Thank you for the prayers!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Chand a neurologist in the Movement Disorder Clinic at Frazier Rehab in Louisville.  He took me through about an hour of interviews and evaluations.  His conclusions confirmed what Dr. Bandy has been doing and projecting (by the way, the visit confirmed what great doctors we have here).  Although I have tremors, the condition I have has progressed slowly to this point and should continue to progress slowly, enough so that I should be able to finish my career as a pastor without any other major complaints.  In addition to my current medication I was given one new one.

My big task now is to lose weight and build cardio-vascular conditioning.  A battle with asthma brought my last physical fitness emphasis to a halt.  So I begin again.

The doctor’s visit was good news and gave me a new sense of freedom to exercise and praise God.  Thank you for praying with me about the visit.  I look forward to each new day that God brings.  I thank God for the church I am trusted to pastor and for the great friends God has led my way.  God is good — all the time!

A NEW DOCTOR

Ths morning at 7:30 Central I will be visiting a new neurologist who is one of the leading specialists in movement disorders. Please join me in praying that I get some new answers. The tremor I have is easy to live with — uncertainty is not. Thanks for your prayers.
– Ray

Frequent Encounters With Christ

Isaiah 40 is a great chapter from start to finish,  We have focused this week on the last six verses.  We see that we have a God who can hear and act on our complaints based on His nature.   It is God who gives strength to the weary.  I love the way the chapter ends:

 31 but those who hope in the LORD
       will renew their strength.
       They will soar on wings like eagles;
       they will run and not grow weary,
       they will walk and not be faint.  (NIV)

Those who hope in the Lord are indeed fortunate — to soar on wings like eagles, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not be faint.  How do we find this hope in the Lord?

Isaiah is implying that a personal encounter with God is needed to stimulate hope.  We would describe this as a personal encounter with Christ.  When we spend quality personal time with the Savior we often leave soaring.  When eagles “soar” at the peak of their flights they seldom flap their wings.  They soar by capturing the updrafts of air around them and ride the waves of air.  We soar by capturing the waves of God’s grace in Jesus Christ that we discover in personal time with him.  The results of this personal time stay with us.  Soaring turns to running without weariness which turns to walking without faintess.  Our desire should always be to spend enough time with Jesus to soar.  I am not sure that anyone can soar all the time.  Even his closest disciples had to leave the mountain top and return to the valley with Jesus.  But while there they soared!  Their description was like that heard after encounters with Jesus elsewhere in the NT, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us!”

I have always enjoyed Superman.  I have enjoyed his way of using  his “powers” for good.  In the earlier Superman cartoons, whenever he was about to fly Superman would say, “Up, up, and away!” 

My prayer is that you would have frequent encounters with Christ.  My prayer is that you would soar!  Up, up, and away!

Strength When Weary

Isaiah 40 is a great passage.  In the verses we have looked at this week, we first are told that to deal with our complaints we should look at the nature of God.  Then Isaiah gives us the promise that God gives strength to the weary:

 29 He gives strength to the weary
       and increases the power of the weak.

 30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
       and young men stumble and fall;

 31 but those who hope in the LORD
       will renew their strength.
       They will soar on wings like eagles;
       they will run and not grow weary,
       they will walk and not be faint.  (NIV)

Did you catch who would have their strength renewed?  Isaiah says, “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.“  The process is described with three verbs in this order — soar, run, walk.  You might expect the reverse order order if it were our doing — walk, run, soar — increasing as our strength increases.  But no, the greatest strength is when we first have a special experience with God — we soar!  But just as the glory-light in Moses face faded after his encounter with God, we go to lesser stages after our encounter with God — soar, run, walk.  Why?  To assure us that the strength always is in the encounter with God, not because of us.

Isn’t it wonderful to have a God who can empower us with such mighty strength?  When was the last time that being with HIm you discovered His strength?  Let me invite you to spend time with Him today.  He wants you to soar.

Looking at Our Complaints from God’s Perspective

Do you ever want to complain?  Why?  Because things are difficult?  Things are difficult for many people, but everyone doesn’t complain.   Sometimes I think we complain because we want someone to at least hear and understand.  We especially want to know that God hears us and understands.  That was the case for Israel in Isaiah 40:

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
       and complain, O Israel,
       “My way is hidden from the LORD;
       my cause is disregarded by my God”?  (NIV)

Isaiah calls on Israel to look at the nature of God for an answer.  Read what Isaiah 40 says about the nature of God:

28 Do you not know?
       Have you not heard?
       The LORD is the everlasting God,
       the Creator of the ends of the earth.
       He will not grow tired or weary,
       and his understanding no one can fathom. (NIV)

“Don’t you Know?”  ” Haven’t you heard?”  Isaiah is not telling Israel something they do not know but  is reminding them of what they should already know about the nature of God.  First, He is the everlasting God.  This tells us that He is consistent throughout history because He is outside time.  Second, He is the Creator of the ends of the earth.  “Ends of the earth” means that God created the least, most unknown things.  He therefore knows about the big issues of the world and about me, no matter how insignificant I might feel.  Third, He will not grow tired or weary.  God faces all things with strength and energy.  He thus has the power to deal with my situation however big or small it might be.  Finally, His understanding no one can fathom is a way of affirming the depth of God’s wisdom and knowledge.  He thus knows what is best for each of us.

