Sorry, you are not on my guest list.

He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’  Luke 13 “The Message”

Every now and then the scriptures catch my attention. I am reading about Jesus teaching some of the people about the Kingdom. He uses an illustration about a pine tree and yeast. Someone asks him “will everyone be saved?” and then comes the passage above.

Obviously there are those who will be invited to the “salvation banquet”. Gathered with them are those who are just hanging around and watching from a distance. They feel that being near it is the same as being in the group. Each Sunday you can watch people watch from a distance. They are interested in what is going on and intrigued by the change in some of the people’s lives. They want the benefit without the process of changing. They are not interested in a relationship that is “vigorous and requires your total attention”. Their interest is only peaked by those things that help them find out how little they can do and still be part of the group.

Being a Christian is not for the weak at heart nor for those who want to play at it. It requires my total attention. Wow. That set me back today because I am given in my own flesh to taking a vacation from the discipline. I give my attention to things that are less than best and when I do I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit, my Guide who comes along side me to guide me back, leads me back to the place I should be. Praise Him for his goodness.

We have enough stuff today to help us long for heaven. My son reminded me that we struggle with a presidential choice, our economy is in the dumps, and things around us are screaming for our Redeemer to come and take us home. Wow. If he was to come today…for some, the hardest words to hear would be “sorry, you are not on my guest list.”

Don’t stop…

9“Here’s what I’m saying:

Ask and you’ll get;
Seek and you’ll find;
Knock and the door will open.

10-13“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need.
Luke 11 The Message

It is early on Sunday Morning. It is the Lord’s Day. I have the windows in my office open and I can hear the early birds singing. It is as quiet as it will be all day long.

Before me is my prayer book and devotional journal. I think of the people on this list. They are many. I get consumed in thinking of all that people go through in a days time. I see faces and hurt for them. Men and women who are losing their jobs. There are several on my list who take care of elderly parents. I think of some who will be facing surgery this week and major tests. Some have been told they have cancer. I think of one whose sister died. Old and young alike, we all face needs.

The “God of the Angel Armies” is with us. He instructs us to ask and keep on asking – Seek and keep on seeking, and knock and keep on knocking. We are to never quit. We constantly keep it before the Lord of the Universe and he hears. He is at work.

He wants us to be direct in our prayers. He is still Lord but we are invited by God to be a participant in this work on this earth through prayer. God designed prayer. It is his plan that prayer causes things to happen that would not happen if we hadn’t prayed. Most of the items on my prayer list don’t need a simple answer…they need a miracle. Prayer is the engine that runs the whole process.

Don’t stop!

Just Wondering this Morning…

9-11“And why?” (This is a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, remember.) “Because while you’ve run around, caught up with taking care of your own houses, my Home is in ruins. That’s why. Because of your stinginess. And so I’ve given you a dry summer and a skimpy crop. I’ve matched your tight-fisted stinginess by decreeing a season of drought, drying up fields and hills, withering gardens and orchards, stunting vegetables and fruit. Nothing—not man or woman, not animal or crop—is going to thrive.”  Haggai 1

Could it be God’s way of getting our attention? Could God be trying to get our nation’s attention? Can it possibly that God can use things like “Ike”, gas prices and short falls, war, elections, financial crises, family crises to get our attention as people and as a country? Could it be that God is doing his best to show us our stingy ways and how we have neglected Him? Could it be the financial drought that gets our attention?

I know that this verse rattled my cage in that God would allow such a thing so it would seize the attention of the nation of Israel. It is amazing. What is required to get some people to wake up and pay attention to God?

To the ONE who still can!

God’s Spirit is on me;
he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to
the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”
Luke 4:18-20

In a few hours I will be standing in my usual spot at church preaching. We will be focusing on the Lord this morning and my heart will be offered another opportunity to share my love for the Savior. He loves to have his children around him. We gather.

