Friday, November 16, 2018

Long Obedience in the Same Direction

Eugene Peterson wrote a book by the title Long Obedience in the Same Direction. This past week, I saw this on full display.

I was with a missions team in Santiago, Chile, working on a children's center. This project has taken over eight years now, and it looks like it might be another five, depending on resources and volunteer teams; however, the missionaries are not giving up because of the significant impact this place will have on children and families in this city for generations to come.

 

One evening, a couple of us went to meet the missionary legend, Paul Hoff. Paul has trained thousands of pastors and leaders in South America through his teaching and writing. For over an hour, we sat and listened to his stories of giving his life to Jesus at age 5, his early years of learning to read the scriptures while working on his family farm in Minnesota, his obedience to the Lord in becoming a missionary, and his vision to start an independent Bible school in Chile to serve the Pentecostal movement.  He is still faithfully serving the Lord at age 94, and serving the school he founded over 40 years ago. This is a life well lived.


I have to admit, sometimes I feel like giving up when things do not happen as I had planned or as quick as I wanted. But then I am reminded by my missionary friends, God is still in control, and I have to keep moving forward. I am also reminded that my calling is more than about me, and the works God has asked me to be part of will live on far past my time here on earth.  

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Keep moving. Keep serving. Keep loving. Keep laughing. Keep obeying.

Keith

Thursday, May 03, 2018

Exhausting and Exhilarating

On Monday, April 23rd, 10:00 PM, I arrived home in Virginia; back from a two week trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Esther and I taught at the beautiful campus of Instituto Biblico Rio de La Plata (IBRP), Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Esther and I taught over 30 hours and preached 7 times. We taught discipleship, generosity, family life, church leadership, evangelism, coaching, and music (Esther only). Most of our down time was spend in preparing for the next thing they asked us to do. However, we were able to spend a day in town with Rocky and Sherry Grams, our missionaries and hosts. They are very special people to Centerpointe Church. 

It was an amazing trip filled with ministry and encouragement. You can review our video highlights here: 
Esther and I were introduced in every setting, and Rocky tells the students of the gift we gave in 2013 of $100,000, which paid to complete the dormitory that now houses many of the students. That gift goes down as a watershed moment for Centerpointe Church, the school, and thousands of future pastors, evangelist, missionaries, and teachers who will live in those dorms; growing, learning, and developing as leaders. This is a humbling experience because I am receiving thanks on behalf of our people's generosity. I did not make this decision alone; the entire membership gave out of the generosity of their hearts.

I remember someone saying at the time, “We could keep this for our building in the future which will add to our church; or we could give it to IBRP and it will be used immediately to complete their project and those students will reach multiple thousands around the world.” That statement was not only a statement of faith, but it has proven to be a prophetic word.

The school has over 300 resident students and another 500 that come on Saturdays to be trained for Christian leadership. They are sending missionaries around the world and and leaders all throughout Latin America. Romi is now in Paraguay, Aby is in Brasil, Gomez is in Peru, Romi is in Turquia, Adrian is in Espana, Betu is in Colombia, Cony is in Thailand, and the list goes on. Several students we met this week are heading to the northern countries of Africa. This is a place of calling as well as preparation.

The best words I have for this place are "passion" and "hunger." The students, pastors, and professors, are passionate for God, His Work, and His Word. They are also hungry for a new wave of revival in Argentina. 

Thank you Rocky and Sherry for one incredible trip.

I can't wait to go back!

Soooooooo Goooooood
-->

Friday, February 02, 2018

Blessed!


There is something powerful about a father’s blessing.  

A child dancer will scan the crowd for the affirming face of the parents. and a young athlete will look for the parents presence when making a play on the field. A student makes their way to podium to receive a diploma and looks toward where their parents are sitting.  More than the blue ribbon at a science fair, more than a trophy or plaque, a child longs for their mom and dad’s “great job!”

If blessing has anything to do with approval, children long for their father’s blessing and will do almost anything to get it.

I certainly know the feeling.

Growing up without a dad, I longed for male role models in my life to affirm me. Fortunately for me, I was surrounded by many uncles and men at church that filled that gap – as much as they could.

