Rebuilding the Altar

I have been reflecting today on that powerful encounter on Mount Carmel. Not a mountain of caramel, that would be something one might find in Willy Wonka’s factory. If you ate a mountain of caramel, you might just look like our youth pastor in this picture. ;) No, I’m thinking of that fateful day when Elijah, the prophet of the one true God, faced down 450 prophets of baal. It is a familiar story for most of us, but if you want to read it again, it can be found in 1 Kings 18.

I have always been fascinated by this episode – what faith, what trust Elijah must have had and what a display of God’s presence and power they all witnessed that day. I wonder what it would have been like to be there and watch it all go down. What it would have been like to hear Elijah taunt the prophets of baal as they cut themselves and called out to their false god. What a moment.

Recently someone pointed out to me that the first thing Elijah did, once the prophets of baal failed, was to call the people together to rebuild the altar of the Lord. The altar was in ruins. The place of sacrifice and prayer to the Lord was in ruins. As a result there was no rain. The land was desolate, barren, and unfruitful.

Elijah rebuilds that altar – the place of sacrifice, the place of prayer – and a fire falls from heaven to consume their offering. God moves in a mighty way. And soon a healing rain begins to fall on their dry and parched land.

One of the primary founders of the Church of the Nazarene once said: A genuine revival will come only by the fire of God from an open heaven, in answer to some soul or souls who dare to rebuild the altar of God and put the wood in order and place upon it a complete sacrifice, and trust God against all odds. ~ P. F. Bresee

May ROC Church come together to rebuild the altar in our community. May we become a place where people offer themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, in a genuine act of worship. And may we begin to experience the presence, the power, and the healing rain, that only God can bring to our land.

Integrity

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,

but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

~ Proverbs 10:9

As we explored the life of Joseph and talked about the importance of integrity yesterday, it reminded me of a story I recently heard about a High School basketball coach. After coaching Blue Collar Bulldogs basketball team for 18 years, Coach Cleveland Stroud finally won a state championship game. Stroud recalled that "it was the perfect night" when they won. "A night you dream of." He was carried around the gym on the shoulders of his triumphant players and their proud parents. The local paper put his picture on the front page. But the excitement was short-lived.

Two months after the championship, during a routine grade check, Stroud discovered that one player was academically ineligible. The young man had only played 45 seconds during the regional qualifying tournament. He struggled for a little bit with the decision, but finally reported the error to the league and forfeited their trophy. When the team gathered in the locker room to lament their loss, he told them, “Boys, you’ve got to do what is honest, what is right, and what the rules say. People forget the scores of basketball games, but they don’t ever forget what you are made of. Winning is an important thing for any team, but your principles have to be higher than your goals.”

May we, like Joseph, learn to be people of integrity who honor God by doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. And don’t forget to thank God for the fleas! (If you weren’t there Sunday to hear the message, ignore that last sentence… or better yet, ask someone who was there what that’s all about.)

The Monarch

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning – the sixth day. ~ Genesis 1:31

About a week ago, while Sara was getting lunch ready after she brought Ephraim home from preschool, he came running up to her and said, “Look what I found!” That phrase coming from a young boy can often strike fear into the heart of any mother. You never know what you are going to see when they open up their hand. This time, thankfully, it was just a harmless, little caterpillar. Ephraim asked if we could keep it, and so we now have a new pet (like we needed more living things to take care of in our house).

Sara did a little research and found out that it is a Monarch Caterpillar and will soon enter into the process of morphing into a beautiful butterfly. She also found out that it only eats one kind of plant. Guess who got to go trekking all around the neighborhood looking for milkweed? That’s right, your esteemed pastor. For several days I hunted for this elusive plant, not knowing exactly what it looks like, only to find out there are two big vines of it growing right by our front door, with about six other monarch caterpillars crawling all over it.

My loving wife has been studying all about these fascinating creatures so that she can teach Ephraim his first real biology lesson. The truth is that she is way more excited about it than he is. In fact, I think she is a little obsessed with that silly caterpillar.

Last night we had a big scare. It looked like the caterpillar was sick and might not make it. He was throwing up, which I didn’t even know caterpillars could do, and was thrashing about. Sara was so concerned… I think she was about ready for me to bring out the anointing oil and pray for the little guy. She must have said several prayers on her own because he seems to be doing better today.

I have gotten a few chuckles out of this whole incident, I hope you have too, but it has also reminded me how amazing and creative our God is. It is fascinating to think about the transformation process for this one, little creature. And then to think about all the diversity, life, and beauty of this world that God created. Indeed, it is very good! That silly caterpillar has inspired me to say, “How great is our God!”