When our complaints cry out to be heard, we have a God who can hear and answer.  Isaiah invites us by showing us God’s nature to look on our complaints from God’s perspective.  They may then be seen as small but never insignificant.  The God who created the ends of the earth is able to deal with us no matter how small our need.

We have a God who cares and listens to us.  We can cry out to Him and feel His answer.

Isaiah 40

Yesterday was a good day at church.  We had great music worship in all three services. both morning services and last night.  Thank you to Donnie, John Mark, and Joan for leading each of the services.  I am glad Brian has some time off and hope he did well in the mini-marathon he ran.

In the last two Sundays we have looked at making a difference through our attitude and with our aptitude.  This coming Sunday the sermon will be on the “altitude” that makes a difference.  The idea comes from a messianic  passage in Isaiah 40:

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
       and complain, O Israel,
       “My way is hidden from the LORD;
       my cause is disregarded by my God”?

 28 Do you not know?
       Have you not heard?
       The LORD is the everlasting God,
       the Creator of the ends of the earth.
       He will not grow tired or weary,
       and his understanding no one can fathom.

 29 He gives strength to the weary
       and increases the power of the weak.

 30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
       and young men stumble and fall;

 31 but those who hope in the LORD
       will renew their strength.
       They will soar on wings like eagles;
       they will run and not grow weary,
       they will walk and not be faint.  (NIV)

This week we will study the importance of renewing our strength and soaring on wings like eagles.  Today join me in reflecting on the passage in its context.

Evaluating Aptitude

Sometimes it is best to give just the common  understanding for a word rather than the dictionary definition.  We usually understand aptitude as the ability to get something done, what the dictionary calls aptness.

I gave the initial examples of family and for loving God and believing His Word.  The aptness for family is a God-given ability that has come through 27 years of practice and is being tested and refined with Mary Beth getting married this year.  The aptness for loving God and believing His Word is a God-given passion that has been refined in college, seminary, and 32 years of pastoring.

Our abilities are without question “God-given.”  He made us.  We are “strangely and wonderfully made” according to His purposes.  Some things we do well, others we struggle to do. 

How extensive is God’s empowering.  Have you read Philippians 4:13?  In the NASB it reads, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  Does this mean I can do anything I want to try?  What if I wanted to “leap tall buildings in a single bound”?  What does “everything” apply to?  This is where proper biblical interpretation comes in.  We should interpret passages in their context.  Here Paul has been talking about how he has been able to face the difficulties of missionary life, how he has learned to be content whether in bounty or in meager times.  Paul has seen Christ prove that he will be with us and provide for us whatever may come.  Paul was also enabled to carry the message in difficult places through dangerous experiences.  The “all things” that Paul had found he could do through Christ were the things it took to live and witness for Christ.

Sunday we are going to talk about moving from personal aptness to an “all things through Christ” lifestyle.  I hope you will join us as we continue these thoughts

An Aptitude for Believing God

Yesterday’s blog was simply the dictionary definition of “aptitude.”    I have been researching for this coming Sunday’s sermon, and it has led me to do some personal soul searching.  I have been questioning, “What are my aptitudes?” (inclinations, natural abilities, talents, capacities for learning, etc.)  I have begun with some informal self analysis.  Later in the week I will repeat some more formal evaluations of spiritual gifts, personality type, and other evaluative tools that take the evaluation away from me and into a more objective state.

From the informal side I have affirmed an aptitude for loving my family.  I would do almost anything to bless and bring joy to my wife and our daughters.  i have an aptitude for loving God and believing His Word.  Right now this personal aptitude is leading me to take some stances that will be questioned by some and unpopular with others.  I watched the new movie “EXPELLED” last night.  It is a 95 minute documentary by Ben Stein that is sometimes slow to watch but has a compelling message that prejudice can go different ways.  He defends the right of “Intelligent Design” scientists to be heard and have their theories discussed in the scientific community.  I agree with Stein’s thesis and say that not only should Intelligent Design be given a voice but also Creationist views.  I believe in freedom for all views to be heard.

I defend the right of celebrities to take alternative religious views and to express them.  At the same time I feel the freedom  to express my disagreements and share where I feel they are theologically incorrect.

My aptitude for believing God means that I will find myself speaking against those things that stand in the way of true faith, regardless of who holds the view or their popularity.

What are your aptitudes?  I have listed but two of mine out of a long list.  I pray that in your list is an aptitude for God and knowing His Word.