An unblessed heart leaves wounds. It leaves a deep longing. It searches out for ways to receive it, and in the absence of it, a close substitute will do; even if it leaves unhealthy and emotional scaring. You see it in girls that are attracted to the “father-type” figure and boys obsessed with winning at all costs.

What is true in the natural is also true in the spiritual. We long to hear those words, “well done.” We want our heavenly father to be proud. We want to know we please him. We want God‘s favor and blessing.

The Old Testament word for “blessing” generally denotes a bestowal of good. To live under God’s blessing means to live in a condition or state of being in God’s grace or favor.

In scripture, you can see the desire for both human blessing and heavenly blessing. Jacob was desperate for his father’s blessing, enough to deceive his dad into thinking that Jacob was his older brother. Jacob later wrestled with God to gain a blessing, and when he left that encounter, he had a permanent limp, but he also left with God’s blessing. Jacob’s sons gathered around him on his deathbed in order to receive his blessings. Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain” (1 Chronicles 4:10).

People then and now continue to strive for God’s favor and blessing. For the Jews, a whole sacrificial system was designed to please God and to receive His blessing and favor. Other religions as well struggle to gain their gods favor and blessing through rules, idols, and massive temples. All throughout the Buddhist and Hindu dominated world, people offer sacrifices in order to please the many gods and obtain their favor. While in India, I noticed that almost every home had some sort of altar outside on the lawn. When I enquired about them I was told that fruit, vegetables, and gifts were left on the altar to please whatever god might be passing by, hoping that the god would leave a blessing.

We have a natural tendency toward a merit-based theology. We think if we do the right things, say the right words, pray the right prayers, God will somehow put us ahead of the line for favors; therein lies the problem. We think God is withholding his love for us until we are good enough to earn it, and if that is the case, how good do you have to be? I mean, do you have to be Mother Theresa good? If that is the case, we are all sunk.

So let’s address something right up front: our view of God’s view. Unless we understand the nature and character of God, we will never fully grasp the power of living under God’s blessing. From the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, God set out to bless us, even more than we want to be blessed by him. This is why our concept of God is critical. A.W. Tozer once noted “the most important thing about a person is what comes to mind when they think about God.“ (The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: HarperCollins, 1961)

To embrace the blessings of God, we must first embrace the concept of a loving Father. Most religions do not understand this concept; instead of loving God, they fear Him. To many, God is not a kind, benevolent Father, but a withholding and detached being. He is random in His gifts, or unconcerned altogether. However, this is not the God of scriptures. The God of the Bible does not wish to withhold from us; in fact, he takes joy in blessing us. When we look into his nature and character, we see someone who loves us and is passionate for us.

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Why is it so difficult to believe that your Heavenly Father has wonderful things in store for your life?

Just think about what God thinks about when He thinks of you:
You are His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6)
You are the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:7–8)
You are joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16–17)
You are a friend of Jesus (John 15:13-16)
You are His people (Jeremiah 31:3)
You are the sheep in His care (Psalm 100:1-5)
You are His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:8-10)
You are precious and honored (Isaiah 43:1-4)
You are the reason He died and rose again (Romans 5:6-8)
Listen to the Apostle Paul’s prayer for us:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19).

Paul wants us to “grasp”, or “comprehend”, or “to lay hold of effectively” God’s love for us. It is more than mere knowledge or a feeling; Paul is praying that we might understand it by experience. The Greek word for surpass is literally "overthrown" and refers to that which is thrown over when the container is already to full.  We cannot define all the mysteries of the ocean and fathom it’s vast expanse but we can stand in it and enjoy it.

We all know how you can feel something you can't comprehend. A baby feels his mother's love. They sense how deeply their mother loves them. There are times when they won't go to anyone else but their own mother because they know their mother loves them. But what does a baby understand about a mother's love? They can't comprehend it. But they feel it. When we get this – everything else will make sense.

If this is true, then God’s blessing is more about receiving than it is about achieving.

I pray almost every day that God will bless me and extend his favor toward me, but my prayers are just words in the wind if I don’t believe that he actually desires to answer them. Recently, in Bible reading, I read again these words and was so encouraged. They are words spoken to the tribe of Israel to Moses, and they are powerful.

If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
(Deuteronomy 28:1–14 NIV)

Let’s make this a daily reminder for us that God is for us and not against us. He longs to bless His people and give them strength for today and hope for tomorrow.