Sara’s loving care for this creature has me thinking even more about one statement I made in the message yesterday. How we treat the creation reflects how we feel about the Creator. If we think about it, we are all part of His creation. How we treat one another and how we care for creation tells us what we truly think about God. May our actions toward one another and our loving care of His creation become genuine acts of worship toward God.

Empty Worship

What worship sometimes seems like...

Communion

This is the Body... This is the Blood... broken and poured out for all of us. Gather with us as we continue to learn what it meant to be a sacramental community, broken and poured out for others, this Sunday.

Another Testimony...

One of the members of Tori's Bible Study group at El Reno Federal Penitentiary sent me his testimony. It touched on a lot of things we are talking about in our "Each One Reach One & Teach One" emphasis and was just too powerful not to share. Here it is:

July 31, 2011

Church,

God bless the very air you breathe… I am told by a brother, whom I hold dear to my heart that you would like to hear my testimony.

I am from Lubbock, TX. I am 33 years old. I have been in gang life since I was 13 years old. By that time, I already smoked weed and drank most of the time. My older brother schooled me in the street life and taught me to fight and sell drugs. Love was not expressed in my world the way that I hear other people talk about it. To this day, I still don’t know who my dad is. I never made it to the 8th grade due to a shooting I was involved in. I ran from the law and created havoc everywhere I went. I hurt people, lied, stole and used people to get my way. That way of life only has two for sure outcomes: death or prison. While most kids my age were at football practice or getting ready for prom, I was on my way to prison with grown men. Life behind these walls are not easy for anyone, let alone a kid.

The first time I heard about Jesus was in prison, and to be honest with you when you are around nothing but hate and violence, love sounds real good! I knew that I needed to change and I had a little boy to look after. I did not want my son to be anything like me. I wanted him to know his dad. I gave my life to Jesus, but no one explained to me what had taken place. Yes, I read my bible, but it made no sense to me. Once I was released from prison, I tried to live for God but lacked the power to stay strong. I backslid and allowed the enemy to lie to me. I turned on the only good thing in my life and returned to my old ways…

I have been in the Federal System since 2003 serving a 16 year sentence for selling drugs. While serving time at the maximum security prison “USP Florence Col,” I was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. I can boldly say that I have never been the same since that day! He has been the driving force behind all that God has done through and in my life. If you would have told me 8 years ago that God would be using me to teach known gang members, ex-drug dealers, murders, etc. the word of God, I would have laughed at you. But today it humbles me to tears that God would use someone like me to spread His word.

For the last 6 years God has been moving here in El Reno. We use to have Bible Study Sun. – Wed. out on the rec. yard. I preach every Thursday and every 5th Sunday in our Church service here. I’ve lead many men and a few women to our Lord, but I believe that my ministry is to those who are already saved and are trying to learn how to walk. I wish someone would have been there to teach me who I was in Christ.

In prison you only have your word, so you better be sure what you go around saying. I stake my life on the credibility of God’s unfailing love and power on a daily basis.

In closing, learn to trust in the One who formed you. God bless you and yours.

Your brother in Christ Jesus our King!

Jason
A.K.A. Joker

p.s. I am sending an “In Christ” confession so that you can start saying what God already says about you. Philemon 1:6
Read it. Speak it. Live It!

In Christ

This "confession" was sent to me by an inmate at the El Reno Federal Penitentiary. I will post his testimony soon.

In Christ I live and move and have my being! What a vast storehouse of power. In Christ my Savior and Lord I have life, energy, and strength for the impossible. I abide in Christ. I live in Him. He is the vine, I am His branch. The life of God is in me. His love is in me. Just like blood flows through this body, His life flows through me, and I will let His life and love dominate me. I am a new creature in Christ Jesus, my past is over, I’ve been forgiven, I have the ability of God within me. I am the Righteousness of God in Christ. My standing with God is secure. My prayers are always answered, and everything works out for me! Christ Jesus, my Lord is my wisdom, He is my Righteousness. He is my Sanctification. He is my Redemption. I have abundant grace, I reign as a king in my domain, in this life through Jesus Christ. By Jesus’ stripes I’ve been healed, God’s word says that 2000 years ago I was healed, if I was healed then, I am healed now! Healing belongs to me. He is greater than the devil. He is greater than disease. He is greater than any circumstance, and He lives in me! The law of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from sin, death, poverty, fear, and guilt, because I am in Christ. Through Christ, my Lord, I can do all things, He strengthens me, I cannot be conquered. I cannot be defeated, because I can do all things through Him. I am crucified with Christ. Yet nevertheless I live! And Christ lives in me. He was quickened and made alive, I was quickened and made alive with Him. I was raised up together with Him and made to sit with Him. I am seated with Christ! All my needs are supplied, He has already made provision for me. Everything I will ever need He has blessed me with. It is mine and I accept it now in Jesus’ Name!