hope that He will give us that elusive sense of “This is it!” we have been longing for, for seven months. We trust. We obey. And we know that He will continue to give us more that we deserve, or are able to conceive.

Blessings,

Steve