I am reminded that there are those who still need to hear about the one that Preached the Good News to us, the one who can still pardon, still give sight to the blind, and still set free those who are burdened and battered.

I have always been amazed at the numbers of people who simply make their way to church. Circumstances change and those who could not care less about the Good News now longs to find an answer. I am still amazed that there are those who are prisoners to guilt and shame. The grip of addiction and sin still weighs down on them with great pressure and they long to be free. There are those who are blind. Their spiritual eyes still need to be opened. There is no blindness so dark as eyes which physically work but spiritually cannot see a thing. There are those who are burdened. There are those who are battered. In addition, we all come to stand in presence of Jesus the Nazarene

Sacred Space for God

1-4 “When you divide up the inheritance of the land, you must set aside part of the land as sacred space for God:

Practically I am like the rest of you. If I do not set aside a place and a time for the “sacred” in my life, I find that the “secular” overwhelms me. I was interested this morning reading God’s minute detail in preparing Him a space to be worshiped. His provision was specific and necessary for the health and success of the people of God. Wow!

I wish with all my heart that I was good at setting aside the “sacred”. I do well for a week or two and then the battle rages again. I am late for the office and other perceived items on my to do list, but I find it necessary this morning to sit before the Lord and wait on him. I am grateful that he meets me here.

I wanted you to hear the testimony of Lily Isaac the matriarch of the “Isaacs” family singers. Her testimony of how God invaded her life is powerful. May it minister to you as you listen.

I am not alone!

11-15I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth. And then I saw all the dead, great and small, standing there—before the Throne! And books were opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived. Sea released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived. Then Death and Hell were hurled into Lake Fire. This is the second death—Lake Fire. Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire.

Revelation 20:11-15
The Message

In this passage this “standing before the throne of God” stopped me in my tracks. Allowing my heart to remember again that there will be folk standing before the amazing presence of The Holy One with no Advocate breaks my heart. They stand there alone. The evidence is in. The Book is opened. No family for support. Now lawyer for defending their position. Alone! Before the God of the Universe! They face the judgment from the Judge of the universe who will now cast them into the Lake of Fire.

I am a carrier of the Good News. I have responsibility today to share that good news in the normal traffic patterns of my life. One hearing that news may respond to God and become a child of God, thus changing their standing before the Great White Throne – Alone!

This morning I celebrate my ADVOCATE – who has “bled” my case and “plead” my case! Due to that precious provision of our powerful Advocate, I will never have to stand there alone. I will stand before God at the Judgment Seat, and I will have to give and account – but never alone. To the great I AM I declare my praise this morning.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can big me there depart
No tongue can bid me there depart
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me
Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The Kind of glory and of grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God!

He Reigns!

Hallelujah!
The Master reigns,
our God, the Sovereign-Strong!
Let us celebrate, let us rejoice,
let us give him the glory!

Revelation 19 The Message

Let us celebrate and give HIM glory. Today is HIS day. Today I am reminded WHO is in charge. I am invited to come to HIS throne. I come for cleansing. I come for healing. I come depending only on HIM.

What is at stake day by day?

8 But Daniel determined that he would not defile himself by eating the king’s food or drinking his wine, so he asked the head of the palace staff to exempt him from the royal diet.  Daniel 1

“Obedience to God in the pressures and stresses of day-by-day living and trust in God’s ways in the large sweep of history are always at risk, but especially in times of persecution and suffering.”  Have you noticed that there are no cheerleaders in life.  When it comes to being a father or mother, a husband or wife, a leader in the church or whatever (not crying just being observant)?  I wish one could rent cheerleaders to follow them around and cheer them on.  Now time to get out of that fantasy.

It is easy to obey God when people are cheering.  But when the King’s palace staff tells you to eat what the king put out in front of you and you choose to defy the King in order to obey God, you put yourself in a place where there are no cheerleaders.  There is a lot at stake here.  Not for Daniel.  He only wanted to please the Heavenly Father even when everyone else had decided to do different.