There is so much more to discuss, but for now, we have to retrain our thoughts about God to understand that He absolutely loves us, demonstrated that love through His son Jesus, and has deposited the Holy Spirit in our lives to sustain us.

Click on the video. Close your eyes and receive from the Lord.


Chris Tomlin – You’re a Good Good Father 


Friday, January 19, 2018

Centerpointe Church Words of Affirmation

Recently, we asked the congregation to submit words that, for them, represented Centerpointe Church. Here are the words they used:

generous, missions-minded, international, Biblical, outreach-focused, Spirit-filled, caring, instructional, worshipful, prayerful, cheerful, kind, inclusive, warm, searching, diverse, open-minded, Christ-centered, volunteer-focused, celebration-focused, community-focused, family-focused, connected, safe, multi-cultural, friendly, available, growing, gracious, breathing, mature, loving, friendships, beautiful, supportive, evangelic, outreach-oriented, happy, relevant, discipleship, talented

Here are a few sentences people also sent in:

“Centerpointe Church stands on the truth of the sacred Word.  The Church is compassionate, but does not compromise the truth.”
“I am blessed to be a part of our dear Centerpointe Church family since 2001! I thank God for this body of believers for their love & passion for the Lord and for People!!”
“Centerpointe Church makes me feel that I belong.”
“I am thankful for the prayers that resulted in family members going to church and the ability to serve in a leadership capacity.”
“I am thankful for my life group and my prayer group.”
“I am thankful for the teaching and discipleship.”
“I am thankful for the excellent, Bible-centered teaching.”
“I am thankful that Centerpointe Church is in the community of Fairfax and welcomes diversity.”
“I am thankful for the church making us feel welcomed and at home.”
“I am thankful for the leaders at Kids Pointe. They have really helped me get through a lot.”
“I am thankful for the supportive, encouraging, and uplifting family of Centerpointe Church. The abundant prayers, love and support they provided to my family through the sickness and subsequent loss of my dad.”
“I am thankful for my youth-group leaders and their dedication to teaching us about the word of God as well as the mother’s day service.”
 “I am grateful for a praying church.”
“I’ve been blessed by CP Church with many friends who truly care for me! Also with the opportunity to grow my gifts with a chance to serve.”
“CP to me is a place where I get to interact with others and share Christ.   It is a place where I can serve others, and be served by others, and share the blessings and pains of life with my Christian family in a safe environment. It is a place where we work together to reach out to our community and those in need and where spreading the gospel to the world is a top priority.”

And then there is this one: “I thank God that I have had a place to worship for 31 years.”

As you can see, God is using Centerpointe Church to make an impact on Northern Virginia and around the world. 

It is a joy to serve such a congregation.


-->

Sunday, January 07, 2018

The Spiritual Rhythm of Fasting and Prayer

At the beginning of each year since 2000 I create more space in my schedule to spend time alone with God. Sometimes I get away for a couple of days, and sometimes I simply prioritize it in my daily schedule. I also lead our church through a time of fasting and prayer, which has varied in length from one week to twenty-one days.

At Centerpointe Church, we take the month of January to focus on prayer and fasting. It is a time to celebrate the goodness and mercy of God over the previous twelve months and prepare our hearts for what God has for us in the coming year. It is a time to hit the reset button of our souls.

It is part of the spiritual rhythm of my personal life and the life of our church. Like the yearly festivals of the Israelites (Passover, Lights, Harvest, Purim, etc.), these are spiritual rhythms remind us of God’s deliverance and provision.

This is also a time of consecration in order to move forward; allowing the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from sin and renew a right spirit within us. At Centerpointe, 2018 is especially important because there will times of testing and faith decisions, so it is vital that our hearts are right before God. In my office is a picture of a phrase that hit me during one of our months of prayer that says, “Consecration before Amazing.” No matter how long we have walked with God, we need to, on a regular basis, consecrate ourselves to him for his purposes.

As a pastor, I believe there is nothing more important we can do than to pray. In my library, I have many books on the subject of prayer. I probably have preached, or taught, on the subject of prayer as much as any other topic. I enjoy studying the prayers of our biblical heroes like Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, and of course Jesus. However, I still haven’t scratched to surface when it comes to prayer.

