What We Need Most in 2012 & Always (Part 3)

January 24, 2012 By revheff in Exposition Tags: Acts, Bible, gospel, John Wesley, prayer, priorities Leave a comment

Sunday’s message is now on the web. You can listen to the audio here.

We have now completed the New Year’s emphasis on Godward priorities in prayer and the Word.

Part three focused on the word of His grace and the importance of regularly putting ourselves under the reading and hearing of the gospel.

Oh that the cry of John Wesley might be our cry as well:

I am a creature of a day. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God. I want to know one thing: the way to heaven. God himself has condescended to teach me the way. He has written it down in a book. Oh, give me that book! At any price give me the book of God. Let me be a man of one book.

May the Lord make of us a people committed to ultimate priorities now and always!

The "Scrubbing Floors" Side of Prayer

January 11, 2012 By revheff in Spiritual Life Tags: Paul Miller, prayer, spiritual disciplines Leave a comment

I continue to feel like God is using Paul Miller’s book A Praying Life in significant ways in my spiritual journey at the top of this new year.

That’ true for a variety of reasons, one of which has to do with the balance of his approach between a kind of prayer-without-ceasing-lifestyle approach to intercession along side a disciplined-planned-scheduled approach to this all important spiritual discipline.

He uses a helpful analogy on p. 224 to make his point that both matter:

Remember, life is both holding hands and scrubbing floors. It is both being and doing. Prayer journals or prayer cards are on the “scrubbing floors” side of life. Praying like a child is on the “holding hands” side of life. We need both.

Last Sunday in my message I challenged us to apply Acts 20:32 by making some prayer cards for the most important people in our lives. I read one of the guidelines Miller gives for doing this effectively. Here is the entire list:

The card functions like a prayer snapshot of a person’s life, so I use short phrases to describe what I want.
When praying, I usually don’t linger over a card for more than a few seconds. I just pick out one or two key area and pray for them.
I put the Word to work by writing a Scripture verse on the card that expresses my desire for that particular person or situation.
The card doesn’t change much. Maybe once a year I will add another line. These are just the ongoing areas in a person’s life that I am praying for.
I usually don’t write down answers. They are obvious to me since I see the card almost every day.
I will sometimes date a prayer request by putting the month/year as in 08/07.

Before this week is out, how about doing some floor scrubbing of the most important kind by coming up with at least a couple of prayer cards for the most significant people in your life?

May we be doers of the word and not hearers only (Jas. 1:22).

Touching North Korea

January 10, 2012 By revheff in Missions Tags: Missions, North Korea, Operation World, prayer Leave a comment

I meant to do this post weeks ago. The holidays and a cruddy cold took care of that notion.

Still, anybody who reads a newspaper or watches the news knows that North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-Il slipped into eternity in December. His son, Kim Jong-Un has succeeded him as the new ruler of one of the world’s remaining Communist countries and the most dangerous place on the planet to profess faith in Jesus Christ, according to Open Doors USA.

What can we do to touch this most closed-to-the-gospel nation on planet earth? We can pray. We can intercede with the confidence of Isaiah 64:4 that no one has a God like we do who acts for those who wait for Him.

Open Doors USA suggests that we pray the following:

The new leader, Kim Jong-Un, will have a heart of mercy and end the cycle of inhumane dictatorial rule.
Those in government who have been “secret Christians” will gain more power and influence.
Christians who have been imprisoned because of their faith will have opportunities to lead others in prayers. And while they pray the Holy Spirit will be revealed to those who don’t know Jesus.
There will be an increase in opportunities to share about Jesus without fear of retaliation.
The joy and hope of Jesus will be revealed to those who are sorrowful and feel uncertain of the future.
North Korean Christians will gain a new boldness and wisdom and will seize opportunities to tell others about the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth.
On Christmas day especially, the light of Christ will penetrate every home and heart in North Korea.
Refugees who have fled into China and become Christian will courageously return to North Korea and share the hope of Jesus to a hurting nation.
The horrendous situation with starvation will not escalate even further because of the government’s desire to demonstrate control.
The thousands of starving children who are homeless will find shelter, comfort and love in a home with a believer.

Operation World says this in its preface: Prayer is indeed potent . . . especially sustained intercession for the unreached peoples of this world who do not know Jesus – is action (p. xxiii).

May we be a people of action through prayerful touching of unreached places like North Korea.