Suffering and Persecution!  Two folk that we will see if we live long enough.  Ok, if we live a year.  If we are alive six weeks maybe.  We will endure suffering.  The disciplines that I develop in times when suffering and persecution are not present help me get ready for the times when they arrive.  It is not a sign of weakness to be going through suffering.  Suffering simply proves that you are alive.  The family of Gerry Scott has been suffering ever since she was murdered.  A year later her daughter is still facing times of struggle even though they have just put the murderer and his accomplice in jail.  Folk on the North side of our city are still grieving over the young men who have been killed in the community and for the 69 year old saint that was murdered in her house.

Use your imagination:  9/11 – today – does that evoke thoughts of suffering and persecution.  We have been at war ever since.  It seems that we could all spend hours sharing our hurts.

Today, I am reminded that no amount of suffering or persecution should keep us from being obedient to Christ.  There are folk in our community watching to see how we handle our circumstances.  Our strength comes from the Lord.

Daniel determined…

Another Jim Crooks – What a Surprise…

Opened my email this morning to be greeted by this note:

“How good to be humbled when I put in my own name on the internet to find another believer called Jim Crooks. I live in Scotland and am 49 years old, married to Elzbeth for 27 years and have one son, Andrew. I am in fellowship in Hillbank Evangelical Church in Dundee. Christian love to what may be a far out relation! My middle name is Crawford.”

Jim, what a delight to hear from another Jim Crooks. I and the pastor of a church in Florence, South Carolina. Our website is www.southsidebaptist.org. I am 52 years old, and my wife, Nancy, and I have been married for 28 years this past February. My wife is a school teacher. We have been blessed with three fine children. Jason is our oldest and is married to his beautiful wife Jenn and they live in Maryland outside of Baltimore. Jeremy is a Senior at Francis Marion University with a major in graphic arts. My daughter, Kimberly, is a Junior in High School here in Florence, SC.

I, too, was surprised and pleasantly delighted to meet another Jim Crooks. The folk who are members of the church might be excited thinking that there are more than one of us around. However, at least we are located in different parts of the world.

May God’s grace be poured out on another Jim Crooks and his dear family.

email: jcrooks@southsidebaptist.org

Skype: revcrks

I Keep a Grip on Hope

But there’s one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

22-24God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left.
Lamentations 3

A Word for this morning.

This wonderful thought against the background of judgment by God over Israel.

Just to think that his mercy is new every morning.

Great is thy Faithfulness!

Bookends

1Oh, oh, oh… How empty the city, once teeming with people.
Lamentations 1:1

In the introductory material to the book of Lamentations, Eugene Peterson states it this way: “Lamentations is a concentrated and intense biblical witness to suffering. Suffering is a huge, unavoidable element in the human condition. To be human is to suffer. No one gets an exemption.”

As I read Lamentations this morning, I was reminded of the picture of a group of men who stand outside the temple wall in Jerusalem wailing and praying in front of a wall that represents what used to be. I wonder what must go on in their heads and hearts as they read about past glory…as they wonder about the very celebrations that could be going on immediately if judgment had not fallen. If I read Scripture correctly there will be a coming Lord, and he will rule and the former glory will be a present reality. To watch the pain as they wait for that day is tough.

Two pivotal points in the lives of the Israelites. The Exodus is the story of God’s salvation from bondage into freedom. The Exile is a definitive story of judgment accompanied by immense sufferings. The Bible is saturated with the stories of how it all started and the honest representation of folk who just don’t get it and are faced with the unavoidable judgment of God and the suffering that accompanies it.