I remember Dr. Robert J. Ashcroft, former president of Valley Forge University teaching on the subject of prayer, over thirty years ago at a prayer conference. He was one of the godliest and humble people I knew at the time. Whenever I spoke with him I felt like I was with someone who just came out of the throne room of God. He opened the first session by saying that for over seventy years of following Jesus and praying, he is just now learning a few things about prayer. This is how I feel.

I am by far not one of the prayer heroes I read, or read about. I do well for a season and feel like I gain traction, and then I fall back into times of dryness and seemingly powerless prayers, like I’m just punching a spiritual time clock; which is another reason to make January a month of prayer focus. It is intentional and intense, snapping my soul back into attention.

During the first week of 2000, in a time of fasting and prayer, I knelt behind the pulpit to pray and God began to speak to me about my personal life. I wrote this in my personal journal the next day: "God challenged me with 'I don't need another pastor who knows how to run a computer; they are a dime a dozen. I want a pastor who knows me and hears my voice."

I cannot tell you how that scared me. I loved working on my computer, and I loved the new tools to help me study and the new programs to make our church more efficient. But at the time, computers were not so user friendly, and required a lot of attention. Since I was the most computer savvy person in the office, I became the computer answer man for our staff. However, that was not what our people needed; they needed a pastor who cared more for God than they cared for anything else.

When I stand behind the pulpit people need to know that I have a Word from God. God is the only one that can really change people. I may be able to use PowerPoint with a flashy presentation, but without the anointing of God on my life, I will only look polished but I will not be refined. God’s goal for my ministry is not to look good, but to have a pure heart.

Some changes needed to be made in my life. God was not asking me to give up the tools of ministry. He just wanted to re-prioritize my life. Much to my staff’s displeasure, I laid down some ground rules for them and myself. For three months, I was going to go back to paper and pen for sermon preparation. This helped me not only focus on writing but kept me from being distracted by gadgets and information overload. I also asked the staff to no longer ask me computer related questions until they have, one, read the manual, and two, ask someone else first. Interestingly enough, they became more adept at finding their own solutions – funny how that works.

We are constantly bombarded with things that demand our attention. We are sucked into distractions, and we settle for cheap spiritual substitutes; that is why it is so important for our spiritual lives to create space for God to refresh and restore our souls.

In his classic work, Power Through Prayer, E.M. Bounds wrote, “What the Church needs today is not more machinery of better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use – men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer.”

When I am in an intimate relationship with God I can stand with confidence and declare without reservation that sin will destroy, Hell is hot, and only Jesus can save; I cannot work that up. I need the Holy Spirit to endue me with power from on high. Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill said, “He who is intimate with God will not be intimidated by man.” Ravenhill’s preaching was marked by calling sinners to repentance, insisting Christians live lives marked by holiness, and encouraging deeper prayer lives.

Recently, I was asked to pray for the future leader of the Potomac District Network at a recent prayer meeting. Within the prayer I prayed, “We want your person for this hour; a person who will recognize the season we are in and knows what to do. We want a person who knows what the inside of Your throne room looks like because they spend time there; a person who recognizes your voice because they are intimately familiar with it; a person who will take steps of faith because they have history with your provision; a person who is so in love with You that others want to follow; a person who can tell the stories of Your faithfulness from the past and have a vision to experience new stories of faith and miracles; a person willing to take great risks to advance Your Kingdom.”

The life of Moses captures my attention. Here is a man that desired to be in the presence of God more than anything else. Exodus 33:11 says, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” This is a powerful epitaph.

Moses wanted three things (this will preach).
To walk in God’s pleasure (Exodus 33:13, 16)
To walk in God’s precepts (Exodus 33:13)
To walk in God’s presence (Exodus 33:15)
To see God’s Glory (Exodus 33:18)

My cry is that I would not go anywhere without the presence of God and I long for our church to daily walk in His presence.

Fasting

To be honest, I have never enjoyed the fasting part of seeking God. I get hungry after the first hour of any fast. I would rather pray fast than to fast and pray. However, I have learned over the years that in order for me to grow deeper in my walk with Jesus and lead our church, I cannot neglect this spiritual discipline.