What We Need Most in 2012 & Always (Part 2)

January 9, 2012 By revheff in Exposition Tags: Bible, gospel, prayer, priorities Leave a comment

Yesterday’s message from Acts 20:17-38 is now on the web. You can listen to the audio here.

Here’s how I summed up this second installment of what has become a three-part New Year’s mini-series:

Given grave threats to the church’s wellbeing, what it needs most is leaders and followers alike who focus on ultimate priorities – seeking the Lord in prayer and hearing His word of grace. What manner of people will we be at OGC in 2012 as we open our building and move into a new phase of our ministry? Let us be a Godward people. Two ideas for application this week:

Determine some place and time where you will regularly meet with God for prayer and time in the word.

Create some prayer cards for the most important people in your life per Paul Miller’s suggestion in his book, A Praying Life, and be sure to include a Scripture verse you will pray through regularly for each person/card.

Remember the admonition of Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest:

Jesus taught that a disciple has to make his relationship to God the dominating concentration of his life, and to be carefully careless about everything else in comparison to that.

The Best Friend

November 1, 2011 By revheff in men's ministry Tags: comfort, exhortation, friendship, masculinity, prayer, promises Leave a comment

Last Saturday’s Oxford Club discussion in Richard Phillip’s The Masculine Mandate may have been the best yet. We tackled chapter 11, Men in Friendship. Phillips argues that biblical masculinity starts with a commitment to our wives and children to work and keep (see Gen. 2:15), but it doesn’t stop there. Meaningful relationships with other godly men we call friends enter into the mix as well.

Toward the end of the chapter he makes this statement: The best friend is always one who turns our hearts to rest upon the Lord. He draws that principle from the account of David and Jonathan in 1 Sam. 23:16 were Jonathan went to his friend, David, on the run for the express purpose of strengthening his hand in God. Rightly so.

Thus we asked on Saturday, what does it look like to act as this kind of best friend? How do we strengthen one another’s hands in God? We came up with four things.

First, we point our brother to the promises of God. This came from Phillips himself as he argues from 1 Sam. 23:17 how Jonathan reminded David that God ordained him to reign as Israel’s next king so he need not fear Saul’s murderous threats. Phillips adds: A godly friend ministers primarily to the faith of his brothers in Christ, seeking to build up their trembling hearts and protect them from the danger of unbelief and fear. Few things help that battle more than the unshakable promises of God.

Second, we comfort our brother with our presence in his suffering. This we took from the example of Job’s friends in Job 2:11-13. Job’s friends were at their best when they just sat with him for a whole week in his suffering. Things went badly down hill from there. Discernment knows the difference between a time to strengthen with words of promise and a time to comfort with a silent, compassionate presence.

Third, we support our brother with our prayers for his strengthening. Jesus modeled this in preparing Peter for his three-fold denial in Luke 22:31-34. Our Lord countered Satan’s threat to His disciple through intercessory prayer that ensured Peter would survive the onslaught and even use it to strengthen the other disciples in their need.

Fourth, we help our brother with our provocations of his obedience. Hebrews 3:12-14 urges best of friends to exhort each other daily in light of the deceitfulness of sin and the potential for hardening of the heart. Anyone can flatter but only true, loving friends risk all with loving reproof when needed.

Do you have a friend in Christ who does such things for your welfare? Regard him among the best of friends. Are you that kind of friend to others? They will rise up and call you blessed.

Masculine men, friendly men, strengthen one another’s hands in God.

What We Need from OGC

October 6, 2011 By revheff in Body of Christ Tags: followership, leadership, membership, New Building, participation, perseverance, prayer Leave a comment

On Sunday I shared what I believe OGC needs from Nancy and me and the rest of our officers and their spouses. For the next two years, arguably among the most strenuous in our history, the church needs us to stay the course. OGC needs us to persevere through the hard work, the late hours, the difficult conversations, the tough decisions. The buck stops here in terms of leadership responsibility and we can’t afford to weenie out just because things get hard.

But now let me turn the tables and suggest a few things we need from our covenant members. First, and foremost, we need your prayers. Pray for our staying power over the long haul. Lord willing, we will get through this season of building a facility and all the challenges that come with it. A new normal will arrive in due season. Pray we hold on and excel in our duties.

Second, we need your participation. Paul called the Philippians partners in the gospel (Phil. 1:5). That’s what we are. We need to partner together in service. It’s every hand on deck. Find a need and fill it. Sacrifice when you must. Let’s pull the load together. We need to partner together in giving, BOTH to the capital campaign/Each One, Seek One and to the general fund budget. On the latter we have been slipping of late. Chuck Mitchell will bring a report this Sunday during the offertory.