Today, is one of those days where the word “suffering” has a face. Not in my world but in my extended world. Tears and hurt joined by pain and agony deep in the human heart are all partners today in the life of some of my friends. I hurt for them. I wish I could make the suffering go away. I remember the joy of watching the joy peak and laughter reign among friends. Now, I hear cries, deep cries from the depth of a hurting heart, as they try to make sense of things so senseless. I am reminded that one of these days the pain will end and for that truth I am thankful. However, today, I decide to be one that walks along side a group of people who are hurting. I will experience this unavoidable experience and share in it with people I love deeply.

Bookends! Exodus and Exile. Salvation and Suffering. I like the one. I long to see the other end. As a friend I hurt! As a pastor I come along side and walk with them. As a child of God, I cry, “Come Lord Jesus!”

For those of you who don’t have a taste for the sounds of bluegrass music, you may not get into the music but you will be blown away with the words… Jesus likes it.

What Confidence…

Salvation and power are established!
Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!
The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out,
who accused them day and night before God.
They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb
and the bold word of their witness.
They weren’t in love with themselves;
they were willing to die for Christ.
So rejoice, O Heavens, and all who live there,
but doom to earth and sea,
For the Devil’s come down on you with both feet;
he’s had a great fall;
He’s wild and raging with anger;
he hasn’t much time and he knows it.  Rev. 12

There is power power wonder working blood in the precious blood of the lamb.

Today I am reminded that I am not fighting FOR victory, but I am confidently moving forward FROM victory. Christ has provided all the victory we will ever need. His blood sacrifice on Calvary provided the death blow for the old Snake who is defeated.

Today, I have the joy of breaking out the Word of God and sharing the word of their testimony. The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God will be open and shared. To think that I will join a host of men and women who today will be sharing the Word of God some even to their own harm blows me away. I get to do this freely today in America. I am praying today for my friends around the world who will on this Lord’s day be sharing out of the provision of the blood of Christ.

There is wonder working power in the blood. What Confidence!

“…they will recognize that I am God.”

“…they will recognize that I am God.” Ezekiel 28:24

Waiting on Hanna

This morning in readings Ezekiel 25-28 and Revelation 10 I was captivated by the little phrase “…that they will recognize that I am God.” I was amazed at the context of nations who lived totally oblivious to the presence of the Lord God. There are those who have seen him and experienced him yet forgot who this God was.

His patience with us amazes me. His patience with me humbles me. His grace is truly amazing. Whether by force one of these days or by opening your heart you, too, will have the opportunity today to acknowledge that God is righteous and pure, holy and high and lifted up. He has chosen to allow me to be a part of his family and his life. I am glad.

Today I will attend two funerals. Again I am reminded that I am not in control. I might be able to control the temperature in my home but I cannot stop the hand of God in doing what he pleases. I am reminded that I get to recognize that He alone is God. He is the one that controls the storms around us and the storms in us. He is God. How great is our God!

Undisputed First Love…

7 “‘At that time I told them, “Get rid of all the vile things that you’ve become addicted to. Don’t make yourselves filthy with the Egyptian no-god idols. I alone am God, your God.” Ezekiel 20

Today I was convicted about things in my life that steal the strength of my life away. It is most evident in my own prayer life. We are way to “cotton pickin’ self-sufficient” when it comes to trusting God with our lives. Ron Dunn says “No man trusts God until he has to!” I find myself constantly dealing with the desire in my own life to find a way in the flesh to do something for God. It is not until I get desperate enough to stop trying and start praying that God moves in.

Jack Taylor says “The state of one’s prayer life cannot be greatly disconnected from the condition of his daily walk. The spiritual condition of many too often disqualifies them from praying in the Spirit. The quality of a person’s prayer life is determined by the state of his or her living. How can a fleshly person pray in the Spirit? (Much More p. 88)

I am Baptist enough to dress right and walk straight when I am with people. However, in the quiet place where it is just the loving Father and me, it is hard to hide. I didn’t have to hide. I was uncomfortable when he began to lovingly lead me to look at the things I am addicted too – those things that compete with God. He wants to be my undisputed First Love.

WOW!

9After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.” 11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”