Now, when I speak to young ministers and pastors who are looking for guidance, whether to change ministries or are seeking specific direction, I tell them they have to create space for fasting. It clears the mind of self and fills it with God thoughts. I tell them that if they are truly desperate for God to move in their lives, it calls for desperate prayers.

When I became an associate pastor at Trinitylife in Baltimore, I attended a 6:30 am prayer meeting every Tuesday morning, and afterward we went to breakfast. To be honest, my motivations were not exactly pure. I got to spend time with the lead pastor George Raduano, and I rarely paid for my own breakfast. It was a win-win for me.

At Trinity, they choose to do a Daniel fast lasting for twenty-one days. This proved to be a bigger blessing than I anticipated. It was during one of the Daniel fasts that God called me to Centerpointe in 2011. In 2012, it was during a twenty-one day fast that God led our church into an intense remodeling project called “Ready the House”. In 2013, during our time of fasting, God showed me a new model of ministry for our church. Although I was not sure how this was going to happen, God impressed on me that at the same time our Family Life Pastor and our Music Pastor were going to leave, and I was to prepare for a new paradigm of ministry that included bringing on staff that would work with our ministry teams in a coaching role. The Lord also showed me how we were going to move forward in discipleship, outreach and small groups.

During the Lenten season (forty days before Easter) in 2013, I knew we were going to face new challenges and I set aside more time to fast and pray. I prayed that God would expose what was not right in the church. God answered that prayer for sure. We discovered that one of our leaders confessed to a sin that had the potential to cause serious damage in the church. I had to talk to our congregation and talk about things I never want to talk about again. It was during that time the two staff members came to me about leaving. Although I knew both of those things were the right moves,  I still had to lead the church through it.

If Jesus, the very Son of God, began his ministry with a 40 day fast and concluded with an overnight prayer meeting at the Garden of Gethsemane. It was Jesus who said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” He did not call it a house of programs, worship, or preaching.

Fasting brings a follower of Jesus back to center. People, as well as churches, have a tendency to drift away from their values and their vision. For people, the pace of life and the cares of the world consume our attention. For churches, the machinery of ministry and programs takes over and we forget why we are doing ministry in the first place; the what and how becomes greater than the why. When that happens, religion sets in and people begin to attach values to rules, traditions, facilities and programs.

Furthermore, fasting, along with more concentrated prayer times, takes us to new levels of spiritual awareness. We are more aware of our dependence on God, more aware of God’s presence in our lives, more awareness of the Word’s impact on our lives, more aware of the needs around us, and more passionate for the Kingdom of God. It sharpens our spiritual focus more than just about anything else. When this happens life is not the same; our spirit comes alive and we move from passive to passion.

For those who have been on marriage retreats, leadership retreats, or spiritual retreats, you know that it takes you out of the routine to focus on what is most important. It gives you an opportunity to repair the broken places and move forward with new vision with renewed energy. Fasting and Prayer restores the first love.

For a great practical guide to fasting go to Cru Guide to Fasting

We have to be determined and relentless about creating space for the most important people in our lives. God. No one else will create space for you.

So find a quiet space, bring your Bible and notepad, use a devotional guide to assist you, and start this year off with a holy determination to passionately follow Jesus.

Here is the promise:

2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Do we need any greater motivation?


-->

Thursday, January 04, 2018

2017 In Review

2017 was a roller-coaster year. I spoke about it during the Christmas Eve message. You can watch it here:


Monday, January 01, 2018

Feeling Blessed

On Thursday, December 21, Caroline Grace Hallberg entered into our world. Shown here are our four daughters and Caroline.

It's hard to express the blessings Esther and I feel as parents, and now grandparents.

As I sat in the hospital room with Esther, my four daughters, and my son-in-law, I was overwhelmed with a sense of joy.

In 2017, we weaved in and out of emotional highs and lows. The year was challenging on several different levels, emotionally and spiritually, but in all things we experienced God's presence among us.

Seeing Caroline ended our year on the highest note we could think of.

Pastor Craig Groeschel said in his Christmas Eve message, "We celebrate God on the mountains, but we get to know him in the valleys." He is so right. Let me add that we also get to know ourselves, our weaknesses and strengths, and we realize how much we need God to carry us in the journey of life.