Lastly, we need your perseverance and patience. I’ve said all along that we and we alone in the history of this church get to do this stewardship of building a facility. It’s an enormous privilege that will bring multiple rewards. But the endeavor is not for the faint of heart or weak in knee. So join Nancy and me when necessary in having that little talk over the kitchen table when things get dicey: What OGC needs from us right now is to keep the oars in the water and keep on rowing.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Pastor’s Preaching

September 26, 2011 By revheff in Sunday Morning Tags: church, listening, pastoring, prayer, preaching 2 Comments

Nancy Leigh DeMoss has written a helpful blog post for those who regularly submit themselves to the means of grace that is the preached word.

I particularly appreciated this pre-service exhortation at the top of her list:

Pray for your pastor as he prepares for Sunday. Pray that his schedule would be free from unnecessary distractions. Pray that God will give him understanding into the meaning of the Word. Pray that God will speak to him personally through the Word and that he will respond in humility and obedience. Pray that God will help him to communicate the truth with clarity, freedom, passion, and power.

I don’t know any preacher worth his salt that wouldn’t salivate over the prospect of a people who did half the things this sister advises, especially that kind of prayer.

You can read the entire piece here.

Pray for the Digo

September 20, 2011 By revheff in Missions, prayer Tags: Digo, Missions, prayer Leave a comment

We are determined.

We will seek God for spiritual breakthroughs in our adopted people group, the Digo.

You may not be able to attend a prayer meeting, but you can pray on your own.

For help in knowing what and how to pray I give you this agenda from last night’s concert of prayer: Digo Prayer Meeting.

Would love to have you join us on October 17 for our next time of prayer. Watch the events calendar for location and time.

So Good & Yet So Hard

June 28, 2011 By revheff in Spiritual Life Tags: patience, prayer, quiet, Trust, waiting on the Lord 3 Comments

I refer to the discipline of waiting on God.

I don’t have to tell you how excruciatingly difficult it is. I often remind people, “Wait is a four-letter word.”

But God’s word assures us though hard it is good. Consider Lamentations 3:26: It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Note the modifier on what kind of waiting counts as good – quietly. Fussing and fuming while we wait doesn’t cut it.

Octavius Winslow, wise man of old, said it well:

The Lord would now often have us wait His time in answering prayer. And, if the vision tarry, still let us wait, and hope, and expect. Let the delay but stimulate hope, and increase desire, exercise faith, and multiply petitions at the mercy-seat. It will come when the Lord sees best. A believer may lose the answer to his prayer, by dictating to the Lord the mode, as well as the time, of answering. The Lord has His own mode of blessing His people. We may prescribe the way the Lord should answer, but He may send the blessing to us through an opposite channel, in a way we never thought of, and should never have selected. Sovereignty sits regent upon the throne, and in no aspect is its exercise more manifestly seen than in selecting the way and the means by which the prayers of the saints of God are answered. Dictate not to the Lord. If you ask a blessing through a certain channel, or in a prescribed way, let it be with the deepest humility of mind, and with perfect submission to the will of God. Be satisfied to receive the blessing in any way which a good and covenant God may appoint. Be assured, it will be in that way that will most glorify Himself, and secure to you the greatest amount of blessing.

Does God have you in wait mode over something, several things during this season of your walk with Him?

Remember. It’s good to wait quietly for His salvation. Beware trying to manufacture a salvation of your own.

Another Each One Seek One Story

May 17, 2011 By revheff in New Building Tags: New Building, prayer, provision Leave a comment

Before we got going on our prayer time last Sunday evening on the property I told our walkers the following story.

Recently I got an early morning text.

PC, call me when you get this. I’ve got good news!

Now I get texts I want to answer and then I get texts I don’t want to answer. Which do you think applies here?

As soon as I got to the office, I placed the call.

When X (I’m sworn to secrecy) picked up, he/she told me about a letter that came in the mail the other day. X had only opened it that morning. It came from the lawyer of a distant relative. Unfortunately that person passed away a while ago. Little did my mystery texter/caller know but the relative included X in the will!

X could hardly contain the excitement about the amount (no, I don’t know details). But suffice it to say that X got really excited about the ability to do three things as a result: pay off debt, give to some missionaries, AND contribute his/her $1000 to the Each One, Seek One initiative for increasing our building fund monies.

And I quote: I wanted to contribute but I had no idea how I would do it. I prayed about it and God came through! Or words to that effect.